All About Troopergate: Live from Alaska, It's ADN.com
Who'd a thunk it? Alaska is an epicenter of the final stretches of this Presidential campaign. Luckily, the McClatchy-owned Anchorage Daily News is on the beat and offering deep and wide coverage, complete with timely video and great organization of the story's twists and turns.
On Friday, the Alaska Legislature's report on Gov. Sarah Palin's involvement in what's come to be known as Troopergate is due. The Daily News' voluminous coverage is accompanied by an sum-up introductory video, done by reporter Kyle Hopkins, who does a good job of summing up the story in less than four minutes. Hopkins' key video was recorded on Aug. 13, a longish press conference involving Palin and her counsel, at which time it became clear that the office of fired Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan had taped calls coming from the Governor's staff, urging Monegan to fire trooper Mike Wooten, the Governor's former brother-in-law. I first wrote about the video on Sept. 1. It's up on the website, with this note from Hopkins.
video looks. I was holding a little camera while taking notes."
No apology needed. This is great work, a non-theoretical, real-life example of how newspaper reporters' documentary — and analytic — role can be enhanced with video. On the same page, ADN.com actually has a Palin video pulldown, with seven Palin videos in total. All Northern Exposure jokes aside (and Daily News Editor Pat Dougherty's admonition not to stereotype Palin noted), journalists and political junkies alike will find the Daily News coverage thoroughly helpful as the report is made public and is bound to consume the weekend news cycle.
As if that weren't enough, the Daily News has also done a comprehensive job of covering Alaska's other big story — the prosecution of very senior Sen. Ted Stevens.
Lastly, worth noting: The paper's Alaska Politics Blog, a good and current read, anchored by Hopkins and reporters Erika Bolstad and Sean Cockerham
Kudos on a job well done, using the new tools of the day.