Journalist Paula Dobbyn to discuss local journalism’s power

Veteran journalist Paula Dobbyn, who holds the University of Alaska Fairbanks Snedden Endowed Chair of Journalism, will speak Thursday, March 19, from 7-8:30 p.m. in the BP Design Theater at UAF. The lecture will also be streamed online.

The free public lecture, “The Power of Local Journalism: Now More Than Ever,” will explore the vital role local reporters play in informing communities and holding power to account at a time when the profession and the First Amendment face growing challenges.

The event is part of the Snedden Speaker Series hosted by the UAF Department of Science and Environmental Journalism.

Dobbyn's professional background includes more than three decades of experience in print, broadcast and digital news. Most recently, she was part of the Honolulu Civil Beat reporting team named Pulitzer Prize finalists for breaking news coverage of the deadly Maui wildfires.

During her career in Alaska, Dobbyn has reported for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska’s News Source and KTOO-FM and TV in Juneau. Earlier in her career, she worked in public radio and television in Boston and Washington, D.C. She began her journalism career in Central America in the 1980s as a freelance radio correspondent covering armed conflict and revolution.

Dobbyn holds a cross-border graduate degree in international human rights law from the University of Galway in the Republic of Ireland and Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland. She is also a former Ted Scripps Fellow in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado Boulder.

The Snedden Speaker Series is made possible through the generosity of Helen Snedden, who endowed a chair of journalism at UAF in honor of her late husband, Charles Willis “Bill” Snedden. A visionary journalist and former owner of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Bill Snedden dedicated his career to telling important stories and fostering a strong local press in Alaska.

The series continues that legacy by bringing distinguished journalists to Fairbanks to share their experiences with UAF students and the broader community. Past speakers have included some of the nation’s most accomplished reporters, including 11 Pulitzer Prize winners.

ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Paula Dobbyn, pdobbyn@alaska.edu

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