KMXT News Recognized for 2015 Coverage of Pletnikoff Incident, Chiniak Wildfire and a Family Bakery

2016 Alaska Press Club awards won by KMXT News
2016 Alaska Press Club awards won by KMXT News

At the Alaska Press Club Awards Banquet Saturday, KMXT News was recognized for three efforts in 2015.

News Director Jay Barrett won first place in Crime or Court Reporting for his extensive coverage of the incident where three KPD officers handcuffed and pepper-sprayed Nick Pletnikoff, entitled “Answers Sought in Possible Excessive Use-of-Force by Kodiak Police Against Autistic Man.” Contest juror Tom Banse of the Northwest News Network wrote, “Storytelling never lagged. Multiple sources and perspectives woven together fairly.”

The station’s pursuit of answers resulted in a Freedom of Information Act public documents lawsuit against the City of Kodiak, which KMXT won, forcing the city to release the identities of the officers involved as well as the audio and video recordings of the incident.

Barrett also received a second-place award in the Breaking News Story category for “Chiniak Wildfire Claims Library, Spares School.” Juror Mike Edgerly said, “Kodiak is lucky to have such a dedicated news team working around the clock for it. Good work.”

Reporter Kayla Desroches won third-place in the open-to-all-media category of Food Reporting with here story of the family run “Simply Awesome Bakery.” Juror Bob Batz wrote, “The smells of baked goods and their warmth really comes through in this piece for the ears, which wonderfully is about what these exceptional bakers do and not about what they supposedly can’t do. Not mentioning autism until almost the end makes this piece glow.” It should be noted that Kayla’s story was the top-placing radio story, and was only topped by the Alaska Dispatch News and KTUU-TV.

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