Emily Schwing on Muck Rack

Emily Schwing

Verified
Alaska
As seen in: KYUK (Bethel, AK), MSN, The New York Times, Business Insider, HuffPost, The Washington Post, Here & Now Anytime, NPR, The Atlantic, WIRED Magazine, Associated Press and
Covers:  land use and management policy, climate change, environment, tribal and rural affairs, Arctic affairs, infrastructure, disaster response
Journalist w/ bylines @KYUKNews @WashingtonPost @nytimes @highcountrynews @TheWorld @Reveal @NPR. Likes: dogs, skis. Dislikes: hot WX, spiders. Go bag packed

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Emily Schwing’s Biography

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Emily Schwing is a multimedia and investigative journalist.

A former news director once said she "has a classic approach to bird-dogging good stories." Emily's reporting is "fierce, smart and thorough," according to one reader, who also said she presents investigative work with "surgical precision."

Emily's education means she can speak science and policy fluently to a broad audience. She holds a Geology degree from Carleton College and she spent three years in graduate school at the Universi…

Emily Schwing’s Journalist Portfolio

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Alaska Ignored Warning Signs of a Budget Crisis. Now It Doesn't Have Funding to Fix Crumbling Sch...

Alaska Ignored Warning Signs of a Budget Crisis. Now It Doesn't Have Funding to Fix Crumbling Sch...

Lawmakers only budgeted $40 million of the nearly $800 million that districts say is needed to fix and mainta…

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Newtok, Alaska, Was Supposed to Be a Model for Climate Relocation. Here's How It Went Wrong.

Newtok, Alaska, Was Supposed to Be a Model for Climate Relocation. Here's How It Went Wrong.

The project's challenges highlight how ill-prepared the U.S. is to respond to the way climate change is makin…

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Forced to relocate by climate change, Alaskan villagers found a new crisis

Forced to relocate by climate change, Alaskan villagers found a new crisis

The relocation highlights America's failure to prepare for the ways climate change is making some places unin…

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Rural Alaskan schools are crumbling as the state fails to provide funding to fix them

Rural Alaskan schools are crumbling as the state fails to provide funding to fix them

Rural schools in Alaska are plagued with health and safety issues. The state has failed for nearly two decade…

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A Rural Alaska School Asked the State to Fund a Repair. Nearly Two Decades Later, the Building Is...

A Rural Alaska School Asked the State to Fund a Repair. Nearly Two Decades Later, the Building Is...

Rural school districts depend on the state to fund construction and maintenance projects. But over the past 2…

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Memories, stories, and family heirlooms make the final move from Newtok

Memories, stories, and family heirlooms make the final move from Newtok

The Newtok Village Council has decommissioned the village, deeming it too unsafe to live in. Nearly 90 people…

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Articles

Alaska’s deteriorating schools could receive more than $148M for repairs. It’s a fraction of what they need

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By Emily Schwing Verified
| KTOO Public Media (Juneau, AK) Verified
Brian Smith teaches students at the school in Sleetmute in 2024, which has suffered from a leaky roof and structural problems as a result. One lawmaker has labeled the school “the poster child” for what’s wrong with the state’s public school infrastructure. (Emily Schwing/KYUK) Alaska would more than triple the funding it devotes to school construction and maintenance projects next year under a budget approved this month by the Alaska Legislature. The funding, which awaits Gov.
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Alaska's deteriorating schools could receive more than $148M for repairs. It's a fraction of what they need.

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By Emily Schwing Verified
| Alaska Public Media Verified
Alaska would more than triple the funding it devotes to school construction and maintenance projects next year under a budget approved this month by the Alaska Legislature. The funding, which awaits Gov. Mike Dunleavy's signature, follows reporting by KYUK, ProPublica, and NPR in 2025 that documented a severe health and safety crisis inside the buildings used daily for public education.
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2 school districts sue, claiming Alaska is failing its constitutional obligation to fund public education Original

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By Emily Schwing Verified
| Wellness Wednesday (Podcast)
This article was produced in collaboration with the Anchorage Daily News and KYUK Public Media, which have both been members of ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network. Sign up for Dispatches to get our stories in your inbox every week. Two Alaska school districts filed a lawsuit on Jan. 20 in Anchorage Superior Court against the state, its governor, and its education commissioner over what they say is a long-running failure to adequately fund public education.
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See all 3,706 licensed articles (3,726 Total)

Interview

What was your first job as a journalist?

I was an unpaid intern at KUER FM90 in Salt Lake City. I once hosted an impromptu interview in an elevator with Walter Cronkite.

Why did you become a journalist?

It's quite honestly in my DNA. My ancestors were bellringers in medieval Germany.

When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?

On a trail in the woods, running or xc skiing around with my dogs

Awards

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Pulitzer Prize

2021 - Public Service

2021 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for work with the Coronavirus Tracking Team at The New York Times

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Best of the West

2018 - Investigative Journalism

PRNDI

2018 - Enterprise/Investigative Reporting

Emily won first place for her story Hiding in Plain Sight: Accused Priests on Gonzaga's Campus. The reporting was produced in partnership with the Northwest News Network and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting

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Society of Professional Journalists Award

2017 - Sports Audio Reporting

First Place for "A Superhero, A Fish And A Northwest Baseball Team's Planet-Friendly Marketing Scheme"

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Society of Professional Journalists Award

2016 - News Photography

First Place for a breaking news photo of an oil tanker train derailment in Mosier, Oregon

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Alaska Press Club

2016 - Best Breaking News

3rd Place

Society for Professional Journalists - Northwest Chapter

2014 - Best Sports Reporting

3rd place

Edward R. Murrow Regional Awards

2014 - Best Continuing Coverage and Best Feature Reporting

Alaska Broadcaster's Association

2014 - Continuing Coverage

Best News Story and Best Feature Story

Alaska Press Club

2014 - Best Single Story Reporting

Society of Professional Journalists Award

2013 - Sports Reporting

First place for coverage of the 2013 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race

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Alaska Broadcaster's Association Goldie

2012 - Best Radio Feature
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