Wasko, JanetSchroder, Matthew2024-08-072024-08-072024-08-07https://hdl.handle.net/1794/29697This dissertation examines three public broadcasting organizations in the state of Alaska. Alaska’s public broadcasting system was defunded by the state government in 2019. Amidst the cuts and during other times of duress, Alaska’s public broadcasters often used narratives like those distributed by national public broadcasting organizations to justify the existence of public broadcasting in the state. The national narratives were often missing a sense of context, history, and purpose about Alaska’s public broadcasters and often left them without an identity and voice of their own. Using a political economy of media and communications framework, this dissertation provides the context, history, and purpose of KUAC in Fairbanks, KYUK in Bethel, and Alaska Public Media in Anchorage. The research explores the general history, operational and programmatical trends, and past and present economic trends of the three organizations.en-USAll Rights Reserved.AlaskaPublic BroadcastingPublic MediaRadioTelecommunicationsTelevisionElectronic Thesis or Dissertation