On this episode we're joined by Laura Robertson. Laura just completed a stint as a writer for The Nome Nugget – that's Nome as in Nome, Alaska – and the Nugget is an award-winning weekly that serves a population of 3,700 in western Alaska. It is Alaska's oldest newspaper. She is a graduate of Princeton University.

As she prepares to start a new job she talked about her experience both with the Nugget and in freelance writing. She shared examples of stories she's written (including an award-winning piece before going to Nome). She described what Nome is like and what kind of stories she covered.

She also had some profound observations about what it's like to be an early-career journalist in 2025.

Article examples

New York Press Club award-winning piece

https://nysfocus.com/2024/07/18/primecare-private-medical-contractor-jail-deaths

Gold mining story

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qvSugUUYYa6gUnJ6BrexfoSpzrxt9jiW/view

Laura can sing too - jazz and opera

Laura's salutes: Laurelai Ivanoff High Country News; Anna Lionis, Diana Haecker, and Nils Hahn of The Nome Nugget

Please support your local public radio station: adoptastation.org

Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at [email protected]

 Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org 

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com