Heartbeat Alaska

Heartbeat Alaska is a documentary series that aired on Alaska Public Media[1] from 1990 to 2010. The series was produced by Iñupiat journalist Jeanie Greene[2][3] and showcased the lives of Alaska Natives, as well as their contemporary cultural practices, settlements, and issues facing their communities. Episodes featured news not just pertinent to Alaska Natives but occasionally also from other indigenous peoples across North America. Each episode was hosted by Jeanie Greene, who narrated home videos sent from various Alaskan communities featured on each episode.

The series was commended by Governor Wally Hickel as "fill[ing] a tremendous need in broadcasting not only for Alaska's Native residents but for many other Native American groups, as well as for others around the globe."[4]

The series aired all over Alaska, Navajo Nation, Canada, Greenland, and even the Far East of Russia,[5] who picked up Alaska satellite signals. The series was digitized by the Sequoyah Research Center[6] as part of the Jeanie Green collection and made available on their Youtube channel.[3] The center received a $24,000 grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council to fund the digitization.[7][6]

Awards

References

  1. ^ Media, Alaska Public (July 5, 2012). "Heartbeat Alaska". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  2. ^ "CULTURE : Alaska TV Show Plugs Into Life in Native Villages : 'Heartbeat Alaska' attracts a huge audience with a homespun mix of news and amateur videos". Los Angeles Times. April 28, 1994. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Greene-Blye, M.; Pursche, N. (2025). ""It's Like an Alien Planet—You Never See Yourself on TV": How Inupiat Journalist Jeanie Greene's Heartbeat Alaska and Northern Lives Equipped and Empowered Alaska Native Visibility and Narrative Sovereignty". Journalism History: 1–20. doi:10.1080/00947679.2025.2530999.Full access available to users of The Wikipedia Library.
  4. ^ Briller, Bert (Spring 1994). "For the Forty-ninth State, a New Kind of Television" (PDF). Television Quarterly. 27 (2). National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences: 57–64. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  5. ^ "Fife joins staff of 'Heartbeat Alaska'". Anchorage Daily News. January 4, 1994. p. 15. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Holtz, Jennifer (January 20, 2017). "ANCRC Grant awarded to digitize Jeanie Greene Collection". Sequoyah National Research Center. Retrieved October 6, 2025.
  7. ^ Russell, Emily (April 13, 2017). "Tlingit and Haida students in Arkansas help archive Jeanie Greene videos". Alaska Public Media. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  8. ^ "Press club doles out awards: Media around the state honored for outstanding coverage". Anchorage Daily News. April 21, 2003. p. B7.

Further reading

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