Alaska is a land of paradoxes. Vast and beautiful, yet geographically isolated. Culturally rich, yet digitally underserved. In many of our rural communities, connectivity remains a luxury rather than a given. While much of America thrives in a hyper-connected world, Alaska’s remote villages often fall behind due to limited internet access, expensive infrastructure, and a harsh climate that complicates technology deployment. This disparity is what we call the “digital divide” and it’s more than an inconvenience. Digital divide Alaska highlights the persistent gap in internet access and digital opportunities facing remote communities across the state. It’s a barrier to education, healthcare, communication, and economic progress. At the heart of addressing this challenge is a growing need for better technology coverage in remote Alaska and that’s where TheTundraDrums steps in.
Table of contents
- Understanding Alaska’s Digital Divide
- TheTundraDrums: Journalism as Infrastructure
- Power of Visuals: Making Technology Stories More Engaging
- Data-Driven Reporting: Ground Truth Journalism
- How Rural Alaskan Communities Access the Internet
- Tech for Cultural Preservation
- From Stories to Solutions
- Looking Forward: A Vision for Tech Equity
Understanding Alaska’s Digital Divide
Our state is unique. With over 82% of our communities not connected by roads, many villages are accessible only by boat or bush plane. According to the FCC, some parts of Alaska experience internet speeds nearly 30 times slower than the national average. In many areas, families pay exorbitant rates for unstable connections. As Amy Ahnaughuq Topkok, an Inupiaq educator, puts it: “Lower broadband speed forces you to change the way that you teach.
This divide leaves students cut off from online learning, elders unable to access telehealth services, and job seekers without digital tools. The cost of inaction is high: fewer opportunities, slower economic development, and further isolation.
TheTundraDrums: Journalism as Infrastructure
Unlike larger media outlets that occasionally glance our way, TheTundraDrums is rooted in the everyday experiences of rural Alaskans. It doesn’t just report on the digital divide it reports from within it. Through boots-on-the-ground storytelling, this Alaskan news platform shines a spotlight on both the hardships and the heroes behind tech access in the state. Whether it’s covering the challenges of students logging into virtual classrooms with spotty signals or highlighting villages experimenting with offline-first learning tools, TheTundraDrums captures how Alaska is reimagining online education amid limited connectivity.
Take for example their coverage of community-led broadband efforts. One piece followed how tribal councils in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta collaborated with nonprofits to bring satellite internet to local schools. Another highlighted a village library’s grassroots campaign to launch free coding classes for youth. These aren’t just stories; they’re catalysts.
As Governor Mike Dunleavy has said, “High-speed internet service in villages will increase opportunities for people to work, study and get health services remotely without leaving town.”
Power of Visuals: Making Technology Stories More Engaging
While researching digital access challenges in Alaska, this digital newspaper TheTundraDrums found that visuals, such as infographics, charts, and simple graphics, play a significant role in helping readers connect with complex topics.
For many remote communities where technical information can feel overwhelming, easy-to-understand visuals make learning about technology easier and more accessible. From showing internet speed gaps to illustrating the benefits of online education, TheTundraDrums uses graphics to tell clear, engaging, and impactful stories.
This tech-driven approach helps bridge the digital literacy gap, especially in areas where traditional long articles may not reach or resonate well. By combining strong visuals with meaningful data, Tundra Drums ensures that important technology conversations are read, understood, and remembered.
Data-Driven Reporting: Ground Truth Journalism
Another standout feature is TheTundraDrums’ reliance on local research. It doesn’t depend on recycled headlines; it builds narratives based on surveys, interviews, and community data. From documenting internet speed discrepancies across boroughs to mapping public tech resources like libraries and hotspots, the platform provides a granular, truthful lens on digital access. According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), rural communities like those in Alaska face the most significant gaps in internet connectivity. Their report highlights the growing need for broadband expansion.
This kind of journalism arms policymakers, educators, and nonprofits with data they can act on. As Senator Dan Sullivan has stated: “We want to seize this incredible opportunity… to fully connect every part of Alaska, every village, every community.”
This kind of journalism arms policymakers, educators, and nonprofits with data they can act on. As Senator Dan Sullivan has stated: “We want to seize this incredible opportunity… to fully connect every part of Alaska, every village, every community.”
How Rural Alaskan Communities Access the Internet
| Community | Primary Access Method | Challenges | Innovations/Responses |
| Bethel | Satellite Internet | High latency, weather disruptions | Community grant for new antennae |
| Nome | Mobile Data | Limited bandwidth | Coding camps with offline content |
| Utqiaġvik | Fiber in some areas | Infrastructure freeze issues | Local training for maintenance |
| Hooper Bay | No direct connection | Only public Wi-Fi in library | Youth-led hotspot-sharing initiative |
Tech for Cultural Preservation
TheTundraDrums also champions technology as a tool for safeguarding Alaska’s cultural heritage. From audio archives of native languages to video profiles of traditional crafts, the platform shows how modern tools can keep our stories alive.
Bernice Oyagak from Utqiaġvik put it best: “When we talk about the digital divide, it’s like what is that? Digital? We’re not even there yet.”
By featuring initiatives that blend innovation with identity, this community news site reframes tech as not just access, but empowerment.
From Stories to Solutions
Perhaps the most impactful role TheTundraDrums plays is that of a connector. By amplifying the efforts of local educators, technologists, and elders, it fosters community knowledge-sharing. A coding camp in Nome inspires one in Kotzebue. A grant success story in Bethel encourages another application in Dillingham.
Moreover, the platform itself becomes part of the infrastructure not physical fiber lines, but a network of shared information, urgency, and hope.
Looking Forward: A Vision for Tech Equity
As the federal government injects billions into broadband expansion, Alaska stands at a crossroads. TheTundraDrums is poised to play an even larger role as a watchdog, storyteller, and educator. There is talk of launching a podcast, expanding video journalism, and developing simple tech literacy guides for elders and youth alike.
The digital divide will not disappear overnight. But if there’s one thing this platform proves, it’s that information, when shared honestly and locally, is its own form of infrastructure. TheTundraDrums may be a digital newspaper, but its heartbeat is undeniably Alaskan.
And that’s how we bridge the gap. One story at a time.
