Alaska Daily Series Premiere – Seeking Out Justice Through Authentic Journalism

Alaska Daily has the makings of ABC’s newest hit drama.

The series has a lot going for it—two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank, beautiful scenery, and diverse characters seeking out the stories that matter to local journalism. 

But most importantly, it’s tackling the murders of indigenous women that happen all too often and are swept under the rug and ignored by police, political figures, and everyone in between. It’s the story that Big Sky should’ve told in its first season but failed to.

Overall, the premiere of Alaska Daily is solid intro to the series, including Eileen Fitzgerald, a ruthless and stone-cold reporter in New York who has had an impressive career before it all comes crashing down when she publishes a scathing report about a general who rips apart her source. It’s hard to feel bad for Eileen during this scandal considering how rude and dismissive she was to the research fact-checker who tried to convince her to hold off on publishing. This was of her own doing. And though her gut was right about the general being a bad man, you can’t lead with your gut. She isn’t Olivie Pope. The narrative that the public was latching onto that she was abusive towards women also didn’t work in her favor. Abusive seemed rather harsh, but she was definitely not the friendly co-worker you’d like to grab lunch with, that’s for sure. She was, as the youths would say, cancelled. And when she refused to retract and re-write the story, she found herself out of a job. 

It was a huge wake up call for Eileen, who was quite entitled. She believed she could do no wrong because she earned it; she paid her dues, as she told Stanley when he came to encourage her to take a job in Anchorage, Alaska. She thought that going to a local paper was playing for the minor leagues, but without many options being offered to her—and with the investigative journalist fire still burning deeply within her—she accepted the job and hopped on a plane. One panic attack later, she was in the dingy newsroom (one I’ve seen all too many times while working in local TV news) to tackle the story of Gloria’s disappearance and learn just why local journalism still matters, sometimes more than the big leagues.

Gloria’s murder was just the tip of the iceberg as she was just one of many indigenous women that have suffered a similar fate, but her mother, Sylvie, wasn’t all that willing to talk considering how the paper previously covered her story. That’s when Stanley pulled yet another card from his pocket, teaming up Eileen’s one-woman show with Roz, a native woman who had a personal connection to the story as her cousin Laura was also a cold-case murder. These two are going to do incredible things and be a source of inspiration and guidance for each other, I feel it. 

Eileen’s no-bullshit attitude came in handy in the newsroom; it was the wakeup call they needed to put pressure on Anchorage PD to comply and for reporters to pursue a story no matter the fallout because it’s important and it’s necessary. Based on that ending scene with Luna, Eilenee is going to be a great mentor for everyone here, directly contributing to the rise of more incredible journalists who believe in the value of the story. 

However, it’s clear that she has plenty to learn here as well, and it would be wise to sometimes take a step back and listen to the people who know the land and know the locals.

In her few short days, she also managed to piss a lot of people off, including Bob, the assistant editor, and a concerned citizen, who made a rather threatening call telling her to hightail it back to New York and stop causing trouble. The unidentified male could be anyone—but it seems as though the person truly doesn’t want her to investigate Gloria’s death out of fear that she has what it takes to  uncover the truth. 

My money is on Jamie, the man Eileen meets at the bar. The pilot poet is charming, but it’s all too coincidental that the woman who neer really shared her life with anyone immediately fell into a relationship with the first man to buy her a drink. I’ve watched enough television shows to know when it seems too shady. Though, I hope I am wrong about Jamie because the view from his place was stunning. 

There was a point when the pilot got a little too stuffy. While Luna’s big story was interesting as it uneaethered the corruption within the Alaskan Investment Fund with Teller‚ which directly impacted the people, while also revealing his personal affair, it could have been saved for a later episode. It would have made a bigger impact and likely not overwhelmed audiences. We were just getting to know Eileen, discover her story, and meet her new team—it was too much.  

But with Eileeen around, it seems as The Daily Alaskan will finally go back to breaking hard-hitting stories, regianing the trust of the public, getting more pageviews, and stirring up a lot of controversy in the process–which seems to be on-brand for Eileen. 

I love that the series gives an unfiltered look at the inner workings of an authentic newsroom, while also championing journalists for showing up day in and day out even when things get tough. It’s not something we see on TV often, but it’s a good reminder of what goes into the work. Journalism is not dead. I love that we get Jeff Perry back on our screens every Thursday night. You’ve been missed. And I love that the series seems dedicated to tackling mental health and panic attacks in an honest way, which is often ignored or glossed over but affects so many people on a daily basis. 

I’m eager to see the headway Eileen and Roz make while pursuing justice for their victims, I’m intrigued to get to know the supporting characters a bit more because there seem to be a lot of promising personalities, and I’m wondering if we’ll ever see Eileen’s previous life and story rear its head again. 

What did you think of the Alaska Daily premiere? Were you impressed? Will you be tuning in again next week?