Former KDLG reporter Hannah Colton died at age 29 earlier this month. Colton came to Dillingham in 2015, where her career as a radio journalist began. Colton will be remembered as a compassionate, empathetic storyteller and person.
Hannah Colton will be remembered as a compassionate, empathetic storyteller and person. Colton worked for a year as a journalist in Bristol Bay, going to bat for the concerns of the community.
Dave Bendinger was the news director at KDLG when Colton was hired as a reporter in 2015.
“It’s hard to sort of put to words how dedicated she was to the tasks that she had at hand," Bedinger said. "And how skillfully she went about them. She was really unique and very well suited for the job. She brought great integrity to everything she did.”
Colton’s passion for the people of Bristol Bay shined in her work.
She wrote about underpaid teachers in the Bristol Bay Borough and Dillingham school districts. She told the stories of Alaska Natives, from an Elder rescuing his relatives by snowmachine to the traditions of the first salmon fish of the season. She called out proposed state budget cuts to home heating assistance that would leave households in need without subsidized heating.
Here is Colton covering the closure of “Myspace,” a former youth wellness center in Dillingham.
“Keeping kids off drugs is a high priority at Myspace," Colton wrote. "Even smelling like cigarettes is against the rules. But fifteen-year-old Anna Rae Petla says the center can also help with just the day-to-day challenges of being a teenager."
“I like Myspace because they help you with schoolwork and how to understand things when you’re alone — when you feel alone but you’re not alone," Petla said to Colton. "I don’t know what I would do if Myspace has closed.”
Colton’s knack for storytelling had colleagues across the state tuning in to hear her stories. Anna Rose McArthur is the news director at KYUK, a public radio station in Bethel.
“It didn’t matter what she was reporting on, I wanted to listen," McArthur said. "She had the ability to bring out the depths in people. To be able to share those quotes that do the best that radio can do in connecting one human to another.”
McArthur says she only met Colton once, at the annual Alaska Press Club conference in Anchorage.
“The last night is essentially a big party and we just danced," she said. "We danced for hours. She was one of the few people on the dance floor for hours. Being around her you felt more alive, she had that charisma, that magnetism.”
Matt Martin, a former KDLG reporter, was hired at the same time as Colton. Before the two made their way
to the region, they quickly bonded over their shared excitement for a new beginning.
“We learned how to make radio in Dillingham and KDLG," Martin said. "It was just really exciting for me, as someone who knew her at the very beginning of her career, to watch her develop into this really intrepid and great passionate reporter.”
Colton and Martin’s friendship blossomed outside of the newsroom, too. Colton was a musician, a hobby that Martin shares. He recalls a memory of them visiting a cabin on Lake Aleknagik sometime in July, jamming together with other community members.
“And we just spent the night playing music on the shore," he said. "It was 12:30 at night and the sun was just starting to set. As someone new to Alaska that was like a mind-blowing experience to still have the sun up at midnight. And I had a 5:00 a.m. radio shift but ya know, I didn’t care. I was going to spend all the time out there playing music with my friends watching the sunset over a lake. That will be another one of my like, forever Hannah in Alaska memories.”
After leaving Bristol Bay, Colton went on to work as the education reporter and interim news director at KUNM, a public radio station in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Colton was on the frontlines covering Black Lives Matter marches, she challenged institutional systems in the community that furthered inequality and continued to fight for Indigenous Peoples'. Her pursuit to uncover injustice never waned.
Colton’s voice, craft and presence will be missed by many. She struggled with depression and was an advocate for mental health. She believed that healing from traumas of injustice in our society was possible. Not alone, but together.
People can go to Facebook and search “Memorial for Hannah Colton” featuring a slideshow of photos of Colton with friends, by Shannon Walker. You can also visit memorialforhannah.com. If you are someone who is experiencing depression, help is available.
• The National Crisis Hotline is 1-800-273-TALK (8-2-5-5).
• Call 24/7 You can also text the National Crisis Text Line at 7-4-1-7-4-1.
• Call 24/7 In Bristol Bay: Behavioral Health at the Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation can be reached at 907-842-1230.
• Services are available after hours, holidays and weekends by calling 907-842-5201.
Contact the author at tyler@kdlg.org or call 907-842-2200