This page is part of an undergraduate assignment at Davidson College
Introduction:
Alaska's geography and low person per square mile percentage requires the candidates to rely heavily on paid media; however, due to the national and state interest in this campaign, Alaskan voters will receive more information than a normal campaign through Alaska's one statewide media market and national news coverage. This will be beneficial to not only the voters but the candidates as well
Geography:
Alaska has the lowest population densities in the Union. The distance between Alaska's southeastern tip and southwestern tip is equivalent to the distance from Charleston, South Carolina to San Francisco, California (click here). Luckily 42% of the state's population resides in the city of Anchorage (Superstation 2004). The other two large cities are Fairbanks and Juneau. Each of the other designated cities have populations less than 10,000. It would be inefficient, expensive, and exhausting for the candidates to campaign in each of these cities extensively.
Alaska's geography is unique in that the central portion of the state is very mountainous, making travel difficult between inland towns. Alaska's territory also includes many islands and has more tidal coastline, an estimated 47,300 miles, than the coastline of the entire continental United States (Geography of Alaska). The geography of Alaska has huge politcal ramifications because the majoriy of the state's population resides in southeastern portion of the state. The candidate who can best relate to the interests of the voters in Alaska's three largest cities will more than likely win the election. This forces Murkowski and Knowles to use almost all of their personal campaign resources to this portion of the state.
Media Market:
In 1995, Bob Smith, owner of Alaska's SuperStation, combined the three largest media markets, Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks. Under one ownership, ABC Alaska's SuperStation reaches more households in Alaska than any other market with three full-time news bureaus in each of the cities. Reaching 527,180 Alaskans, Alaska's SuperStation reaches more citizens than any other station, but still leaves ove 100,000 citizens without access to statewide telvised news (Superstation 2004). Knowles and Murkowski both would be wise to advertise on cable news stations and other media outlets like the internet, radio, and newspapers, in addition to the SuperStation, because Alaskans are forced to attain news from other sources.
Conclusion:
While Alaska's difficult geography and weak media market prevent each candidate from being able to reach every voter in Alaska, it also helps the candidate to focus their attention to one main area in the state. Therefore, the election will hinge upon the candidate's ability to win the support of Alaska's three largest cities.
I pledge that this page was created for an undergraduate course in political science at Davidson College.
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Created: 9/9/2004. Last Updated: 9/10/2004