Elizabeth Arnold Obituary, JUNEAU, ALASKA — Elizabeth Arnold, a respected American journalist, former NPR national political correspondent, and influential Alaska-based media figure, has died. She was widely recognized for her decades of reporting in national politics, Arctic issues, and public broadcasting journalism.
Arnold built a distinguished career with National Public Radio (NPR), where she served as a Washington bureau correspondent and national political reporter for approximately 17 years. During her time at NPR, she became known for in-depth political coverage that earned her multiple honors, including the Joan Shorenstein Barone Award from Harvard, a duPont-Columbia Silver Baton, and the Dirksen Award for distinguished congressional reporting.
After leaving NPR in 2006, Arnold returned to Alaska, where she continued her work in journalism and education. She contributed reporting for KTOO Public Media and focused extensively on Arctic-related issues, combining field reporting with academic research and public communication about northern communities and climate-related developments.
In addition to her journalism career, Arnold served in academia as a professor and Chair of the Department of Journalism and Communication at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She was also involved in developing Arctic-focused media resources, including creating the website ArcticProfiles.com with support from the National Park Service.
Arnold’s work continued to bridge national and local media, with contributions to NPR and Public Radio International (PRI), as well as fellowships and research initiatives, including a Harvard Shorenstein Center fellowship in 2018. Her reporting and teaching influenced both emerging journalists and public understanding of Arctic and political issues.
She is remembered as a pioneering journalist whose career spanned major national political coverage and dedicated reporting on Alaska and the Arctic. Her legacy remains in the newsroom, classroom, and in the many journalists she mentored and inspired.
May she rest in peace.
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