Jake Howarth
Jake Howarth is a multimedia journalist with Yukon News whose reporting sits at the intersection of education, justice, and everyday community life. Alongside a stated focus on stories from the courts and local sporting events, he covers the education beat with attention to how governance and operations affect schools. His work on the education review panel’s first report into breakdowns in school operations shows a preference for systemic stories over isolated classroom anecdotes. Across articles on school safety, court proceedings, police oversight, local infrastructure, and sports, he follows how decisions made in institutions shape the experience of residents.
Education review and school operations
On the education beat, Howarth concentrates on the mechanics of how the school system functions rather than on individual lessons or personalities.
His coverage of the education review panel’s first report on breakdowns in school operations reflects an interest in the structure of the education department, the distribution of authority, and the consequences when those structures fail. Reporting on the panel’s findings about miscommunication, toxic working relationships between schools and the department, and fear of reprisals positions the piece firmly in the realm of governance and organizational culture rather than surface-level controversy. By drawing out details such as confusing organizational charts and heavy political interference in day-to-day school operations, he anchors the story in the machinery that sits behind classrooms and school boards.
He also links education to public safety, as in his coverage of Whitehorse schools being briefly locked down after RCMP responded to a firearms report in Riverdale. Taken together, his education reporting focuses on how power, policy, and oversight affect the stability and safety of schools.
Courts, crime and police oversight
Howarth’s stated focus on courts is reflected in a steady run of crime and justice coverage, where he follows cases through key procedural milestones. He reports on a Whitehorse man pleading guilty to multiple firearms and drug trafficking offences, concentrating on the charges and the outcome in court rather than treating the case as a brief police blotter item.
Sentencing coverage, such as the story of a Dawson City man receiving an 18‑month sentence for sexual assault, shows him tracking how the justice system responds to serious offences and what penalties are imposed. His reporting extends beyond individual defendants to institutional accountability, exemplified by coverage of the police oversight agency confirming an investigation into a fatal Yukon RCMP shooting.
He also covers RCMP operations more broadly, including the arrest of a Whitehorse man for an armed robbery at the Edgewater Hotel and the foiling of an attempt to smuggle drugs and alcohol into Old Crow. Across these pieces, he consistently frames crime stories within the formal processes of law enforcement and oversight, positioning courts and police accountability as a central strand of his work.
Community incidents, infrastructure and local economy
Beyond education and justice, Howarth reports on incidents and projects that shape day‑to‑day life and the local economy.
His story on a dog rescued from a suspected sinkhole near a Whitehorse dog park shows his willingness to cover unusual safety hazards and emergency responses that matter to residents at ground level. He brings similar attention to long‑term infrastructure, reporting on plans for a Watson Lake solar farm through an inside look from the construction manager, highlighting how energy projects are conceived and communicated to the public.
In business coverage, he reports on ColdAcre Food Systems closing due to financial strain linked to a landslide at Victoria Gold, tracing how a single industrial event can cascade into challenges for local food production. His work also touches on territorial finance and governance, as in coverage of a $2.46‑billion budget where Dixon warns the territory has hit its debt cap, placing financial constraints alongside policy choices.
Leadership stories such as the election of Elizabeth Bosely as the first woman Chief of the Teslin Tlingit Council show his interest in how political and community roles are changing over time. This strand of his reporting connects infrastructure, environmental risk, business viability, and governance decisions into a coherent picture of how institutions affect everyday economic and civic life.
Local sports and individual achievement
Sports coverage is another recurring element in Howarth’s work, aligning with his stated focus on local sporting events. He reports on Yukoner Gavin McKenna helping to propel the Medicine Hat Tigers to a WHL championship, framing the story around a local athlete’s performance on a larger stage. In such pieces he highlights both the competitive achievement and the significance of that success for the home community, treating sports as part of the broader civic story rather than a separate entertainment beat.
This sports reporting sits alongside his court and community work, reinforcing a picture of a journalist who documents how residents participate in institutions ranging from the justice system to professional leagues.
Across these strands, Howarth’s distinguishing trait is his focus on systems and consequences: how education departments, courts, police, governments, and teams operate, and what those operations mean for people directly affected by them. His coverage moves between education governance, criminal proceedings, public safety incidents, infrastructure projects, business closures, political leadership and sports, with each story grounded in concrete events and institutional decisions rather than abstract commentary.
4 more education journalists.
Abby Russchen
Abby Russchen ties education, community institutions and individual stories together, showing how policies and decisions register in people’s lives. She reports for CBC on education and community life, working across text, video and photography for different CBC platforms. Her education coverage centres student achievement, provincial and national test results, classroom technology and the forces shaping learning conditions, connecting policy language and expert analysis to observable changes in performance. She treats AI, screens and digital tools as part of the education beat, focusing on their impact on student well-being. She also reports on community institutions and local services, from bank closures and changing city status to small-business growth. Her human-interest features follow people, public memory and recognition, and her long-form background supports detailed, fact-grounded narratives across formats.
Alexa Phillips
Alexa Phillips reports on education as a financial system, tracing who pays, who benefits and who bears the risk when policy changes reshape schools and universities. She covers education policy, funding and regulation for The i Paper, with a consistent focus on money, power and their impact on students and staff. Her reporting follows fees, budgets and reform into classrooms and lecture halls, using concrete figures to show how tax changes, funding mechanisms and loan reforms translate into course cuts, job losses and access. Phillips brings wider experience on public services and regulation, including work on gambling oversight and healthcare access, so education sits in a larger accountability story. She writes straightforward, reported news pieces that combine policy detail, financial data and case studies, built from official records and regular call‑outs to readers affected by the systems she covers.
Alexandra Holyk
Alexandra Holyk is a multi-skilled journalist at CTV News who reports on education and youth issues through the daily lives of students, families, and local communities. She covers school and campus decisions, student safety, youth behaviour, and neighbourhood incidents, with a focus on how they affect the people directly involved. Her work includes stories on graduation choices, concerns about Black students in a school board, federal research funding at the University of Waterloo, and students who helped after a cyclist collision. She also covers vandalism and other local disruptions around schools and neighbourhoods. Holyk pitches, researches, shoots, writes, edits, and presents stories for broadcast and digital platforms. Her previous work includes video journalism for provincial coverage, along with reporting for campus and regional outlets and major Canadian newspapers and business media.
Annabelle Olivier
Annabelle Olivier ties system-level themes in Quebec’s school system to the immediate realities of parents and students, treating education as a lived experience rather than an abstract policy field. She is a digital journalist with CBC News, covering education and related public policy. Her work spans data breaches and digital privacy in schools, institutional conflicts and labour disputes that disrupt study plans, education on the campaign trail, and school infrastructure and land use. She reports on incidents like mass emails exposing sensitive parent data, suspended classes that leave students feeling like bargaining chips, and proposals to turn racetracks into schools. Her background in digital production at another major Canadian broadcaster shapes an online-first reporting style, grounded in specific incidents, clear descriptions, and detailed, verifiable facts drawn from documents, statements and interviews.