'Deadliest Catch' and Dutch Harbor: How Alaska has made journalism history
By Lauren Heyano

From its humble roots of paste-up newsprint to its development of news broadcasts, journalism has continuously evolved as technology progresses, but also as ways of life change. Journalism changes lives, it seems, but lives also change journalism. In Alaska, it is reality television that has now taken on new journalistic roles to reach an audience captivated by other, faraway lifestyles, and an audience who may not want to read a newspaper or a book about them.

In 2005 Discovery introduced "Deadliest Catch," a reality television series that follows captains and crew members of crab fishing vessels based out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The series is a hit for the same reasons that other reality television shows are successful: it features characters and lives that intrigue many, there is seemingly some danger involved in the stories, and the show introduces unfamiliar territory to an entire country of people becoming increasingly captivated by Alaska. However, "Deadliest Catch" is also different and special in that it covers things other reality television shows have not dealt with before. Injuries, even death, are topics that are covered not as mere possibilities, but as realities.

"Of all the reality shows, 'Deadliest Catch' is by far the realest; people have actually died on it. In the first season one of the featured boats, the Big Valley - top-heavy with stacked pots - wallowed and then sank, drowning all but one of its crew," wrote Charles McGrath in a New York Times article.

This was written in April 2008, even before the show was faced with the difficult task of telling the story of Captain Phil Harris' death on February 9, 2010. Harris' struggle, and the effects on his two sons Josh and Jake Harris, was documented in season six of the reality show. Viewers had followed Harris since the beginning of the show, and thus had a vested interest in the outcome of his life beyond television. This made the expansive coverage of his illness, death, and family he left behind unprecedented.
"Deadliest Catch" creators have had to ask themselves questions of true journalism: How do we tell facts of tragedy?

"Deadliest Catch has the best storytelling on television," said Clark Bunting, President and General Manager of the Discovery Channel, in a March 2, 2011 press release. "Our captains and crews are real, raw and magnetic characters who bring an intense and honest reality to everything in their world."

However, what is the line between storytelling and journalism? When non-Alaskans watch "Deadliest Catch," are they receiving accurate information?

Tim Mahoney, a Harbor Officer with the City of Unalaska for twelve and a half years and an Unalaska resident for sixteen years, recognizes the potential dramatization of events in "Deadliest Catch" while also expressing his appreciation for the show.

"I think that through all of those things the Discovery Channel and the production team are getting paid for producing drama so of course with anything that's on TV they're going to emphasize the dramatic," he said. "So while all those things were tragic, I think in general you know it's good TV when bad things happen...But in general we love to see the production team here, and the crews, and it's really been great to highlight the seafood industry in Alaska."

Mahoney also pointed out that "during the run of the show the crab rationalization came into effect." This change from derby-style fishing to individual fishing quotas (IFQs) was huge for the crab industry in Alaska. IFQs are meant to make fishing safer because fishing vessels need only to make their quota and return home; they can take more time to fish but cannot catch more fish than their quotas allow for. Crab rationalization also decreased the crab fleet from 250 boats to about 64. This type of coverage is an impressive documentation of an Alaskan event that may have otherwise gone unrecognized, and can be applied to other areas of Alaska.

Already Discovery Channel has featured other Alaskan ways of life in shows such as "Flying Wild Alaska," which documents the Tweto family as they operate Era Alaska; in doing so the Discovery Channel also highlights the use of bush planes in Alaska that have been instrumental in many historical Alaskan events. The Discovery Channel also hosts "Gold Rush Alaska," and another of its networks, The Learning Channel (TLC) created "Sarah Palin's Alaska."

Discovery Channel's goals are stated on corporate.discovery.com: "In keeping with its mission, Discovery is dedicated to satisfying curiosity and making a difference in people's lives through our content, our talent, our viewers, our employees and our practices."

Discovery has indeed fulfilled much of its mission. "Deadliest Catch" - and in many ways Alaska - has opened up a window of opportunity for journalism, and has proven to some that reality television can in fact be used to reach new audiences and to approach new topics with positive effect. One only has to look as far as Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

Season seven of "Deadliest Catch" airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Discovery Channel.