Alaska Daily is a new drama series starring Academy Award winners Hillary Swank and Tom McCarthy. The production aspires to encourage discussion on some important social issues, particularly the violence against Native women in the United States. For many viewers, watching this show may be their first opportunity to learn about these issues. The topic is rarely discussed on American media properties and some of the show’s future audience may not have known any details on the topic prior to watching the program. Alaska Daily is produced by ABC, who has a staff of writers and producers who are committed to shining a spotlight on stories that need to be told. They look forward to the challenge of educating, enlightening, and growing an audience that is socially aware and who wants to bring about change.
Swank’s character is an investigative journalist who works at a daily metro paper in Alaska. She discovers some information that has a social impact on the locals. She finds an unresolved case for a missing Native girl named Gloria.The character will be depicted as a relatable figure who may be like some of the show’s audience members, as they both will be interacting with these stories for the first time.
ABC Entertainment’s executive vice president of programming and content strategy, Simran Sethi, said that the production was inspired by a series of articles published by the Anchorage Daily News. She described the lack of media attention on issues affecting the lives of Native women and she recommended for ABC to pick up the show.
“I think the idea that this crisis isn’t talked about much in that we don’t talk about it on TV very often certainly was a big part of us wanting to do this,” Sethi said in an interview with Variety. “So there is all of that while still making a character drama for ABC that has all the hallmarks of a character drama from ABC. There’s the workplace element, there’s rivalries and friendships and the office dynamics, there’s romance. It’s got all those hallmarks at the same time. I think the writers have done a really deft job of exploring these issues, the systemic issues with this crisis, the overall murder mystery that is uncovering who killed Gloria, and the history of why the system’s broken. It’s still very entertaining but very impactful.”
Some television critics and analysts suggest ABC is creating something like the network hasn’t in the past and it may find it has pressure to live up to what the show promises to be for audiences. Sethi does not believe that the premiere will be a pressured event. “I think that candidly, the pressure I feel is because it feels like an important story,” she said.
“I think this project was really about telling the story of journalists as heroes,” she continued. “And I think it’s talking about how journalists are at the frontline of exposing so many faults in our system. And I think the tenor of the discussion of this profession over the past few years felt like it was worth emphasizing the heroism that goes with doing the job.”
Alaska Daily premieres Oct. 6 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. It will also stream on Hulu.
