Happy Holidays, Verified News Community!
I’m VNN’s Brittany Harlow with your quick December News Byte.
It’s been a busy month for us, topping off a great year!
We’ve been looking back at our work at Verified News.
From our FATE event with trauma impacted women last spring to our sold-out Exploring Indigenous Allyship dinner in November, we have remained committed to connecting with and serving our community members directly.
Nationwide, more than 25,000 people viewed our stories over 47,000 times!
Our impact is made possible thanks to our hard-working journalists. Not only me, but Rachael Schuit, Trista Vaughn, Jessica Penn, Cait Medearis and Rocky Brown.
Make sure to check out Rocky’s December news story about a dance studio promoting representation for Black and brown youth if you haven’t already.Â
And we couldn’t paint a full picture of our communities without our VNN affiliates. Honorable mention goes to Osage News, Mvskoke Media, and Broken Arrow Sentinel for their dedicated collaborations in 2023.
Our investigative series Stealing Tvlse with LHRI won two awards this year. Thanks, RevContent and LION!Â
In other exciting news, VNN was accepted into the Builders and Backers Stepping Stones program this month. I will be traveling to Arkansas to kick that business development program off in January.Â
Speaking of 2024, our partners at Osage News have their own exciting projects going on, relating to the blockbuster film Killers of the Flower Moon.Â
Following the cast and crew receiving seven Golden Globes nominations, Osage News will be having a Watch Party on January 7. Tickets are also now on sale for their Killers of the Flower Moon bus tour with KOSU in February.
Our Native Commerce News story, presented by the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma, highlighted Leadership Native Oklahoma. Applications are open now to be part of the LNO 2024 Class.Â
And a new kind of class begins at VNN this February - our Citizen Journalism Project for underserved community members!Â
This program, made possible by the Oklahoma Media Center, will pay Tulsa community members up to $600 to learn about journalism and write an article to be published on our network. Applications are due by January 5.Â
Apply to the first 2024 Citizen Journalism Project cohort here.
Thank you for your support, Verified News Community. This year, the month, and this very moment. Find more news from our VNN collaborators in the VNN News Feed, on our YouTube channel, and by signing up for our free email news and updates.
For VNN, I’m Brittany Harlow. Have a great rest of your holiday season. We will see you in the new year!Â