Introducing the VNN News Byte

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Hello, Verified News Community! And welcome to VNN’s first News Byte. I’m Brittany Harlow from VNN Oklahoma, here to show you what’s been going on for the last month.

As you may have noticed, there’s been a few updates and upgrades to how things run around here.

If you subscribe to our newsletter or social platforms, you already knew they were coming.

Some of the biggest changes: no more weekly VNN Lives, but we will be holding more livestreams in the future.

We’re also embracing our locality with the launch of individual state media sites, starting with VNN Oklahoma.

Plus, enhanced, dedicated in-depth reporting of issues and perspectives you don’t get anywhere else.

Despite the name change, this segment is still our monthly news roundup. And we had a full month in September.

Indigenous news will be the main focus of news in Oklahoma through the end of the year, kickstarted with our news series “Stealing Tvlse”.

The first in this series premiered last month, and we’ve been hard at work with our series collaborator the Lucinda Hickory Research Institute on the next installment.

Your donation to help fund "Stealing Tvlse" is now tax-deductible thanks to VNN's participation in the 2022 Local News Fund. Click to give.  

VNN Oklahoma attended an interim study on criminalized survivorship at the State Capitol this month, drawing attention to the rise of domestic abuse and prison sentences for abused women in the state.

That story ties in to one of our most recent, an investigation into why tens of millions of dollars that should be going to rehab justice involved people for the last several years hasn’t, sponsored by Just The Beginning, Inc. in Tulsa.

We’re grateful for a new VNN Oklahoma affiliate this month. Our warmest welcome to the Broken Arrow Sentinel.

They’ve already been sharing some great stories through the Verified News Network, joining the ranks of The Frontier, Mvskoke Media, The Black Wall Street Times, and Big If True. All parts of VNN Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, VNN Michigan Journalist Rachael Schuit has been holding it down in the Great Lakes State.

She tells us how the City of Grand Rapids is holding events coinciding with ArtPrize, happening now. And shares how an Arizona artist is bringing the story of migrant humanity to them.

That’s all for our first News Byte, friends. Thank you for being a part of this and everything we do at VNN. Subscribe to our channel and our newsletter if you haven’t already. And be on the lookout for our official VNN Oklahoma web launch coming in October!