VNN This Month In America | December 2021

Thank you for another amazing year!

Happy last week of the year! I’m Brittany Harlow here for VNN’s This Month in America December 2021. 

We’re easing our way into the tech of the future- and taking you with us. 

This month’s stories about Web3 and an Oklahoma virtual reality center ahead of its time are just the beginning. VNN’s got more technology news coming soon, including what this revolution will mean for our network in the future. 

Here in Oklahoma, our participation in the Oklahoma Media Center’s Promised Land series continued with our story about the battle over mining rights following last year’s McGirt ruling from the Supreme Court. We’re also producing and advocating for more community news from the indigenous perspective. 

Our VNN partner journalists have been hard at work. 

New VNN Oklahoma Journalist Jennah James talked about staying sober through the holidays.

In Michigan, VNN Journalist Rachael Schuit shared a small business checkup and gave us the scoop about a thriving art community.

And in New York, Rocky Brown gave us a sneak peek of Til Don’, an end-of-the-year mixtape by local rapper Donny Amour.

In other network news, VNN’s new game Code Catchers debuted this month. Riley Gunter from Oklahoma won this month’s $100 prize. Will you be next? Find codes in VNN stories and enter them online to be entered to win.  

Our new series Love and Protect also debuted this month. This bi-weekly series provides safety tips and expert advice to help protect yourself and those you love most- presented by KO Fitness and Firearms in Henryetta, Oklahoma!

We can’t forget Cannabis Weekly, presented by Elevate Holistics for the last four months. VNN had a great year thanks to these sponsorships.

But most importantly, we had a great year because of you. Our Verified News Community.

Our YouTube channel has grown to more than 450 subscribers with more than 90,000 video views and more than 3,000 hours watched.

And let us not forget our own dedicated mobile experience- the new VNN app. Our improved first-of-its-kind social news media. We’ve shared more than 500 stories from journalists and news affiliates across the country, and 30,000+ people have viewed them over 50,000 times.

Want to get more involved in our work? Just head to verifiednews.network and click on the “Get Involved” button.

We have great plans for 2022. I’ll meet you there!