We launched a journalism program for everyday citizens. A class full of influencers showed up.

(TULSA, Okla.) Every Thursday night for five weeks, Verified News Network (VNN) Director Brittany Harlow walked into the Tulsa Dream Center to teach the first participants of VNN’s Citizen Journalism Project cohort.

“I expected just your average citizens,” Harlow said. “I did not expect studied writers who had already built up somewhat of a following.” 

The Citizen Journalism Project was created to educate everyday people in media and news literacy and train them to become journalists in their communities, with a curriculum tailored to underserved and underrepresented populations.

Harlow said her team modified the curriculum as the program progressed due to the level of participant expertise, allowing a more nuanced learning experience for everyone involved. 

Though the program was advertised as taking place in Tulsa, seats were filled with community influencers from as far as Anadarko, seeking to make a difference through reporting. 

85 percent of participants were Indigenous. All were women. 

“We strive to work with the community members who are represented the least across Oklahoma’s news ecosystem,” Harlow said. “And we hit that target 100 percent with this program.”  

Partnering with community influencers was identified in a study conducted for the Oklahoma Media Center (OMC) as a possible solution to increase trust in news. The study found that “These influencers already have social capital and can serve as vital entry points for community engagement.”

Oklahoma’s Media Ecosystem research also found news consumers are less likely to trust outsiders and more likely to trust news that comes from citizens who are engaged with the community, something VNN aims to achieve with its Citizen Journalism Program. 

Additionally, Oklahoma’s News Media Ecosystem: Phase II Research found that Oklahomans are increasingly receiving their news on social media. According to a December 2022 survey of 500 Oklahomans, 41% reported consuming news on social media. 77% of respondents mentioned getting news on Facebook. 

After completing five weeks of media and news training, Citizen Journalism Participants were then tasked with researching and writing their own news stories and publishing them on the free VNN app, VNN’s social media platform designed exclusively for verified news. 

Harlow said their team is currently in the process of expanding the Citizen Journalism Project to allow for additional cohorts and online training. 

Meet VNN’s Verified Citizen Journalists

Whitney Pingleton (Muscogee Creek/Yuchi/Cherokee) is bilingual and works as a community systems advocate in the Maternal Child Health Sector. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and a Master’s in Indigenous People’s Law. One of her most recent projects has been to organize the upcoming Blood At The Roots Conference at Oklahoma State University - Tulsa relating to BIPOC inequity in education, health and justice. Her first VNN story covered Muscogee by blood and Freedmen issues.   

Frances Danger (Mvskoke/Semvnole) is a published journalist who has written for Mvskoke Media, Oklahoma Gazette, OKC.net, and Red Dirt Report. Danger writes on issues of racism, cultural appropriation, Native rights, as well as investigative reporting. She joined the cohort to hone her skills for reporting on Indigeneity affairs both locally and nationwide. Danger’s first VNN story detailed Indigenous opposition to the planned Westwin Elements Refinery. 

Rosario Chico is dedicated to supporting domestic violence survivors following her own difficult past. Her case received national attention after she obtained a protective order and fled her abuser with her children to Arkansas in 2022. Her children were taken from her after she was arrested at a women’s shelter and has been fighting for justice since. Chico, who has worked previously as a television producer, is currently a Child Welfare Worker for the Department of Health Services (DHS) as well as the Criminal Justice Committee Chair for the Tulsa Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 

Rochelle RedBone Arebalo (Apache/Comanche) is the MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) Indian Capital Chapter Chairperson, often working across multiple states to help victims and their families receive the support they need. She said it is her mission to ensure that Native Women are not overlooked and forgotten.

Tatianna Duncan (Muscogee Creek/Cherokee) is the founder of the Lucinda Hickory Research Institute (LHRI). Her work is primarily focused on researching Allotment Era crime and injustice in Tulsa, and has been featured in the investigative series “Stealing Tvlse” in partnership with VNN Oklahoma. Duncan is also the President of the Tulsa Chapter for the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma (AICCO). Duncan’s first VNN story covered a Human Trafficking Forum held in March.

VNN also had two professionals audit the Citizen Journalism Project, Dr. Rosemary Avance and VNN Journalist Trista Vaughn. 

Avance (Cherokee/Delaware Tribe) is an assistant professor at the School of Media and Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University. She designed, implemented and analyzed the study for Oklahoma’s News Media Ecosystem: Phase II Research with Allyson Shortle, associate professor of political science and co-founder of the University of Oklahoma’s Community Engagement and Experiments Lab.

Vaughn (United Keetoowah Band/Hualapai/Chickasaw) joined the VNN team in February 2023. She graduated from Northeastern State University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies with an emphasis in Public Relations and in 2020 with a Master of Arts in Communication. Trista volunteers for Mvscokee Mentor and Tahlequah Area Coalition for the Homeless and is a member of the Alpha Sigma Alpha Sorority Alumna, ONABEN Girl Talk, and Oklahoma Council for Indian Education. She served as Miss Keetoowah 2013.

Stories from VNN Citizen Journalists can be found in the VNN News Feed.