Inaugural Oklahoma Local News Summit set for Oct. 23 in Tulsa

This one-day celebration of local news and the public’s right to know is a collaborative fundraiser, training event and three-way awards ceremony presented by the three nonprofits. The collaborative event will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Pocahontas Greadington Learning and Creativity Center (Lower Level 2) in the Central Library in downtown Tulsa. The day will feature coffee and baked goods for breakfast, catered lunch and heavy hors d’oeuvres late afternoon, as well as a drink ticket and cash bar during the awards.

The day will begin with FOI’s annual First Amendment Congress discussing 250 years of press freedom and what’s at stake for Oklahoma today. 

The schedule for the First Amendment Congress, emceed by KTUL Anchor Brenna Rose, includes:

• “Modern Iran’s Quest for Freedom/How Is the U.S. Shaping That Future?” Yeganeh “June” Torbati, Iran correspondent from the New York Times via Zoom from Turkey, moderated by Ellen Knickmeyer, former Middle East correspondent for The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, and former West Africa, Washington and Rome correspondent for the Associated Press.

• “Are We Truly Free 250 Years Later? The Ramifications of AI and Polarization on Our First Amendment Freedoms.” Panel moderated by Griffin Media’s Scott Mitchell: Leslie Briggs, the Oklahoma attorney for Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Wendy Suares, evening anchor and investigative journalist at KOKH Fox 25; and Mark Thomas, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Press Association.

The Congress portion will conclude at lunch with a keynote address:

Fallis grew up in Tulsa, graduated from the University of Oklahoma, and began his career in 1991 as a police reporter at the Tulsa Tribune. When the Tribune folded, he began reporting for the Tulsa World, where he eventually edited and ran investigative projects. In 1999, he joined The Post as an investigative reporter and in 2014 became an editor. He was promoted last year to lead the Investigative department.

Notable work at The Post includes a 2015 examination of fatal shootings by police, work that he co-edited and that won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. Five projects he has edited or reported have been named Pulitzer Prize finalists, including one that used a confidential database to reveal how drug companies flooded the country with 76 billion pain pills as opioid overdose deaths climbed.

Last year, his reporters helped investigate the Trump administration’s chaotic attempts to overhaul the federal government. That coverage won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The afternoon programming will feature concurrent training sessions, panels and workshops. 

Afternoon journalism training, emceed by Griffin Media’s Bianca Harris, president of the National Association of Black Journalists-Tulsa, includes:

•  “So You Want To Be A Reporter,” an introductory boot camp training for rookie and early-year storytellers led by consultant Jason Collington, former Tulsa World editor, with business reporter Ismael Lele with the Tulsa Flyer, reporter Ashton Slaughter with the Tulsa World and KOKH Fox 25 evening anchor and investigative journalist Wendy Suares, introduced by Jerry Goodwin, associate professor of mass communication at Tulsa Community College and TCC Connection faculty adviser, in Aaronson Auditorium (Lower Level 1).

• “Tips for Developing Sources for Government Coverage,” an advanced training with seasoned journalists, including KOSU state government reporter Lionel Ramos, Clifton Adcock, investigative reporter for The Frontier, Paul Monies, reporter covering state agencies and public health at Oklahoma Watch, and Janelle Stecklein, editor of Oklahoma Voice, introduced by Earl Johnson, vice president of recruitment and alumni engagement at Report for America.

After panels on the schedule include::

• “New Engagement in Our Digital Future,” a session with Missouri School of Journalism Associate Professor Joy Jenkins, co-author of the U.S. page of the annual Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism Digital News Report and incoming research director at Reynolds Journalism Institute, and Yvette Walker, opinion editor of The Kansas City Star, explaining the latest research findings and new community engagement strategies, in Aaronson Auditorium (Lower Level 1).

• “Newsrooms Implementing Ethical Policies” a working group of journalists holding a roundtable discussion on AI newsroom policies. Participants will review newsroom policies, hear research findings and discuss common standards. The session moderated by journalist, writer and educator Joe Hight will include academic researchers Bill Hickman, Rose State College adjunct professor, and Yiben “Benetta” Liu, Ph.D., an assistant professor and multimedia journalism program head in the School of Media and Strategic Communications at Oklahoma State University, and notetaker Gary Lee, executive editor of the Tulsa Flyer and The Oklahoma Eagle. The goal is to produce three to five useful policy recommendations for Oklahoma newsrooms.

The day will conclude with a two-hour ceremony honoring Oklahoma journalism excellence with presentations of FOI Oklahoma’s 2026 award winners and Black Hole recipient being recognized, the 2026 SPJ Oklahoma Pro Chapter contest awards and OMC’s first-ever Student Media Awards.

Proceeds from the fundraising event will be split evenly between the three nonprofits. 

“Please consider supporting our charitable efforts to help sustain local news in Oklahoma,” said OMC Executive Director Rob Collins. “So far, we have the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma, Gooden Group, Grand River Dam Authority, Inasmuch Foundation, Indigenous Journalists Association, Kirkpatrick Foundation, The Lawton Constitution, the National Association of Black Journalists – Tulsa Chapter, the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, OU Health, Paycom, Phillips Theological Seminary, Report for America, Schnake Turnbo Frank, the SPJ Foundation, Tulsa Community College and the Tulsa Flyer as sponsors. We’re looking for more support to allow journalism students, faculty and professionals to attend the event free of charge.”

Through its Higher Education Roundtable, OMC is recruiting J-school attendees to the statewide convening. Journalism students and faculty from Langston University, Oklahoma State University, Oral Roberts University, Rose State College, Tulsa Community College, the University of Central Oklahoma, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa are participating in the collaborative event.

Tiered sponsorships are available for the daylong event to allow journalism students/professionals/faculty to attend free of charge. The public can purchase Eventbrite tickets here. If you can’t attend and want to buy tickets to sponsor individual attendees, email rob@oklahomamediacenter.com or visit oklahomamediacenter.com.

Click here for a list of speaker photos and bios.