Ten longtime journalists, a prominent First Amendment attorney and a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient were honored this year at the 54th annual luncheon and induction ceremony of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony was held at the Nigh University Center at the University of Central Oklahoma.
“The seven men and five women being honored this year represents the best in journalism from a number of different areas and in their service to journalism,” said Director Joe Hight, who is also UCO’s Edith Kinney Gaylord Endowed Chair of Journalism Ethics and a OJHOF member since 2013. “The decisions become harder every year because of the quality of journalists and individuals who have served Oklahoma and this country.”
The 2024 induction class will be Mary Cecile Carter, a longtime editor whose work included a Pulitzer Prize-winning project; Richard M. Crum, a journalist and educator who was a longtime National Geographic reporter and editor; Galen Culver, who originated the broadcast franchise “Is This a Great State or What!” on KFOR-TV; Tom Gilbert, a pioneering photojournalist at the Tulsa World; Dr. Mark Hanebutt, a journalist, lawyer, author, longtime educator and a member of the Oklahoma SPJ board of directors; Blaise Labbe, the first Black news director in Oklahoma City and Kansas City; Anne Nelson, a war correspondent, author, playwright and former director for the Committee to Protect Journalists; Penny Owen, a longtime reporter for The Oklahoman and past president of the international Dart Society; John Perry, national award-winning database editor in Oklahoma and Georgia; and Christy Brunken Wheeland, a longtime community reporter and editor in northeastern Oklahoma.
The 2024 Lifetime Achievement honorees will be Suzan Shown Harjo, a 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient whose lifetime of work includes being a pioneering Native American journalist and founding trustee for the Smithsonian National Museum for the American Indian; and Robert D. Nelon, an attorney who has represented numerous media organizations and journalists on First Amendment and freedom of information issues.
All 12 honorees will become members of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, which now has inducted 500 members since its beginning.
They were chosen from among more than 90 nominations submitted to the hall of fame. They were first selected by a 15-member Finalist Committee and then a 12-member Selection Committee via a balloting process. All on the committees were hall of fame members and representatives of diverse types of media and journalism organizations.
The Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame was founded in 1971 by former UCO Journalism Chair Dr. Ray Tassin and Dennie Hall, with both serving as directors. Hight is the fourth director and succeeded Dr. Terry Clark. All members are featured on the hall of fame website. Past honoree plaques are on display at the hall of fame gallery on the third floor of UCO’s Nigh University Center.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press announced that Denver Nicks has been named the Local Legal Initiative attorney for Oklahoma. He succeeds Kathryn Gardner.
The Local Legal Initiative provides local news organizations with the direct legal services they need to pursue enterprise and investigative stories in their communities.
Nicks was most recently an associate attorney at Barnes Law in Tulsa, and before that a longtime journalist. He holds a J.D. from Tulane University Law School.
Since its launch in 2020, the Oklahoma Local Legal Initiative has had a significant impact on government transparency and accountability. Earlier this year, for example, Reporters Committee attorneys successfully sued the McCurtain County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Kevin Clardy on behalf of the McCurtain Gazette for records related to the death of a Choctaw Nation citizen following a violent encounter with local law enforcement. The lawsuit resulted in the release of bodycam footage and other requested records; it was also featured in a New Yorker story about the McCurtain Gazette’s efforts to investigate the local sheriff’s office.
“Over the last five decades, the Reporters Committee has shown how legal support makes a meaningful difference in empowering journalists to pursue the kinds of reporting that informs communities, inspires accountability, and underpins our democracy,” said Bruce D. Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Also joining RCFP are attorneys Mara Gassman and Elizabeth Soja. Reporting to RCFP Deputy Executive Director and Legal Director Katie Townsend, Gassmann will lead the organization’s robust amicus practice. Townsend welcomed the three new members to RCFP’s growing legal team.
“Their experience and passion for this important work will help us continue to meet the clear and pressing legal needs of journalists and newsrooms across the country, particularly those in local communities,” Townsend said.
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