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Draft:Verified News Network

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Verified News Network (VNN) is a Native-owned social news media company. VNN is headquartered in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, on the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation.

The VNN app is a social media platform developed for verified news.

The mission of VNN’s first local newsroom VNN Oklahoma is to provide equitable news representation for Oklahoma’s diverse population. Their newsroom focuses on local news coverage and community outreach.

History

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VNN was founded on the Muscogee Creek Nation Reservation within the city limits of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in July of 2018.[1]

In 2019, VNN partnered with BetaBlox, a business incubator and accelerator based in Kansas City. VNN worked with BetaBlox to develop varied revenue streams to fund its social news media operations, eventually leading to the creation of VNN Media Services.[2]

Through collaborations with organizations such as LION Publishers [3]and Builders + Backers[4], VNN has been able to develop a foundation of both news and business sustainability.

VNN has also partnered with tribal-owned news outlets, such as Osage News and Mvskoke Media.

In November 2023, VNN organized an Exploring Indigenous Allyship Dinner and Discussion with Osage News to talk about ways to address Oklahoma’s Native challenges. People traveled from across the state over to attend and share their perspectives. More than 75 percent of attendees were Native American.

VNN Oklahoma also launched its Citizen Journalism Project (CJP) in 2024, which provided media education and journalism training to Indigenous and underserved citizens. Over 85 percent of CJP participants identified as Native American. The curriculum developed was designed for underserved community members.[5]

VNN focuses its historical and investigative reporting on issues that impact underserved communities and untold histories of Eastern Oklahoma. From news coverage detailing the experiences and perspective of criminalized survivor April Wilkens for the first time[6], which recently led to a new law protecting people who fight back against their abusers, to creating the news series Stealing Tvlse that pushed Tulsa’s Gathering Place to finally acknowledge Tulsa’s Allotment Era history.

In 2023, VNN collaborated with Oklahoma Media Center (OMC) to develop the “From Adversity To Entrepreneurship (FATE)” learning series, aimed to explore barriers for individuals seeking to overcome generational poverty.[7] In 2024, VNN was one of 20 newsrooms selected to participate in the Advancing Democracy Fellowship developed by Trusting News, Solutions Journalism Network, and Hearken, a social impact consultancy.[8]

Operations and Coverage

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VNN Oklahoma provides news coverage that focuses on underserved communities in Eastern Oklahoma. VNN focuses primarily on Indigenous perspective through their Native District coverage, but also produces coverage for other underserved groups such as women, justice-involved people, and those living with mental health issues, which impact many people living on reservation land in Oklahoma.

Users can engage with VNN Oklahoma and VNN news content on the VNN App, a web-based application platform for social news media sharing.

Impact and Notability

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The Indian Rights Association Historical Collection and Tulsa City County Library

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In 2024, VNN’s research and reporting team donated $18,900 to the Tulsa City County Library (TCCL) to make 350,000 American Indian records available to the public for the first time.[9][10]

This donation funded the license for the IRA collection, making it free to access through TCCL’s American Indian Resource Center.[11] The documents and articles found in this collection focus primarily on Tulsa’s Allotment Era. The collection includes photographs, handwritten correspondence, and other historical records.[12]

Awards

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Awards and Accolades
Year Award Result Reference
2021 Local Media Digital Innovation Awards “Best Digital News Project" Won [13]
2023 LION Publishers Local Journalism Awards "Collaboration of the Year" Won [14]
2023 RevContent Local Reporting Award Won [15]
2024 The Commemoration Fund Won [16]
2024 Oklahoma Media Center Grant Won [17]
2024 The Next Challenge Finalist [18]

References

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  1. ^ "VNN About". 24 February 2016.
  2. ^ "Verified News Network - Apps". www.betablox.com.
  3. ^ Milloy, Hayley (October 4, 2023). "Meet the 36 winners of the 2023 LION Local Journalism Awards". LION Publishers.
  4. ^ Gatling, Paul (January 21, 2024). "Builders + Backers, Heartland Forward unveil Stepping Stones initiative". Talk Business & Politics.
  5. ^ Mayer, Joy (July 9, 2024). "How an ecosystem approach to change in local news is benefitting news consumers in Oklahoma". Trusting News.
  6. ^ "Search Results for "verified news network"". March 13, 2022.
  7. ^ "Oklahoma collaborators cover underreported communities, amplify audience engagement". Oklahoma Media Center.
  8. ^ Muchna, Mollie (February 28, 2024). "Meet the 2024 Advancing Democracy newsrooms working to transform their political coverage". Trusting News.
  9. ^ "350K Native American documents made available at Tulsa City-County Library". 2 News Oklahoma KJRH Tulsa. July 12, 2024.
  10. ^ "Adobe Acrobat". acrobat.adobe.com.
  11. ^ "350,000 American Indian records become public through Tulsa Public Libraries". www.fox23.com. July 9, 2024.
  12. ^ Torre, Giovanni (17 July 2024). "Over 350,000 Native American historical documents now available through public library system in Tulsa". National Indigenous Times.
  13. ^ "2021 Local Media Digital Innovation Awards Winners".
  14. ^ "Meet the 36 winners of the 2023 LION Local Journalism Awards". 4 October 2023.
  15. ^ Staff, L. M. A. (September 25, 2023). "VNN Oklahoma wins inaugural RevContent Local Reporting Award". Local Media Association + Local Media Foundation.
  16. ^ Times, The Black Wall Street (May 10, 2024). "Commemoration Fund awards more than $1 million to organizations supporting underserved, minority communities". Black Wall Street Times.
  17. ^ Center, Oklahoma Media (November 17, 2023). "Oklahoma Media Center awards grants to 12 local news organizations". Oklahoma Media Center.
  18. ^ "Announcing the 2024 Next Challenge Division Finalists". Glen Nelson Center at American Public Media Group.
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