Gaylord in Washington

Gaylord College is sending students to Washington, D.C., to be Oklahoma’s new Capitol correspondents, covering national news for an Oklahoma audience.

Professors Mike Boettcher and John Schmeltzer created the immersive reporting program, Gaylord News in Washington, D.C., a year ago. It was evident that the journalism model had changed as many media outlets stopped covering Washington and the last fulltime reporter from an Oklahoma media outlet had retired.

A need opened up for the Oklahoma congressional delegation to be covered and for news on national issues affecting Oklahoma to be reported back to Oklahomans. Gaylord College fills that need.

“Our goal as the Gaylord News Washington Bureau is to provide another level of news to papers and broadcast networks back home,” Victor Pozadas, a Gaylord College senior participating in the program this spring, said. “We’re reporting the types of stories that can't be covered remotely or simply scanned through press releases.”

The program is now in its second term, with four students participating this spring: Abby Bitterman, a journalism and political science double major and assistant sports editor of the Oklahoma Daily; Anna Bauman, an English major and managing editor of the Oklahoma Daily; Sydney Forsee, a journalism major and reporter for OU Nightly; and journalism major Victor Pozadas.

“I can speak for all of us when I say that it's been incredibly humbling and exciting to be picked for the program,” Pozadas said.

The taught portion of the Gaylord in Washington program entails a series of workshops and speaker discussions. The Gaylord students’ mentor, Gil Klein, organizes meetings with experts working in D.C. who cover everything from agriculture to environmental issues to disaster reporting.

“We've gotten a lot of insight from these chats and they've been very helpful and fun,” Pozadas said.

The students dedicate two days every week to reporting on the Hill. Their stories air on television and radio and are published online and in print through local Oklahoma media outlets, including the Tulsa World, Oklahoman, CNHI Newspapers, Griffin Communications, Sinclair Broadcasting outlets, Hearst television and Raycom Media.

“We hit the ground running once we arrived,” Pozadas said. “Suiting up and hitting the Capitol was daunting. Understanding our boundaries, apart from figuring out how media and lawmakers work with and around each other, was fascinating. We were told several times that it takes a young reporter about six months to get familiar with things. We had a few weeks.”

Through the program, Gaylord students have the ability to reach thousands of Oklahomans. The partnerships Gaylord News has created over time provide the students the opportunity to present their Gaylord News pieces to audiences they alone could never reach.

Storme Jones, a broadcast journalism senior at Gaylord who participated in the program last fall, said, “I wanted to participate in the Washington, D.C. program because past experiences in Gaylord College have proven to me that the best learning experiences come outside of the classroom, doing real work.”

For the fall semester the Gaylord News Washington Bureau covered many important events including two state funerals. First was that of Senator John McCain. Gaylord students reported on Vice President Mike Pence’s condolence speech at the Capitol. Later, the students covered the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush and reported on President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump paying their respects.

The students also covered the tense Brett Kavanaugh hearing as Christine Blasey Ford testified against him. Gaylord News saw passionate protests and witnessed first-hand as senators formed their votes and decided whether or not they would advance Kavanaugh’s nomination. The students later watched Kavanaugh swear in as Associate Supreme Court Justice.

Gaylord News captured the spirit of the program’s purpose by remaining dedicated to covering Oklahoma specific stories, such as a Supreme Court case that had implications for tribal sovereignty in Oklahoma.

“We were the only television crew there with interviews from Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter and Muskogee (Creek) Principal Chief James Floyd,” Jones said. “The radio and television story aired across Oklahoma just hours after the hearing was over.”

Aside from reporting in D.C., the students traveled to Florida to tell the stories of Oklahomans who swiftly offered a helping hand to the communities that were devastated by Hurricane Michael.

“We talked with people who had never been to Oklahoma, but were so, so grateful to the crew from the Sooner State working to restore power to their unrecognizable neighborhood,” Jones said.

The Gaylord in Washington program encourages students to experiment with new reporting styles and discover interesting ways to present visual stories, giving the young journalists creative freedom as they navigate the challenging environment of D.C.

“The semester I spent in Washington, D.C. was far and above the most rewarding experience of my college career,” Jones said. “I could not be more thankful for the professors, Gaylord leadership, and donors who have made Gaylord News a reality. Walking in as a freshman, I never could have imaged the places I would see and the stories I would get the honor of telling as a Gaylord student.”