Oklahoma Voice reporters win awards for reporting, photography at state contest
The Oklahoma Voice logo is pictured. (Oklahoma Voice image)
SHAWNEE — Oklahoma Voice over the weekend took home seven awards, including two first place honors, at the Oklahoma Press Association's annual contest.
Oklahoma Voice, a nonprofit outlet that focuses on state government coverage, participated in the largest circulation category in the contest that honored the top journalism produced across the state in 2024.
Reporter Nuria Martinez-Keel took home first place in the 'Education' category for her reporting that explored how Superintendent Ryan Walters went from 'excited' to 'disgusted' over the social studies standards he helped create. The contest judge said Martinez-Keel provided a 'well written' story that turned a news story into a great news feature. Martinez-Keel also won second place for that reporting in the 'Education Story' category.
Editor Janelle Stecklein won first place for column writing for a trio of opinion pieces about Walters' quest to spend $3 million to put Bibles in school classrooms. The second column questioned why Oklahoma has unenforceable laws pertaining to the collection of required data about who is using a state-owned aircraft and why. While the third criticized lawmakers' decision to pass a 'Bill of Rights' to define gender even while women's outcomes lag.
The judge said the opinion pieces had 'good voice and (provided) strong commentary on a variety of topics' and had 'strong use of supporting information to make a point.'
Senior Reporter Barbara Hoberock won third place in the Feature Story for her interview and story about Yvonne Kauger that highlighted the legacy of the first Oklahoma Supreme Court justice in state history that voters ousted from office.
'When I finished this feature, I knew (Yvonne) Kauger and wanted to meet her,' the judge wrote. 'Good job.'
Hoberock also won second place in the News Story category for her reporting about state leaders' unexplained decision to redact information about who in the Governor's Office has been using a state plane for travel and not maintaining purpose of those flights, which appears to flout state law.
The judge wrote that Hoberock wrote a 'very detailed story of potential abuse that could happen anywhere.'
Martinez-Keel also won second place in the news photography category for her photograph of a mother being arrested at a State Board of Education meeting. Audra Beasley refused to leave the meeting while complaining about poor access for people with disabilities at the State Department of Education.
She also won third place in the 'In-depth Reporting' category for her extensive coverage of education leaders' decision to quietly lower the test score benchmarks that students must meet to be deemed proficient in math and reading. The changes to the cut scores caused student proficiency rates to jump by up to third even as academic gains were stagnant. Her reporting on the topic won top honors in the competitive national Education Writers Association contest earlier this year.
'Really in-depth reporting on how an education department making a move is more about appearances than really improving education,' the judge wrote. 'Well done.'
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