"As KOSU strives to fill the information gaps left as other news outlets shrink, we need strong leadership that can help with that growth," said KOSU Executive Director Rachel Hubbard. "We are excited to have Robby take that role."
Robby is a familiar name and voice to our listeners, as the StateImpact Oklahoma education reporter for the past three years.
Robby has won multiple awards for his work. Most recently, he was named Best Broadcast Reporter by the Oklahoma Society for Professional Journalists, for his work in 2021.
As students returned to the classroom in the fall of 2020, Robby spearheaded a database and map that tracked publicly announced COVID cases and closures in school districts across Oklahoma. This is information neither the State Department of Health nor the State Department of Education were tracking.
For that work, the Oklahoma Society for Professional Journalists gave him the Carter Bradley First Amendment Award and Freedom of Information (FOI) Oklahoma, Inc. gave him the Ben Blackstock Award, for a commitment to freedom of information.
His work on the education beat has included reporting on the shortage of available K-12 school substitutes, enrollment losses at Oklahoma colleges and turmoil surrounding Epic Charter School.
Robby has featured stories on intense school board meetings and heated rhetoric over library books and classroom censorship. He has also conducted listening sessions with teenagers, as they discuss the politicization of social issues affecting them.
A native of Ardmore, Oklahoma and Fayetteville, Arkansas, Robby holds a Journalism degree from the University of Nebraska. Before joining StateImpact in 2019, Robby reported for several newspapers, including The Roanoke Times in southwest Virginia.
We hope you'll join us in welcoming Robby to the KOSU team!
