Measuring KOSU's Impact

The thorough reporting of KOSU and StateImpact Oklahoma informs our listeners and readers and shines a light on issues that otherwise may remain in the dark. We are tracking the impact of our stories below.

June 2022
Trent Shores Reflects On His Time As U.S. Attorney, Remains Committed To Justice For Indian Country

• In his written dissent to the Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta U.S. Supreme Court ruling [page 37], Justice Neil Gorsuch referenced KOSU reporter Allison Herrera's 2021 interview with then-U.S. Attorney Trent Shores as evidence that "the sky isn’t falling" and "partnerships between tribal law enforcement and state law enforcement" are strong.

April 2022
Where do Oklahoma's numbers come from in its Supreme Court case?

• During oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta on April 27, 2022, Justice Sonia Sotomayor referenced this story — reported also in The Atlantic — authored by KOSU's Allison Herrera and freelance writer Rebecca Nagle.

March 2022
What does school choice look like in rural Oklahoma?

• In a press conference following a failed vote on a controversial school choice measure, the Oklahoma Senate President Pro Tem called a StateImpact report on the measure "one of the fairest pieces I've seen on this."

December 2021
Frozen in time: An Oklahoma family still seeks answers one year after deadly police encounter

• Police and medical examiner reports were released following reporting by KOSU and The Frontier in the shooting death of Julian Rose. Rose's family waited months to get even the most basic public records about the shooting from local, state, tribal and federal officials.

June 2021
Former Quapaw Chairman Disqualified from 2021 Election, Could Face More Severe Punishment

• A former Quapaw Tribal Chairman was barred from running for office after a KOSU report of an internal audit alleging he gave bonuses and pay raises totaling in the millions to himself and others without approval.

December 2020
More Than Half Of Oklahoma's School Districts Have Reported COVID-19 Cases

• StateImpact tracked Oklahoma schools and school districts forced to closures or pivot to distance learning because of cases of COVID-19 in their classrooms. These are statistics that neither the state's education department nor health department were monitoring. StateImpact scoured school websites and social media pages to find announcements of closings.

April 2019
CDC Director: Stigma Biggest Challenge To Halting HIV In Oklahoma

• In a presentation at the University of Oklahoma, CDC Director Robert Redfield referenced a StateImpact story on the spread of HIV in Oklahoma.

May 2018
StateImpact Oklahoma Embeds With NPR For Latest 'Trump Stories' On Scott Pruitt

• StateImpact brought its knowledge and experience of Scott Pruitt to NPR's Embedded podcast investigation team about how his faith informed his views on the environment and how he handled a major pollution case in Oklahoma as the state's Attorney General. This was amid alleged ethics violations as EPA Administrator, a post he resigned from just two months later.

February 2017
Weak Financial Accountability For Charter School Management Companies That Get Millions

• KOSU reported on Epic Charter Schools and their management companies that took millions of dollars in public money. There was no accountability for how that money was spent. Three years later, a state audit found a litany of problems. That has resulted in millions of dollars in penalties, a severing of ties with the company's co-founders and major reforms, including making public its controversial learning fund.

January 2017
Former Accountant Accused of Stealing $2.6 Million After Federal Probe of Oklahoma Beef Council

• An inquiry by StateImpact Oklahoma and Harvest Public Media prompted the embezzlement of $2.6 million to be brought to light after attempts by the council to keep an internal audit secret.

KOSU is an NPR member station reporting on the people, places and culture of Oklahoma. Its programming can be heard by more than 91,000 on-air listeners every week in central, northern and northeastern Oklahoma, parts of Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. Visit kosu.org/newsletters to sign up for the latest updates.