A new reporter will be focused on Indigenous stories at KOSU.
Sarah Liese is Diné and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. She is passionate about heart-centered storytelling for Native American communities. Sarah joins the team in its continued effort to expand Indigenous Affairs reporting in Oklahoma.
“KOSU has been a leader in covering Indigenous affairs for years,” KOSU executive director Rachel Hubbard said. “Sarah will continue that legacy with her work. In Oklahoma, having stories reported by Indigenous journalists for Native communities is imperative.”
Representing Native Americans in news coverage is an issue that was raised in a 2019 report released by NPR that showed Indigenous voices represented less than one percent of all the sources in NPR stories. By contrast, Indigenous voices represented more than 20% of all sources in KOSU stories in 2023.
A 2023 report about NPR's staff also shows the Native people represent less than one percent of the national newsroom's staff.
KOSU and Liese hope to buck that trend with Oklahoma-centered, Indigenous-focused storytelling. The organization has already led Indigenous Affairs coverage in Oklahoma, publishing hundreds of stories focused on Native American issues, ranging from tribal sovereignty to the arts to the environment in 2023 alone.
Liese will help that grow.
"I am so grateful to be a part of such an incredible team of journalists here at KOSU and to live my passion every day as an advocate for Indigenous storytelling," Liese said. "I feel as though my academic training and field experience have led me to this position, and I am eager to do my very best for the 39 tribal nations and citizens that I serve."
Liese is from Saint Louis, Missouri, and received her Bachelor of Arts from the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi in 2019. Following graduation, she worked at WLOX-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi, as a Producer-In-Residence Fellow and Digital Content Producer. She then attended Ohio University to pursue a Master of Science degree. While in graduate school, she was awarded the Outstanding Master's Student Award in 2022 from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism.
Liese has presented her findings at the International Indigenous Climate Change Research Summit and International Indigenous Research Conference and has received multiple fellowships from the Sundance Institute and the Indigenous Journalist Association.
Find out more about how to help fund her coverage here.
