Verified News Network

The news industry is dominated by a simplistic and unrealistic mainstream narrative that harms minorities and stigmatized groups of people, including Indigenous people. Many of which experience subpar health and live in communities built on generational trauma and oppression. 

Viewers and readers are manipulated into believing quick, oversimplified news benefits them, whether that is by backing up their own preconceived notions or providing them with a false sense of security in the world. Which is handy for news producers, because irresponsible news and information is cheaper to produce.

Indigenous people and Indigenous-blended families have an additional set of unique media-related problems in Oklahoma and beyond. Here in Oklahoma, Indigenous people make up nearly 15 percent of the population. It is the second most populous state for Native Americans in the country. Nationwide, Indigenous people make up about 3 percent of the population, many of which live off reservation. Globally, the percentage of Indigenous people is double that. 

Indigenous communities lack representation in news and experience misrepresentation in all areas of mass media. A majority of media ownership is non-Native and the Indigenous focused coverage that exists is usually tribally owned, not independently owned and operated. 72% of publications serving Indian Country are believed to be funded by tribal governments. This can lead to “tame” storytelling, in which tribal governments often control what gets printed.

When it comes to Indigenous representation in mainstream news, the number of Native people in the workforce is often so small it rarely makes the list. 

Mainstream news organizations are oftentimes uninterested in providing valuable diverse perspectives such as Indigenous voices, sometimes too concerned about dollars to care. Or worse, too influenced by leadership that wants to maintain oppression of these groups.

According to a recent Reuters Institute study, many people from marginalized communities viewed news media as biased, sensationalistic, or depressing, with distinctly personal and consequential stakes. They believed it to be an extension of exclusive systems aligned to serve those in power, and viewed journalists as out of touch and prejudiced.

Social media is another area of media that disproportionately harms underrepresented groups like Indigenous people. While social media is becoming more popular as a go-to source of news, it is largely unverified as far as news goes and riddled with misinformation (wrong) and disinformation (intentionally misleading). It has also been known to fuel divisiveness and amplify polarization in certain areas based on algorithms that prioritize strong emotions, particularly negative ones.

This multitude of media issues often come at a dangerous cost. From excluding Native Americans in COVID-19 case reporting and misreporting or underreporting the epidemic of homicides against Indigenous women to threatening tribal sovereignty, lack of representation, rampant misrepresentation, and the free flow of misinformation exacerbates health inequity for Native Americans and perpetuates mistrust in news outlets, keep underrepresented communities uninformed and disadvantaged in our media-centric world.

Our solution is a platform that combines quality reporting and the benefits of social media with news and media training to expand accurate news coverage of Indigenous and other underrepresented viewpoints.

To facilitate this, our Verified News Network (VNN) team built the free VNN app, a first-of-its-kind social news media platform moderated by AI technology and a community flagging system. This medium was built exclusively for verified news and information. VNN collaborators register as a citizen, official, expert, journalist, or affiliate. Journalists undergo the most stringent verification by our staff, citizens the most lenient. All are upheld to the same journalistic standard.

Once registered, collaborators can upload stories, leave comments, and like content. Collaborators can also customize their news feeds and location preferences and personalize their collaborator profile.

In our local Indigenous communities, we have found the most trusted information comes from personal connections. Our local community members have told us they avoid social media and traditional media, and instead rely on word of mouth for news because of negative coverage and racist online interactions. 

This reality makes empowering citizens to share news and information an important component of solving media problems in underrepresented communities. But while our platform creates new trustworthy space for underrepresented voices to thrive, we have found there is much work that needs to be done to strengthen those voices, as well.  

That’s why, based on years of community feedback, we created a citizen journalism training program to educate and train local residents in media and news. Our Citizen Journalism Project curriculum was developed specifically for underrepresented communities. It includes media literacy, news literacy, journalism basics, introduction to reporting technology and hands-on exercises to prepare people to effectively report for their communities. 

Our first Citizen Journalism Project cohort concluded in March 2024. More than 85 percent of our class participants were Indigenous, and some traveled from across the state to attend. Nearly all participants reported becoming more knowledgeable about how the news industry works and an increase in their confidence in reporting the news following the program. Others communicated an understanding in how little they really knew about news and reporting prior to completing the program. Our graduates have since requested a continuation of VNN news editing services to continue their work on our platform. 

Through our innovative platform and community training opportunities, VNN is assisting Indigenous people reclaim their narratives and build new connections within and beyond their communities.

The target population our social news media company aims to improve centers on Indigenous people and Indigenous-blended families living on the Muscogee Creek Nation Reservation where we are headquartered (in Tulsa, Oklahoma). The City of Tulsa shares land with the Muscogee Creek Nation Reservation, Cherokee Nation Reservation, and Osage Nation Reservation.

Oklahoma is home to 39 tribes, many of which are located in Northeast Oklahoma. For us, every Indigenous community is a priority. We have found that while our president and CEO is a Muscogee Creek citizen, members of other tribes have also been attracted to our work and have sought to be a part of it.

We witness the impacts of generational injustice and contemporary inequity every day. Oklahoma’s Native people are less likely to be enrolled in college, more likely to be unemployed, make less money, and are less likely to have health insurance than the rest of the state, according to VNN’s past research. 

VNN Oklahoma team members live and work and have fellowship in our communities, which is where we derive much of our understanding and learning of our Indigenous community needs. Our company has surveyed community members on several occasions over the last few years, both virtually and in-person, to advance that understanding even further.  

VNN solutions are driven by continuous feedback loops. We develop our technology and programming based on community feedback, present it to our community members, and seek feedback on our developments, updating our technology and programming as needed. 

Over the last year, we have also formed partnerships with Indigenous organizations, leaders, and influencers to amplify local voices, stories, and perspectives while fostering community engagement and empowerment.

Our verified social news media combats stereotypes and misinformation about Indigenous peoples while promoting accurate and respectful representations. We also provide resources and support for Indigenous collaborators to ensure that their voices are heard and valued.

We have been able to elevate training local community members in media and news literacy thanks to the development of our Citizen Journalism Project training, designed specifically for underrepresented community members such as Indigenous people. Not only do these opportunities amplify the voices of our local Indigenous people, they also provide professional development and can result in increased financial stability through their work on our platform.

Our VNN team is comprised of eight people, four of whom are Indigenous. Five are members of Indigenous-blended families. It is through both our personal and professional experiences that we uncovered the gap of serving not only Indigenous people through media but Indigenous allies as well. 

VNN Co-Founder Kelly Tidwell is a Muscogee Creek citizen with Cherokee lineage. His family has lived in Oklahoma since they were forced here on the Trail of Tears. Living and working on the Muscogee Creek Nation Reservation, Kelly and his wife and Co-Founder Journalist, Brittany Harlow, began building a network that would serve local families like their own.

Over the last five years, we have partnered and collaborated with others from different tribes, age groups, genders, and socio-economic backgrounds. This diversity ensures that our solutions are inclusive and address the multifaceted needs of the community. These partners include fellow news organizations such as Mvskoke Media and Osage News. It also includes the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma, who has entrusted our media team with all of their multimedia development and support services, revenue that funds our news and community support operations.

Our social news media solution is driven by our news and management expertise as well as community input. We have established many lines of open communication, including regular in-person community events and online surveying, where community members actively participate in shaping our initiatives.

These events include VNN’s Exploring Indigenous Allyship, facilitated to identify our greatest community information needs and the best ways to have difficult conversations about Indigenous issues in Oklahoma. This information drives our news reporting as well as the community resources and training we create for our local community members. 

We have seen firsthand that solutions imposed from external sources often fail to address the root causes of issues. By centering the voices of community members in all of the work we do, we ensure whatever we develop is culturally sensitive and sustainable in the long term.

Our team is developing the news ecosystem our families need for generations to come. We are not outsiders looking in; we are insiders working together to create positive change in the communities in which we live.

VNN has been developing and testing the VNN app since 2018. We launched our current version of the app in 2021. Though only a handful of our 218 registered collaborators are consistently sharing content, our network has roughly 2,500 visitors per month. We have a little over 2,100 email subscribers. 

Regarding in person events, VNN-exclusive events have had roughly 80 attendees this past year, though our partnership events with community organizations‒such as Osage News and the American Indian Chamber‒have seen event attendees in the hundreds. 

Our first cohort of the Citizen Journalism Project had 7 people graduate; 5 community members and 2 professionals who audited the program.

We have identified financial, technical, cultural, and market barriers to VNN’s success.

Financially, we need capital to grow our team and advance the work we do in our communities. We also want to create more revenue opportunities for Indigenous and other underserved community members through paid training and support for future Citizen Journalism Project participants.

On the technical side, we would like assistance in advancing our Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help verify our news content from collaborators and aid our VNN collaborators with using our social news media platform. The more brain power we have directed towards those endeavors, the better!

From a cultural support standpoint, many of our Indigenous community members, including some of our own Indigenous team members, come from families who were forced to assimilate into colonized society. These people have been cut off from their language, spiritual beliefs, and other traditional knowledge. We would appreciate any and all resources that can help us further incorporate Indigenous culture into our news media work, business practices and community outreach. 

Finally, we know the social media and new media industries are very competitive and giant legacy companies command a majority of the market shares. Anything that could help establish our place into these markets would be greatly appreciated. 

Kelly is a citizen of Muscogee Creek Nation with Cherokee lineage. He is a member of the Tulsa Creek Indian Community and is a foster parent through Muscogee Creek Nation.

VNN is run by news professionals with the goal of providing the public with a reliable source of news they can trust. VNN staff carry the torch of traditional journalism, while also acknowledging the changed media landscape and helping news consumers navigate it. If you read or see VNN, you know what you are getting has been verified for accuracy and relevance. You don’t have to struggle with sorting fact from fiction. You decide the news you want to see and don’t want to see. Best of all, the sources of information are all right there- information transparency like never before. We are creating a better standard for news and social media.

VNN is a web-based network of community generated content. It serves as a trusted news source of verified information, an avenue for organizations and agencies to provide resources and receive feedback from the public, and connects communities through collaboration. 

Through our past work and current partnerships with tribal news media, Native organizations and allied partners, VNN has been able to foster a deeper understanding of Indigenous perspectives and issues and establish a more inclusive and representative presence in the media landscape. This collaborative approach not only supports the growth of VNN but also reinforces our commitment to empowering Indigenous people through culturally responsive support and responsible multimedia products and services. The work we do brings people together in new and innovative ways as all can be collaborators in our news and multimedia systems. 

Our solution addresses the pervasive issues of misrepresentation and underrepresentation of Indigenous and other marginalized communities in mainstream and social media. By providing a platform like VNN, which combines quality reporting with the benefits of social media, we aim to expand accurate news coverage and amplify underrepresented viewpoints. The VNN app, moderated by AI technology and community flagging, ensures that only verified news and information are disseminated. Collaborators, ranging from citizens to journalists, upload stories, comments, and likes, thereby personalizing their news feeds and contributing to a diverse media landscape.

Recognizing the importance of personal connections in Indigenous communities, we've developed a citizen journalism training program tailored for underrepresented groups. This program equips local residents with media and news literacy, journalism basics, and reporting technology skills, empowering them to effectively report for their communities. Our first cohort, with a majority Indigenous participation, reported increased knowledge and confidence in news reporting, highlighting the impact of our initiatives.

Through our innovative platform and community training efforts, VNN is not only providing a trusted space for underrepresented voices but also fostering empowerment and connection within and beyond Indigenous communities. By reclaiming their narratives and building media literacy, Indigenous people are better equipped to address misrepresentation and advocate for their rights and interests in the media landscape.

Impact Goals:

Narrative Reclamation: Empower Indigenous individuals to reclaim their narratives and stories, resulting in the production of at least 5 original news stories and reports annually.

Media Literacy and News Literacy Enhancement: Improve media literacy among Indigenous and other underrepresented communities, leading to an increase in understanding of mass media and news reporting for 5 individuals within one year.

Community Engagement: Foster community engagement and collaboration, as evidenced by a 5% increase in active participation on the VNN platform within six months.

Progress Measurement:

Content Analysis: Evaluate the quality and diversity of content produced on the VNN platform, particularly focusing on the representation of Indigenous and underrepresented voices. Monitor the types of stories being shared and the extent to which they contribute to narrative reclamation and community empowerment.

Surveys and Feedback: Administer surveys and gather feedback from platform users, program participants, and community members to assess changes in media literacy, confidence in news reporting, and perception of media representation. Use qualitative insights to inform program improvements and adjustments.

Quantitative Analysis: Conduct regular data analysis of VNN platform usage, tracking metrics such as the number of uploads, comments, likes, and active users. Compare these metrics over time to measure growth in representation and community engagement.

Longitudinal Studies: Conduct longitudinal studies to track the long-term impact of VNN initiatives on media literacy, community engagement, and representation. Follow up with program participants and platform users to assess sustained changes in behavior, attitudes, and perceptions related to news consumption and media participation.

VNN operates via the free VNN app, a first-of-its-kind social media platform designed exclusively for verified news and information. Our app offers diverse perspectives through community news stories and presents the chance for people in underrepresented groups to share their stories and have their voices heard.

The VNN app is a progressive web app (PWA). Its content can be viewed through an internet browser, but also through a downloadable version that can be saved onto the home screen of a mobile device. VNN also uses artificial intelligence (AI) to moderate content for inappropriate uploads and verify GPS location of collaborator content. That’s because it’s not just journalists who have the ability to post on VNN; anyone can create and share content on the VNN app as a VNN Collaborator. 

VNN develops new entrepreneurship roadmaps and resources so that partner journalists can excel at quality storytelling, fill coverage gaps, and earn a living.

Affiliates extend their impact through our continued efforts to reach diverse audiences. Affiliate stories in the VNN provide their canonical links in the second paragraph and include their unique calls to action to maximize benefit.

Officials use the VNN app to get their news out to the public, including but not limited to law enforcement, state agencies, and lawmakers. 

Experts are verified business owners and industry professionals. Other VNN collaborators may ask them to lend their expertise to additional news stories.

Citizens are the heart of the Verified News Network. Citizens can upload news to the VNN app as it’s happening, help moderate uploaded content using VNN’s flagging system, and provide valuable feedback in the comments section.

The VNN app provides a dynamic and effective platform for news collaborators to establish their presence and gain traction. By strategically leveraging our free platform, news providers can reach a wider audience, build a strong brand identity, and stay competitive in the rapidly evolving media landscape. This is particularly important for people and organizations who serve underrepresented communities, often with limited resources. 

Perks for start-up news collaborators include:

The ability to tap into an existing social news network, thereby increasing visibility and engagement. The interactive nature of the VNN app encourages audience participation through comments, likes, and shares, fostering a sense of community around the news content.

The ability to provide real-time updates on breaking news, events, and developments on a professional platform. The immediacy of these platforms allows new organizations to establish themselves as reliable sources of timely information. By staying ahead of the curve, they can attract a larger audience seeking the latest news.

The ability to receive trackable analytics data. By analyzing user engagement and viewership, collaborators can gain valuable insights into audience preferences. This data-driven approach enables them to refine their content strategy for better traction.

The ability to easily connect and partner with fellow collaborators on projects helps people and organizations gain access to an even broader audience, develop more robust and impactful offerings, and enhances their credibility through association.

Oklahoma, Michigan

No additional parts are anticipated within the next year

Full-time staff - 1

Part-time staff - 5

Contractors - 2

Our team has developed this solution driven by firsthand experience and community learning over the past five years. Co-founder Brittany Harlow, a former news anchor and reporter, witnessed mainstream media's detrimental impact on mental health and the oversimplification of complex issues. Recognizing the lack of Indigenous representation, co-founder Kelly Tidwell, a Muscogee Creek/Cherokee descendant, joined forces. Their shared vision led to the creation of Verified News Network (VNN) in 2018, aiming to provide a platform for diverse perspectives and community involvement in news reporting.

As a Native-owned company headquartered on our CEO’s reservation, we prioritize Native employment. We actively recruit and retain a diverse team, valuing different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. We also prioritize providing professional development opportunities and career advancement pathways that are accessible to everyone on the team, and encourage and assist our Native team members with opportunities specifically offered to Indigenous people.

To support diversity and inclusion, VNN offers flexible work arrangements, accommodation for individual needs, zero-tolerance policies for discrimination or harassment, and a pro-family environment.

We also create space for open dialogue and feedback, encouraging team members to share their perspectives and concerns on a regular basis. By fostering a culture of belonging and respect, we aim to create an environment where every team member feels valued and empowered to reach their full potential.

Our business model centers on delivering value to our audiences through impactful news coverage and other community resources while sustaining our operations through diversified revenue streams. 

By providing a platform for Indigenous voices and other underrepresented voices to be heard, we are promoting cultural preservation, awareness, and empowerment within these communities. This visibility not only helps combat stereotypes and misconceptions but also facilitates intercultural dialogue and understanding. Moreover, by providing education and training opportunities for Native journalists and other collaborators, our platform contributes to economic development and professional growth within these communities. 

Key customers include advertisers seeking tailored advertising solutions and sponsors looking to engage with our unique audience through various channels such as sponsored content and events. We provide these customers with custom ad design, individual ads, and strategic implementation services, as well as sponsorship opportunities like sponsored news series and events. Additionally, our media services department offers a range of content creation and marketing solutions to meet the needs of clients seeking comprehensive media support. 

Customers are drawn to our offerings because they provide targeted access to our engaged audience and enable them to amplify their brand presence effectively. Furthermore, our collaborations with organizations and grant funding sources ensure the continuity of our mission-driven journalism and business sustainability, further appealing to stakeholders invested in supporting quality news coverage. We recently expanded media training and news consultation as paid services, following success in the areas over the past several months.  

In 2019, VNN partnered with BetaBlox, a business incubator and accelerator based in Kansas City. VNN worked with BetaBlox to develop and test different revenue stream experiments to fund our social news media operations. 

On the VNN revenue generation side, we provide in-house advertising opportunities that include custom ad design, individual ads, ad campaigns, and strategic implementation services on platforms like Meta and YouTube. VNN also offers sponsorship opportunities with our unique audience as well as those of our partner audiences. These include sponsored news options such as custom news series, in-depth storytelling, and news category sponsorship in the VNN News Feed, of which VNN retains complete editorial control, and sponsored events, which has increased in popularity over the last two years.

To further fund our work, we expanded our media expertise into the VNN Media Services department, of which services include graphic design, blog writing, email campaigns, digital newsletters, and video production. We also create comprehensive marketing solutions through website development, social media management, and robust research and reporting services, featuring surveying, data analysis, and automation. Our planning and consultation services extend to product development, procedure writing, media training, and event planning. 

Through collaborations with organizations such as LION Publishers and Builders + Backers, VNN has been able to build a stronger foundation of both news and business sustainability. These have been our biggest sources of grant funding and support since 2022. Other supporters include the Data-Driven Reporting Project and media clients like the American Indian Chamber of Commerce of Oklahoma and news consultation clients Osage News. 

Our revenue for our first fiscal year was $425. We have steadily experienced revenue growth year over year, and closed our last fiscal year at just over $72K in revenue.