Britten Follett
On Fox News Network, Britten reported, “Last night I cried myself to sleep after watching Kelsey’s story on YouTube. 6 million people have watched it. Kelsey should not be on YouTube. Her death could have been prevented.” Since that report, the number has gone up to 38 million. As a television reporter, Britten has covered Kelsey’s case since the day after her death. She broke the news to Kelsey’s family, the two year old’s death was a homicide. Because of Britten’s dedication to uncovering corruption with Oklahoma’s Department of Human Services, her list of parents and grandparents, calling to report problems with the system, grows daily. Due to confidentiality laws, many of those stories will never be told; however, Britten has spent the last two years investigating the intimate details of the back room deals and negligence behind Kelsey’s story. Because Kelsey’s dead, her story can be told. Britten’s television reports have earned her an Edward R. Murrow Award, three Emmy nominations along with six state and regional broadcasting awards, including Oklahoma’s 2005 Best Investigative Report. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Southern Illinois University, where she was an award winning Division One volleyball player. Two of her fiction stories have been published in literary journals. Britten is no stranger to the book business. 5 generations ago, her family founded Follett Corporation.
Cherokee Ballard
Cherokee's career in television news began 25 years ago. She earned national recognition as Oklahoma’s 2008 Woman of the Year. Her 2002 weekly series, “Cherokee’s Journal: Lessons in Living with Cancer,” took viewers on her personal journey through changes and challenges when cancer presented itself, from diagnosis, chemotherapy, to hair loss, radiation and finally, recovery.Cherokee is a University of Oklahoma alumni and worked as a professor at the School of Journalism, instructing its “Writing for Broadcast” classes.Cherokee grew up in Oklahoma City and is native Cherokee Indian. She is part of a small community of Native Americans within the United States who are television news anchors. Cherokee was honored in a 2001 photographic exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. called, “Cherokee Nation: A Portrait of a People.” It depicted contemporary Oklahoma Cherokees.In 2002, she won the Cherokee Nation Medal of Honor Award and in 2001, the IABC Central Oklahoma Excel Award. She has also won the Staff Peabody Award and a Regional Emmy Award for her coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing.