OKLAHOMA CITY – EPIC Charter Schools, the state’s largest virtual charter school, announced its development of EPIC News Network (ENN), the state’s first and only statewide journalism program for high
OKLAHOMA CITY – EPIC Charter Schools, the state’s largest virtual charter school, announced its development of EPIC News Network (ENN), the state’s first and only statewide journalism program for high school students.
Through ENN, EPIC students statewide are reporting and photographing events in their communities and covering the actions of state leaders and events that shape the cultural and political landscape of Oklahoma.
ENN teaches students the principles of news-gathering, reporting, writing, editing, photojournalism, audiovisual production and ethics.
Students’ work is delivered via epicnewsnetwork.org and ENN social media channels.
Award-winning Oklahoma journalists M. Scott Carter and Phil Cross, ENN’s co-directors, lead the day-to-day classroom work.
With dozens of journalism awards between them, the two longtime reporters bring decades of experience to the table.
In addition, Carter was most recently a journalism professor at Oklahoma City Community College and the faculty advisor to its award-winning student newspaper. Cross came to ENN from KOKH FOX 25 in Oklahoma City and won an Emmy in 2017 for his government reporting work. Both men are members of the Journalism Education Association and the Oklahoma Scholastic Media.
“I like the challenge of teaching students just how important good storytelling is and how to leverage new technologies to share those stories with their audience,” Carter said.
Cross added that he is thrilled at the opportunity to teach the next generation of journalists.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better teaching partner than Scott Carter,” Cross said. “Together, we have an opportunity to show our students what journalism is all about.”
EPIC Superintendent Bart Banfield touted the two men’s efforts, stating ENN has two leaders who bring an unsurpassed level of real-world experience to their students.
“These two exceptional journalists have dedicated their professional lives to providing Oklahoma with the finest in news gathering and reporting,” Epic Superintendent Bart Banfield said. “That level of professionalism and knowledge is invaluable to students in a unique classroom setting such as this.”