Ilea Shutler

Dick Pryor

Deputy Director, Managing Editor

Dick Pryor is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who serves as Deputy Director and Managing Editor for OETA-The Oklahoma Network. He began anchoring the Oklahoma News Report in 1990 and served as OETA News and Public Affairs Manager from 2002 to 2007. Dick was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame on April 3, 2009.

During his tenure at OETA, Dick has anchored OETA's statewide election coverage every two years, served as legislative reporter, and has been on-camera and voice-over talent for numerous OETA productions including the Western Heritage Awards and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame Awards and Banquet. He has also hosted or moderated a variety of public affairs programs, including Oklahoma Forum, Legislative Week, Oklahomans Against Fraud, The State Question Debate, A Conversation With..., Prescriptions for Healthcare Reform, The People's Business, Ask a Lawyer, and debates involving candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

He has also narrated documentaries, "Oklahoma's Carl Albert" and "Oklahoma Newsreel Photographer," and was producer/reporter of the highly-acclaimed 14-part series and documentary, Oklahoma World War II Stories in 2007. The Oklahoma World War II Stories documentary was the highest-rated prime-time program in the entire PBS system on December 6, 2007, and was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Dick received an Emmy Award in 2008 from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Heartland Regional Chapter for his work on OETA's World War II Veterans project. In his role as talen,t he hosted two pre-screening events of Ken Burns' documentary, "The War," hosted an interview program about the project, reported and produced the Oklahoma World War II Stories news series and documentary, covered the dedication of the USS Oklahoma Memorial at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 2007, and hosted a live educational webcast from Pearl Harbor for more than 200 Oklahoma schools.

Under his guidance as Managing Editor, OETA's election night program, Oklahoma Votes 2008, won the award for Best Election Coverage in the 2009 Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters competition, and Oklahoma Votes 2010 earned first place for Election Coverage at the 2011 Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists annual awards.  While serving as presenter and managing editor, the Oklahoma News Report (ONR) took home the 3rd place award in the 2011 Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists competion for (Best) Newscast - the first time ONR has been honored with a major statewide award in the newscast category. 

Dick received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Radio-TV Journalism and Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Oklahoma. A native of Norman, he worked as Sports Director at KFDX-TV in Wichita Falls, Texas, and sports anchor/reporter at KJRH-TV in Tulsa and KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City prior to joining OETA. He also served as Public Relations Director and play-by-play announcer for the Oklahoma City 89ers Baseball Club for two seasons and served as sports play-by-play announcer and talk show host for radio stations in Oklahoma and Texas. He has received awards for his work from the Associated Press, United Press International, Society of Professional Journalists and the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters.

Dick is active in a variety of community and professional organizations, including the Radio-Television News Directors Association, and is a past-President of the Norman Sooner Rotary Club, the Oklahoma Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and the University of Oklahoma College of Journalism Alumni Association. In 1997, he traveled to Russia to advise Russian radio and television broadcasters about American journalism.

He was a member of Leadership Norman in 1997 and currently serves on the Board of Directors for FOI, Oklahoma, Inc., the Board of Visitors for the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences, the Advisory Council for the Julian P. Kanter Political Commercial Archive at the University of Oklahoma, and is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association Communications Committee and Law Day Committee.

Dick's wife, Lisa, is a former public school teacher who serves as Senior Advisor for the National Center on Time and Learning.

Bob Sands

Manager of Network News

Bob Sands is a veteran broadcast journalist who brings more than thirty years of experience in radio, television and journalism education to the OETA newsroom.

Prior to joining OETA, he was News Director of KOKC (formerly KOMA) Radio in Oklahoma City. During his career Bob has worked as a radio news director, anchor or reporter at WKY-AM, KEBC-FM, KOMA-AM, KOMA-FM, KAFG-FM, KKNG-FM and KTOK-AM in Oklahoma City; KAKC-AM and KAKC-FM in Tulsa; and has been a television investigative producer for KWTV and KTVY in Oklahoma City, ABC News Primetime Live, NBC Nightly News, and CNN.

Bob has covered U.S. Presidents, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and thousands of stories affecting the lives of Oklahomans. As an investigative reporter, he has investigated organized criminal activity in Oklahoma, exposed consumer frauds and scams in Oklahoma and nationwide, and, uncovered illegal activity involving law enforcement. He was also instrumental in writing and promoting passage of the Oklahoma Open Records Law.

Bob has taught broadcast writing, audio production and radio news as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Journalism at the University of Oklahoma. He is Past-President of the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters and the Oklahoma City News Broadcasters Association, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Freedom of Information Oklahoma, Inc.

The Oklahoma professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists honored Bob with its Lifetime Achievement Award at its annual banquet Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Tulsa.

In April of 2007, Bob was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame. During the induction ceremony Sands told the crowd of 250 people at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, "If not for the support and help of many friends, fellow reporters and my family, this would never have happened".

Lis Exon

Tulsa News Manager

In addition to serving as a contributor for the Oklahoma News Report, she has served as host and producer of "Tulsa Times."  Before joining OETA, Lis worked as anchor/reporter for KJRH-TV in Tulsa and KUSA-TV in Denver and served as lead police and investigative reporter for KTRK-TV in Houston. Lis has also worked as writer and producer for Williams Energy News Live. Lis has won numerous awards for her investigative and “breaking news” reporting.

Steve Bennett

Reporter/Producer

A native Tulsan, Steve Bennett has a news background that spans four decades. Steve began his career as anchor/reporter at KBIX in Muskogee, KOCY in Oklahoma City, and was news director for KOMA-FM and KRXO-FM in Oklahoma City. While he was news director, KOMA won numerous Associated Press awards through the years. Steve has also served on the Oklahoma Associated Press Broadcasters Board of Directors.

He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a master's from OU as well, and taught broadcast writing and ethics classes at the university's Gaylord College of Journalism for five years.

Steve has covered some of the most pivotal events in recent Oklahoma history, including the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Building and the May 3, 1999 tornado, the largest twister in a metropolitan area ever recorded. Steve has also had extensive experience reporting on state elections, as well as breaking news stories.

Steve and his wife Malia have three children, including son Christopher and identical twin daughters, Laura and Rachel. Steve and his family are members of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Oklahoma City. He has also has been involved in a variety of public service projects in his community. An adult leader with The Last Frontier Council Boy Scout Troop 20, Steve is a member of the Order of the Arrow and the 2005 Friend of Scouting Campaign's honorary Chairman. He's also been a featured celebrity reader for the Metropolitan Library System's Week of the Young Child as well as volunteering his time to numerous other civic and educational organizations.

Cathy Tatom

Contributor

Cathy Tatom began her career at KOVR in Sacramento, CA while still in high school. Her one semester internship quickly extended into a decade-long full time job as a news producer.

She rose through the ranks adding special projects to her responsibilities. While at KOVR she covered everything from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics to the Pope's 1987 visit to America. That assignment included taking five viewers to the Vatican to meet the Pope.

In 1989, Cathy moved to Oklahoma City as 10 p.m. News Producer for KWTV. There, she met and married KWTV helicopter pilot, Leroy Tatom, and earned an Emmy nomination for best newscast.

From late 1990 to early 1995 Cathy traveled the globe reporting on the effects of poverty and natural disasters for Feed The Children. Overseas assignments included trips to Somalia, Kenya, Uganda and Honduras.

The 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing brought Cathy back to working full-time in local news, first as a 10 p.m. producer for Tulsa's KTUL-TV, then as investigative reporter for KJRH-TV. Cathy joined OETA as a reporter in Oklahoma City in 1997.

Her stories for the "Oklahoma News Report" have won numerous awards for political, enterprise and education reporting. In 2000, she moved to OETA's Tulsa Office. Cathy's "Oklahoma News Report" stories primarily focus on the people and events in Eastern Oklahoma.  While at OETA she has also hosted and produced stories for "Tulsa Times."

Susan Miller

Contributor

Susan Miller has 22 years experience as a broadcast journalist. She began her career at KOCO-TV 5 in Oklahoma where she anchored the Daybook segment for Good Morning, Oklahoma. From there she moved to WKPT TV in Kingsport, Tennessee to work as a news anchor and reporter for 10 years. Toward the end of that time, Susan won Best Documentary from the Tennessee Associated Press for a one hour program entitled, "The Lillelid Killers, A Closer Look".

In 2000, Susan returned to her home state of Oklahoma to take a job with OETA's documentary program, "Stateline". While at Stateline her work garnered several awards including an Emmy, a national first place award from Women in Communications, a national platinum Aurora award, two national Aurora first place honors and several awards from the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, The Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists and the Oklahoma Associated Press.

In 2007 Susan left "Stateline" and moved down the hall to work for OETA's other documentary series, "Gallery". While working with Gallery she has helped the show win a Best of the Best award from the National Educational Television Association, an Emmy, and several honors from the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters and The Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists.

Susan also works as a contributor for OETA'S nightly newscast, The Oklahoma News Report, filing stories once a week and field reports for ONR's outstanding election night coverage.

Susan lives in Oklahoma City and has two children. She is extremely proud of her state and all the great strides it has made over the past decade.

Robert Burch

Contributor

When Robert Burch joined OETA in February, 2003, he brought with him over 16 years of experience covering issues and developments that have shaped Oklahoma. Robert has covered politics since he began working in television in 1993. Prior to joining OETA, Robert worked at KSWO-TV, the ABC affiliate in Lawton, and KTVO-TV in Kirksville, Missouri.

Robert has been nominated for five Emmy awards and has received awards for his work from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters. When he's not in the office, Robert enjoys spending time with his family and friends.

Contact Robert: 405.767.2459
rburch@oeta.tv

Aaron Byrd

Photojournalist

Aaron Byrd joined OETA on March 9, 2005 as photojournalist in the Oklahoma City office. Before OETA, Aaron worked at KJRH-TV in Tulsa and KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City.

Aaron graduated from Berryhill High School and earned a Mass Communications Degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. Aaron likes heavy metal music, camping, fishing and playing the drums.

"The Byrdman" is also a BIG fan of OU sports.

Pius Mburu

Photographer

Pius Mburu joined OETA in December 2006 as a news photographer. Previous experience includes working as a news cameraman and field producer in different regions of Africa. Among news agencies that Pius worked for are CNN, Reuters and APTV.

As well as news, he has also participated in production of documentaries for various UN agencies and other international humanitarian agencies in subjects as varied as AIDS to national conflicts, TV magazine shows on wildlife - "Wild Things", for paramount pictures, etc.

Pius comes from Kenya, East Africa and is currently pursuing an MBA at Oklahoma City University.

Tim Carson

Photographer

Tim Carson joined OETA in October, 2008 after serving as Voter Voices photographer/producer during the first part of the 2008 election season.

Tim graduated from Midwest City (Oklahoma) High School in 1981 and from Oklahoma State University with a B.S. in Broadcasting in 1987. He moved to Tulsa in 1988 and took a job at KTUL-TV as a photojournalist. In May, 2006, Tim moved to KJRH-TV in Tulsa as general news photojournalist. In August, 2006, he took a position as morning photojournalist at Tulsa station KOTV. Tim joined OETA in August, 2008 as part-time photographer and went full-time on October 1.

Tim is married, his wife Maranda and he live in Broken Arrow, and enjoy playing golf and relaxing at home with their three dogs.

Edwin Wilson

Photojournalist

Edwin Wilson is a seasoned photojournalist who joined our team in April 2009, from Washington DC.  He spent 8 1/2 years working in the nation's capital covering everything from President Barack Obama's inauguration on January 20, 2009 to interviewing the future president at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia during the election campaign, the sniper attacks, and the attacks on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.  Before that, he was a helicopter photographer at WBNS-TV in Columbus Ohio, a photojournalist at WTKR-TV in Norfolk, Virginia, a photojournalist and reporter at WMDT-TV in Salisbury, Maryland, and he started his career at his hometown TV station, WTAP-TV in Parkersburg, West Virginia in 1990.

He has been nominated for 2 Emmy Awards, has won a Telly Award, a SPJ Award, and several AP awards for stories that he has covered in his career.  His hobbies include, photography (obviously!), science fiction movies (especially Star Wars), collecting autographs, cooking great food, biking, and his dog, "Peppie." He is very excited about making the 1,600+ mile move from Alexandria, Virginia to Tulsa and to OETA to begin a new chapter of his life.

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