Four journalists who started their media careers by working on the OU Daily staff have been named as 2026 inductees into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame.
They’ll be among a 10-member 2026 class, and two lifetime achievement honorees, inducted at the University of Central Oklahoma’s Nigh University Center on May 14.
This year’s class includes the following former Daily staffers, listed alphabetically, with citations from the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame’s press release on the inductees:
Cindy Allen
CINDY ELLIOTT ALLEN (1959- ) began her career in journalism at 17 with the Shawnee News-Star and went on to build a career defined by newsroom and community leadership. She served in senior news executive roles in Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas, leading daily newspapers through periods of transformation while overseeing editorial, digital and business operations. Her work has emphasized strong local reporting, ethical standards and modern audience engagement. Beyond journalism, Allen has held senior communications and advocacy roles in the corporate and nonprofit sectors, developing public messaging, media relations and fundraising strategies. She also served as mayor and city commissioner of Pittsburg, Kansas, where she led a successful citywide initiative to fund major public improvements. Across her career, Allen’s work has centered on civic leadership, public trust and community engagement.
Mike Brown
MIKE BROWN (1952- ) passionately covered high school sports during most of his 43 years with the Tulsa World, gratified to have worked with a literal generation of great athletes and coaches. He also wrote about college football and basketball, WNBA basketball and covered all 11 seasons of the Tulsa Talons’ indoor football team. Brown attended Charles Page High School in Sand Springs and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1974. He relished the small-town newspaper experience and worked in Holdenville, McAlester and Edmond before going to the World in 1979. In 2016, he was chosen as the National Sports Media Association’s Oklahoma Sportswriter of the Year. After retirement in 2022, the newspaper instituted the Mike Brown Inspirational Award for its annual All-World Awards Banquet.
Kathryn McNutt
KATHRYN SHERRY McNUTT (1956- ) worked at three family newspapers before they were owned by chains, beginning at The Norman Transcript in 1979 after earning her journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. Next was the Enid News and Eagle, where she was a reporter then promoted to Lifestyles editor. She worked in both newsrooms as they transitioned to computers, reporting on local government and community news. Her 19 years at The Oklahoman included stints as metro editor, breaking news editor and mentoring dozens of reporters covering everything from suburban squabbles to tornado destruction. On the higher education beat she covered the tumultuous year when OU President David Boren’s successor, Jim Gallogly, slashed budgets and staffing while revealing “years of overspending.” She retired as a business reporter for The Journal Record.
Ed Turner
ED TURNER (1935-2002) had three great loves: news, Oklahoma and University of Oklahoma football. Trained by OU’s legendary Ned Hockman, Turner transitioned to anchor at KWTV in the early 1960’s. After working on Bud Wilkinson’s unsuccessful Senate campaign, he became a news director in Washington where he introduced the East Coast to its first 10 p.m. newscast. After a stint as producer of the CBS Morning News and news director at KWTV, he took on the greatest challenge of his life. He was one of the four founding executives of CNN. At CNN, he pioneered extensive live coverage, specialized reporting by experts, in-depth political coverage and live breaking news, a term he created. These became and still are CNN hallmarks.
