Kimberly Marsh
General Assignment Reporter, The Oklahoma Eagle
What I do here
I am a general assignment reporter for The Oklahoma Eagle. I strive to find community members who have a story to tell and engage them in the news gathering process. My goal is to uplift Tulsans and their achievements, follow community discussions and discourse in order to understand how all the elements of our audiences connect and how our systems work. The community is diverse and complex, and it needs reporters who will question leadership on issues that impact our audience. My goal is to generate my own story leads while also being on call for our editors to gather stories within the various sectors of our city, as news is happening. My general focus is on issues that affect women of color, e.g. health / wellbeing, workplace issues etc., and climate impacts at the local level.
My Background
As the second-eldest in the newsroom, I have a longer story. I grew up in journalism, following in my sister’s (12 years older) footsteps. At 16 years old, I worked for a weekly newspaper in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, owned by the late U.S. Rep. Ted Risenhoover. I was a typesetter in the days when we keyed in stories to print on film, then pasted film to the pages that were used to make the press plates. I reported too, and my first real story focused on a rape trial.
I arrived at the Tahlequah Pictorial Press after the original press was bombed by modern day bandits, presumably as retribution for Risenhoover’s pursuit of justice and efforts to fight organized crime in northeastern Oklahoma. The veteran pressman stood vigil over the office until repairs could be made.
Once in college, I became a student worker with the former voice of KRMG Talk Radio, Ed Brocksmith, in the Northeastern State University public information office. I finished my education at The University of Tulsa and returned to newspapers upon graduation. As a reporter with the Tulsa Daily Business Journal, Journal Record and Tulsa Tribune, I primarily covered business during a period of time when banks were failing after the Penn Square Bank seizure of the 1980s and led investigative stories on the savings and loan industry at a time when the federal government stepped in to manage failing thrifts/associations. I ended that part of my career shortly before the Tribune closed and went to work for one of the banks I had covered in a public relations role.
Following a stint in the private sector, I built a career in public affairs with a state agency and the City of Tulsa, where I stayed 23 years, served as press secretary/communications director to four mayors and retired in 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. In addition to reporting for the Eagle as a contractor for four years, my agency collective created productions for various clients, managed events and focused our work with an international holistic tech movement, Hypha Ltd and SEEDS. Together, we co-created a regenerative ecosystem based on a circular economy with members who were building eco-villages and holistic systems across the globe.
Where can you find me in Tulsa?
You will find me talking to community members at events, festivals and public meetings and questioning local officials on a mission to create environments where Tulsans can thrive. You’ll find me talking with entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, health care workers, elected officials, creatives/artists, historians and innovators as well as with diverse members of our communities about the many issues that matter to them. Otherwise, look for me in the woods and near water, whether in a pool, on the river, playing in a northeastern Oklahoma creek or on a lake in a kayak. I also enjoy yoga and body movement sessions, playing games with my grownup kids, reading, researching as well as laughing and sharing good times with friends.
Journalistic ethics
My goal is to remain objective and be transparent with readers, to tell a story in an engaging way, double check the facts and tell all sides. It is important for reporters to build trust locally. I want our readers to be engaged in the story and work with me to highlight not only the good, but also the injustices and socio-economic shocks we all witness and fight to overcome.