Three Frontier staff writers took top honors at the Society of Professional Journalists Fort Worth Professional Chapter’s 2026 First Amendment Awards.
Staff Writer Kayla Branch was awarded first place in the environmental reporting category for her story It smelled like a ‘buried body.’ A small town was overwhelmed by fumes from an oil waste disposal facility. Branch reported on how the smell from a nearby disposal facility made residents sick after the company Nemaha Environmental Services dumped unpermitted materials into pits near Enid.
Staff Writer Garrett Yalch won first place in the business category for his story Criminal networks continue to thrive in Oklahoma’s marijuana industry as lawmakers weigh new measures. The story highlighted how six years after legalization, powerful Chinese mafias continue to thrive in Oklahoma’s marijuana industry, exploiting legal loopholes and quietly outmaneuvering the state’s efforts to crack down.
Frontier Managing Editor Brianna Bailey and KOSU Reporter Sierra Pfeifer won first place in the general news category for ‘Total freefall’: Oklahoma faces deadline to fix broken mental health system as long wait times persist. The story focused on long waits for treatment for people with severe mental illness in the criminal justice system.
The First Amendment Awards honor journalism focused on Oklahoma and Texas that defends the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution; furthers the people’s right to know how governments and businesses affect their lives; and champions the powerless and disadvantaged.
The Frontier launched in 2015 as Oklahoma’s premier investigative outlet.
Reach Frontier staff by email at info@readfrontier.com
