Aug. 10, 2023 www.investigatemidwest.org Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Veteran Oklahoma journalist Ben Felder joins Investigate Midwest
Investigate Midwest is pleased to announce we are now reporting from Oklahoma with the addition of veteran reporter Ben Felder.
Felder, who joined Investigate Midwest Aug. 7, will focus on Oklahoma’s industrial agribusiness and meat industry sector. His position is funded by the Kirkpatrick Foundation.
Felder previously worked for The Oklahoman as a political enterprise reporter blending narrative storytelling, data analysis and investigative reporting to cover the state’s political leaders, the influences behind them, and their impact on everyday Oklahomans.
“Getting a chance to turn my reporting focus to this sector, along with helping Investigate Midwest plant a flag in Oklahoma, is a thrilling opportunity,” Felder said.
He is a recipient of the Oklahoma Press Association awards for political and education reporting and was an Education Writers Association fellow in 2019.
Felder lives in Oklahoma City with his wife, Lori, and son, Satchel.
The support from the Kirkpatrick Foundation makes it possible for Investigate Midwest to widen its coverage of industrial agribusiness and related issues in the Midwest and adjacent states, such as Oklahoma.
“It is an honor to be selected by the Kirkpatrick Foundation and grow our coverage,” Executive Director Erin Orr said.
Investigate Midwest, also known as the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, was created in 2009 in Kansas City before moving to Champaign, Illinois, in 2012. It has won numerous national and regional awards for its in-depth, data-driven reporting.
RELATED: Investigate Midwest expands coverage to Oklahoma with grant from Kirkpatrick Foundation
GRAPHIC: Big farms dominate dairy industry
By Ava Mandoli, Investigate Midwest
Over the last three decades, dairy has become one of the most consolidated agricultural industries, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report. Since 2013, the total number of licensed dairy herds has decreased by more than 40%.
See the animated graphic.
WHAT: An evening of gourmet pizza and salad, live music, a silent auction, cash wine bar, and more. Get tickets here.
WHERE: Walker Homestead near Iowa City.
WHY: To support Investigate Midwest and its IowaWatch newsroom.
Minnesota tribe sets enforceable rules to safeguard wild rice and water supply
It’s been centuries since the White Earth Band migrated west across North America, following an ancestral prophecy to go where “food grows on water.” One of seven Ojibwe bands in Minnesota, White Earth found that prophecy fulfilled along the many shallow clear lakes that lie in the state’s northern forests, where luminous green stalks of wild rice grow in abundance.
This story was published by Circle of Blue.
