M. Scott Carter to speak at NOC Oct. 23

TONKAWA — Longtime Oklahoma journalist and Northern Oklahoma College alumni M. Scott Carter will lecture on free speech at NOC on Wednesday, Oct. 23.

Carter will speak in Renfro 112 on the NOC Tonkawa campus at 1 p.m.

The lecture is open to all NOC students and the public.

Carter was honored as a Distinguished Alumni at Northern Oklahoma College in 2016.

A six-generation Oklahoma, M. Scott Carter has been a journalist in his native state for more than four decades. He has spent the majority of his career as an investigative reporter, covering politics, the Oklahoma State Capitol, and writing about the impact of government policy on the general public.

A 1981 graduate of Yale High School, Carter holds an Associate of Arts degree from Northern Oklahoma College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma. In 2014, he earned a Master’s Degree in Professional Writing from The University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

In 2014, he captured the Associate Press-Oklahoma News Editors sweepstakes award for his investigation of the construction of two tornado-ravaged schools in Moore. That award, his fourth Sweepstakes in six years, follow his statewide investigation of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs in 2012, a series of stories on the sale of the Sardis Lake Reservoir in 2010 and a Sweepstakes Award with fellow reporter Carol Cole-Frowe in 2008 for a series on the abuse of a resident at the Norman Veterans Center.

In 2013, Carter and OETA reporter Bob Sands received the Media Partner of the Year award from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services in 2013 for their reporting on veterans’ issues. In 2008, Carter received the Marshall Gregory Award from the Oklahoma Education Association for his series of stories exploring teacher pay in Oklahoma.

In 2013, he was named one of the Oklahoma’s top three political reporters by The Washington Post’s blog, The Fix.

Carter is a former Capitol Bureau Chief for the Journal Record in Oklahoma City. He has also served an investigative reporter for Oklahoma Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union.

A published novelist, his first novel, Stealing Kevin’s Heart, was published in 2011 by Road Runner Press. That novel was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award.

In 2013 Carter’s second novel, The Immortal Von B, earned the Oklahoma Book Award for Young Adult Fiction, the Gold Award for Young Adult Fiction from the National Independent Book Publishers Association and Foreword Magazine’s 2013 Gold Award for Young Adult Fiction.

Carter has also earned numerous state and national awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press, the National Press Photographers Association, the National Magazine Publishers Association and the American Library Association.

He previously served as a Professor of Journalism at Oklahoma City Community College, where he taught journalism, feature writing, photojournalism and served as the adviser of the student newspaper, The Pioneer.

Today, he is co-director of the largest high school journalism program in the state, the Epic News Network, which is based in Midwest City.

Carter is a member of the board of directors and a past president of the Oklahoma Pro Chapter Society of Professional Journalists. He is also a member of Kappa Tau Alpha, the national honor society for journalists.

Carter lives in Oklahoma City with his wife, Karen, an elementary school teacher, and their six children.

Call (580) 628-6200 for more information about Northern Oklahoma College or visit www.noc.edu .