Andrew W. Griffin, reporter, Oklahoma Watchdog, based in Oklahoma City.

Griffin, 37, grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and Wichita, Kansas and received his undergraduate degree in journalism from John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Griffin has had a life-long interest in journalism. From his days throwing copies of the Arkansas Democrat on to front porches as a boy to participating in the weekly high school music reporting panel for The Wichita Eagle in the early 1990′s,

After graduation from JBU (and a brief stint at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa), Griffin would work at the Waxahachie Daily Light in Texas for one year before spending six years at The Town Talk newspaper in Alexandria, Louisiana.

In 2005, shortly after the arrival of the devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Griffin sought work in Oklahoma, first working for a year at The Lawton Constitution covering the court and police beat. In 2006, Griffin re-located to the Oklahoma City metro area where he eventually launched the Oklahoma online newspaper Red Dirt Report (www.reddirtreport.com) and continued working as a freelance reporter covering everything from politics to music.

While much of Red Dirt Report is devoted to linking stories from other sites, Griffin devoted much of his time working on investigative pieces – stories that the state media was not thoroughly covering. Red Dirt Report was recently listed on Oklahoma’s “Your Vote Counts” political TV program as one of the top political blogs in the Sooner State.

And since launching Oklahoma Watchdog in the fall of 2009, Griffin has been even more busy digging into the important stories affecting all Oklahomans.

Elizabeth Hillgrove is a staff writer, researcher for the Franklin Center and contributor to Oklahoma Watchdog.

Ms. Hillgrove’s passion for journalism and politics evolved from her interest in history and literature. Ms. Hillgrove received her training from the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C. She then served as a beat reporter with the Washington Times before earning a Koch Summer Fellowship with the Sam Adams Alliance.

Ms. Hillgrove graduated from James Madison University with a major in English literature and a minor in Studio Art. Ms. Hillgrove’s artwork has been featured in several art shows in the Virginia area, in addition to her frontpage stories and bylines. She also dedicates some of her time volunteering with Christian and athletic groups.

To email Ms. Hillgrove, send to: elizabeth.hillgrove@franklincenterhq.org