Oklahoma Watch Staff

Paul Monies

Topics: State Government

Paul Monies has been a reporter for more than 20 years and has been with Oklahoma Watch since 2017. Before that, he was an energy reporter and database editor at The Oklahoman newspaper in Oklahoma City. He’s also worked as a data journalist at USA Today and is a past president of Freedom of Information Oklahoma. Paul is a native of Scotland and has degrees from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He lives in Oklahoma City with his wife and two children.

Reach Paul at pmonies@oklahomawatch.org. Follow him on X at @pmonies.

Vicki Monks

Topics: General Assignment

Vicki Monks is a multi-media freelancer who works as a writer, reporter, photographer and radio and TV producer. Her work has appeared on National Public Radio, BBC Radio, National Geographic Television, PBS Online, and in National Wildlife Magazine, Rolling Stone, Vogue and the American Journalism Review. She has a long list of national and international awards, including the 2005 SEJ Award for Radio for a story about industrial contamination of Ponca Indian lands. She was a Professional Journalism Fellow at Stanford University and a Scripps Fellow in Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado. Monks was inducted into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame in 2025. She is a member of the Chickasaw Nation and is focusing much of her current work on tribal and indigenous issues.

Reach Vicki at publicaffairsmedia@hotmail.com.

Jennifer Palmer

Topics: Education

Jennifer Palmer, who covers education for Oklahoma Watch,  has more than two decades of experience in news reporting. She started her career at a scrappy weekly in northern New Mexico, covering police and courts, where her reporting led to the ouster of a prominent judge. She then spent several years at the Omaha World-Herald, covering breaking news. Most recently, she worked for The Oklahoman’s watchdog desk, where she covered criminal justice, clemency and other topics. Palmer’s work has been recognized with awards in public service reporting and investigative reporting. She is a native of Norman and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, where she was also a columnist for The Oklahoma Daily. 

Reach Jennifer at jpalmer@oklahomawatch.org. Follow her on X at @jpalmerOKC.

Jake Ramsey

Topics: Homelessness and Evictions

Jake Ramsey is the evictions reporter for Oklahoma Watch. He joined the newsroom in 2025 after completing a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma. In college, Ramsey would get his start at the school’s newspaper, The Vista, eventually climbing the ranks from reporter to editor-in-chief. He has been recognized by the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Press Association and the Oklahoma Broadcast Education Association.

Reach Jake at jramsey@oklahomawatch.org. Follow him on X at @jramseywrites

Keaton Ross

Topics: Criminal Justice, Democracy

Keaton Ross has been a reporter with Oklahoma Watch since June 2020, covering prison conditions, voting rights and criminal justice issues in Oklahoma. His reporting on COVID-19 outbreaks in state prisons and uncontested state legislative races has been honored by organizations including the Great Plains Journalism Awards and Fort Worth Society of Professional Journalists. Ross is a Spring 2020 graduate of Oklahoma Christian University, where he served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Talon.

Reach Keaton at Kross@Oklahomawatch.org.

Mary Mélon-Tully

Director of Development
Mary Mélon-Tully spent nearly 20 years in news administration at The Journal Record, serving as publisher from 2001-2014 and as a group publisher overseeing five additional markets. She transitioned to the nonprofit sector as the CEO of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation, a position she held until 2024. She is a recipient of the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits Visions Award Winner-Rodney
Bivens Innovation Award and a member of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame, and the OCU Meinders School of Business Hall of Honor. She now works independently, representing Oklahoma Watch and managing a substantial grant for the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation.

Reach Mary at mmelon-tully@oklahomawatch.org.

Ted Streuli

Executive Director
An Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame member, Ted Streuli has worked as a reporter and editor for more than 30 years at newspapers in California, Texas and Oklahoma. He served as the editor of The Journal Record in Oklahoma City from 2004 to 2018. Streuli is a past president of the Oklahoma Press Association and Freedom of Information Oklahoma and winner of numerous journalism awards, including the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ Will Rogers Award for Humanitarianism and the Carter Bradley First Amendment Award from the Oklahoma Society of Professional Journalists. His work in mental health was recognized nationally by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration in 2016. He has served on numerous nonprofit boards, including Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma, Leadership Oklahoma and Peaceful Family Oklahoma.

Reach Ted at tstreuli@oklahomawatch.org. Follow him on X at @streuli.

Shaun Witt

Director of Audience Development
Shaun joined Oklahoma Watch in March 2022 after spending seven years with BridgeTower Media as Regional Marketing Manager. A native Oklahoman, he also spent 16 years in Chicago. For six of those, he worked as Marketing/Promotion Director and Executive Producer at ESPN Radio Chicago. Shaun also regularly works with AutismOklahoma, The Pride of Piedmont band boosters and serves on the board of directors for the Oklahoma Press Association. 

Reach Shaun at switt@oklahomawatch.org. Follow him on X at @Shaun_Witt.