Shaun Hittle, an award-winning investigative and multimedia reporter, has joined Oklahoma Watch as a reporter covering criminal justice and other public-policy issues.
For the past several years, Hittle has been an investigative reporter at The Lawrence Journal-World, a daily newspaper in Lawrence, Kan., where he focused on special projects in criminal justice, education and other topics.
He has won or been a finalist in national, state and regional awards for his investigative work, storytelling and video journalism. He has been honored by Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Great Plains Journalism Awards, the Kansas Press Association, the Associated Press Managing Editors and other news organizations.
Among his projects at the Journal-World was an investigation into how authorities lose track of registered sex offenders who move to another state, and a probe into legal loopholes that allow serial drunken drivers to remain on the road.
Hittle received a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas and taught journalism classes there during the past few years. A native of Michigan, he received his undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Western Michigan University and spent several years as a mental-health social worker before entering the journalism field.
“Shaun is a smart, talented journalist with an impressive combination of skills,” said David Fritze, executive editor. “He will add greatly to the quality of our content as we further step up efforts to deliver ground-breaking investigative and in-depth journalism on critical issues in the state.”
