By Lee Longhorn

BIXBY, Okla.— I was in the local news a few weeks ago. No, I was not on “America’s Most Wanted” or “Cops.” The local news channel produced a segment on me. The segment was about me being a “Longhorn” and being a graduate from the University of Oklahoma. It was during the week of OU/Texas game (also known as the Red River Rivalry) and they interviewed me about how I went to school and got through the week because of my last name. Ok, have we met yet? My name is Lee Longhorn. Now that the formalities are out of the way, I’ll continue.

In the middle of the video piece, the reporter describes me as “the half-Creek.” Um, excuse me, but if you can tell from my previous blog, I am not half-Creek. I like the phrase my co-worker says: “I’m full-blood and Creek; I’m just not a full-blood Creek.” Should I have corrected the reporter?

As an up-and-coming journalist, I have become fully aware of fact checking. I recently got in trouble with our local tribal college because I failed to check what the president of the college had said. Well, I certainly learned my lesson.

During my interview, I also failed to mention my other tribes. I think it would have made a more interesting story about how I have a lot of different American Indian last names but somehow got stuck with “Longhorn.” I guess even I forget the basic and important material in interviews. Maybe I can write an article about this experience for future journalists.

I guess they should start teaching this kind of training in journalism schools. Well, in my case, my alma mater was a college of journalism and mass communication. I don’t mean to boast, but like others, I can be biased about my school. After all, I’m one of a few with the words “Longhorn” and University of Oklahoma on the same degree. Boomer Sooner!

Lee Longhorn is a full blood reporter at the Muscogee Nation News.