The Story Within the Story: Kenna Attaway as the Heart of The Vista

As journalists, we’re taught to always find the core of every story we cover. The angle is another term. The heart is a third.

A basketball game is never just a basketball game. An event is never just an event. And random tunnels beneath the ground of the University of Central Oklahoma are never just tunnels. They’re stories. The essence of journalism is to find and harness those stories.

Kenna Attaway has become a consummate professional at doing just that throughout her time at The Vista, serving as both editor-in-chief and managing editor. She has learned how to find the stories within the stories, recognize what makes them worth telling and how to pass that knowledge on to the journalists around her.

But while Attaway has spent her time uncovering the heart of other people’s stories, she will be at the heart of this one. Because when looking at what The Vista has become, she is, in every sense, the heart and soul of it.

The publication’s transition from print to digital journalism became the center of a period of time that challenged The Vista’s leadership and direction.

It changed how its journalism would reach its readers and demanded the curation of a new identity in what was an unfamiliar and unprecedented digital landscape as Oklahoma’s oldest student newspaper.

It was a process that demanded an approach to meet the demands of its readers and makers. It needed someone who was willing to spearhead the challenges ahead with fervent enthusiasm and dedication. It needed a leader and a fighter. It needed Kenna Attaway.

Stepping into a period of uncertainty, Attaway helped revitalize The Vista and see its transformation through. The medium by which stories were expressed changed, but under her leadership, the purpose and responsibility of journalism endured.

Funnily enough, she hadn’t necessarily wanted to become editor-in-chief. She was thrust into the position during a period of uncertainty, under the guidance of current Vista advisor Erika Williams, who has seen Attaway blossom into a skilled journalist.

“Attaway served as The Vista’s editor-in-chief during its first year as a fully digital publication. She faced many obstacles during her tenure, but she overcame them and ensured The Vista’s success during this transition. Kenna exhibited strong leadership during her time as editor-in-chief by building a strong team of editors, writers and photographers.

“After her year as editor-in-chief, Kenna transitioned to managing editor. In this role, she continued to mentor students and serve The Vista in several ways. Kenna’s passion for journalism and dedication allowed The Vista to become a successful online publication with extensive reach.”

While Williams has seen the fruits of Attaway’s labor, Kenna’s work didn’t stop at just the online transition.

After the move to a digital framework, Attaway was tasked with more. She had to figure out how to reach readers in an entirely new way by rebuilding and developing a new staff capable of carrying the publication forward, all while safeguarding the reputation of a newspaper.

Each phase presented its own growing pains, requiring a rare combination of resilience, resourcefulness and conviction. Through it all, though, she remained steadfast in her commitment to The Vista and, perhaps more importantly, the people who made it what it was.

Her leadership was defined by an uncommon determination to see the publication succeed and a sense of compassion and personal investment she brought to the people who worked alongside her. She understood that rebuilding The Vista meant more than changing how it delivered its journalism. It meant restoring its sense of purpose and giving the journalists behind it a reason to believe in what they were building.

Eventually, The Vista developed a stronger social media presence, improved the quality of its writing and established a more effective system for producing journalism. Its digital transition became something truly transformational and triumphant.

Attaway helped turn a newspaper that was once fighting to preserve its identity into one that was building a new one, and there is something particularly fitting about that.

The conversation around The Vista was rooted, in part, in what people believed the publication was losing by abandoning print. Yet the most important things about a newspaper are never confined to its physical stature. It’s about its purpose. Its role. And yes, it’s heart.

Attaway understood, nurtured and flat-out loved that heart. She revived it. And now she walks away with it beating as strong as ever.

And while Attaway found the heart of The Vista, she was the heart of it.

Her incredible professionalism and work ethic have helped lead her to an associate producer position at News 9. Still, those accomplishments are manifestations of the true essence of who Attaway is as a human being.

Her soul, purpose and heart beneath it all are what make her truly exceptional.

I know because I am one of the people who got to experience those parts of her.

When I joined The Vista as a sports reporter earlier this year, I was looking for an opportunity to write about something I loved. I wanted to cover sports, tell stories and develop the skills necessary to pursue a career in journalism.

I found all of those things, but, even though it’s cliché, I truly did find something more in the form of a community.

This opportunity has allowed me to meet people I am genuinely grateful to have experienced during my college years. People who became meaningful parts of my life, both inside and outside the newsroom, and who’ve made a profound impact on me. Kenna, herself, became one of those people.

She was someone I could admire professionally and appreciate personally. Someone who cared about the work we produced, but also about the people producing it.

An editor-in-chief can be evaluated by the quality of a publication, and a managing editor can be judged by the story ideas they find.

Attaway deserves recognition for her accomplishments in both roles and for the growth and progress The Vista experienced under her leadership.

Current Editor-in-Chief Machenzie Glass, who took over the position from Attaway, recognizes the foundation her predecessor helped establish.

“Kenna Attaway has helped lay the foundation of what The Vista is today. She served UCO’s newspaper through its transition from print to digital, and it is under her leadership and guidance that we have been so successful,” she said. “Attaway will continue to do great things for Oklahoma and wherever else life takes her, but the impact she leaves on UCO will remain for years to come.”

But Attaway’s influence extends beyond the publication itself. It can be found in the people she believed in, the opportunities she provided and the relationships she helped foster.

Sports Editor Emyli Creekmore said Attaway transformed her entire college experience, crediting her with taking a chance on her and believing in her even when she struggled to believe in herself.

“Kenna took a chance on me and genuinely believed more in me than I never did. Throughout these college years, I continue to see this beautiful friendship grow. It’s something I know will last a lifetime,” she said. “Kenna has such a rare, incredible leadership approach and it’s the most selfless approach. I absolutely know she will be such a successful leader no matter where she ends up.”

Creekmore said she will always be Attaway’s biggest supporter and remain in her corner.

That same influence is already being carried forward by those who will continue the work Attaway helped establish.

Ylleana Berryhill, who will take over as managing editor, said Attaway’s uplifting energy has made a lasting impact on her and that she will always cherish the moments they shared.

“Kenna is someone I will always be grateful to know. She has given me wonderful advice regarding my journalistic career,” Berryhill said. “It has been an honor to work with her. She is truly an inspiration.”

Addyson Riemer, The Vista’s Social Media Manager, has worked alongside Attaway for some time, collaborating on stories like the tunnels mentioned earlier. Over the years, their working relationship has grown into a genuine, tried-and-true friendship built on mutual care and trust.

“Kenna always made the smallest victories seem big. Whatever you accomplished, she made it feel like you could so much more,” she said. “That’s the most admirable characteristic you can have as not only an editor, but also a friend.”

But as her departure marks the end of an era for The Vista, what remains?

The publication she leaves behind is stronger than the one she inherited. Its journalism has grown, its staff has a better foundation, and the students who’ve learned from her will have opportunities because of the work she put into making them possible.

When The Vista transitioned away from print, much of the criticism centered on what the publication stood to lose. But its success since then has shown that a newspaper’s impact isn’t defined by how it is published, but by the journalism it produces and the people behind it.

The same is true of Attaway.

She may no longer lead the newsroom, but the things she helped build will continue through the people fortunate enough to have worked alongside her. The opportunities she provided, the friendships she helped make possible and the lessons she passed along will carry into other newsrooms, careers and lives.

As journalists, we’re taught to find the story within the story.

The story of The Vista is one of transformation. It is about a publication that faced uncertainty, withstood hardship and found a way to become something better.

But the story within that story is Kenna Attaway — the person who helped guide that transformation and leaves behind a publication whose continued growth is a testament to her commitment to its evolution.

And perhaps the story within that story is who Kenna is outside the newsroom.

Beyond the talented and hardworking journalist and her professional accomplishments is a person whose care for the people around her has been just as influential as the work she’s produced.

It’s someone who invested in the people she worked with and who helped foster an environment where they could grow both professionally and personally.

That is what made her leadership meaningful. The heart of The Vista during her time at the helm was Kenna herself: her character, her generosity and the genuine care she showed the people fortunate enough to know her.

Kenna was the core, the angle and the heart.