Makenzie Burk has “deep, deep roots” in southwestern Oklahoma that probably will only get deeper with her career as a television anchor at KSWO (Channel 7).
“The coolest part about journalism is being in your hometown,” she said. “I get to tell stories of the people I grew up with. It’s something new every day and it’s kind of exciting.”
Burk began her career in television journalism after graduating from Cameron University in 2016. Her roots go deeper than that. She was born and raised in Lawton and graduated from Lawton High School in 2012.
Currently, Burk is the evening anchor on Channel 7’s 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts. But before the promotion from reporter to anchor, Burk also worked as the morning newscast anchor and developed a medical segment in conjunction with Comanche County Memorial Hospital to address critical health issues.
Since 2017, Burk has aired a monthly segment called “Makenzie’s Outdoor Adventures” that focuses on fishing, hunting and other outdoor hobbies.
“It (outdoors) has been such a huge part of my life. I grew up fishing with my dad,” she recalled. “I hated having to wake up early, but when we went fishing that was fun.”
Burk admits she wasn’t a hunting enthusiast until she married. Now, she and her husband find time to hunt on a regular basis.
Burk also played on the Cameron softball team for three years where she started 114 games behind the plate and ended with a career .292 batting average. Her most productive year at the plate came in 2014 when she hit .313.
Playing collegiate softball also gave her a gateway into sports reporting at Cameron where she was a host and producer of the university’s sports show as well as a reporter for CU News.
As a reporter at KSWO, Burk dove into special reports that included the rising cost of insulin, domestic abuse and legislative bills that impact all Oklahomans.
“Not everyone keeps up with politics, but legislation affects us all. I wanted to report on the direct impacts legislation has on people,” she said. “I also did a special report on domestic violence and sexual assault. Telling the stories of the survivors and victims was a huge deal to me.”
As a veteran television journalist, Burk spends some of her time nowadays helping young journalists acclimate to the professional environment and the variety of news stories they will cover.
“It’s special to help mold these younger reporters,” she said.
She’s served as references for reporters who have gone on to bigger and better reporting jobs.
“Seeing them move on is exciting,” Burk said.
Still, she misses the adrenaline rush that goes with breaking news and live shots.
“The thought of having to go live 20 minutes after you get there was exciting, but now I’m in a different position. I love where I’m at and have no plans to leave,” she said.
Burk explains that she’s a fourth generation Oklahoman having followed in the footsteps of her great-grandpa who was “here before Oklahoma was a state.”
When she’s not on the Channel 7 set or in the newsroom, Burk volunteers some of her spare time for the Lawton rodeo scene where she conducts in-arena interviews with rodeo participants. Burk also is a part of the Comanche County Young Farmers and Ranchers which promotes youth agriculture, and is a subcommittee member of the Lawton Youth Sports organization.