When it came time to choose a career, former KSWO-7 news reporter Dallas Payeton said it was easy.
“I’m an outgoing person and I love to talk. I would talk to the wall if I thought it would talk back to me,” he said, with a hint of a chuckle in his voice. “I get paid for something I like to do.”
Payeton was fresh off an assignment for the six o’clock news and was warming up after spending the day reporting on weather and road conditions around Lawton. A major winter storm dumped several inches of snow in the area and the icy wind chill contributed to subfreezing temperatures.
He had bundled up with coat, gloves and hat and did a live broadcast from the intersection of Cache and Sheridan roads. At the end of his spot, Payeton got on the ground and made a snow angel. He said he had promised some people he would do it and he did. People – family and friends, viewers and others whom he doesn’t know – are all important to him. People have been his support group when he needed it most and, in turn, he gives back.
Payeton accepted the job at KSWO and moved to Lawton one month before the pandemic began in March 2020. He was born and raised in Chattanooga, Tenn., and graduated from Fort Valley State University with a bachelor’s degree in media studies and a concentration in broadcasting. Fort Valley is located about three to four hours from his hometown.
“I was a young guy anxious to get on with my career. After graduating and doing a couple of internships, I did interviews all over the country. I received two offers. One was located in Pennsylvania and the other was Oklahoma. I’m not a fan of the cold, so I chose the offer from Lawton,” he said.
When asked about how hard it was to leave his home, his family and friends, and move to a new state sight unseen not knowing anyone, Payeton took a deep breath.
“It was tough. I’m not going to lie. It was tough. I was just getting my feet wet and then I’m working from home – away from home – and I have no family here. I was in a down place. I’ll say it. I was depressed,” he said. “But, you know, I adjusted to it. I spent a lot of time on the phone with my mom.
“I also found a church to join – the Free Gospel Church on 27th Street. After just a few weeks there, I took over the media center doing the volume and other things for the service. Miss GG took me in. You know she owns Mrs. GG’s Southern Cooking. I started going over there after service on Sundays and helping out at the restaurant for two to three hours.
“The people here in Lawton have been great. They have showed me so much love. Even people I don’t know, that know me from the news broadcasts, will stop and tell me ‘congratulations’ and how proud they are of me. I found great love here in Lawton,” he said. “It’s the people I’m going to remember.”
Payeton recently announced on his KSWO Facebook page that he was leaving Lawton and pursuing his next career adventure. He circulated his resume and said he was ready to see what opportunities turned up.
“I didn’t set out with the idea that I would return to my hometown, but I accepted a two-year contract with one of the stations that I interned with – WRCB in Chattanooga, Tenn. I will still be doing the news but in a bigger market,” he said.
One of his goals, no matter where his career takes him, is to help pave a way for others.
“I want people to know that you really can do anything you put your mind to. You can do it,” he said.