Media contact: press@localnewsfortulsa.org

TULSA – December 12, 2024 – A coalition of Oklahoma media and philanthropy leaders has raised $14 million to address the challenges of diminished local information by launching the Tulsa Local News Initiative. Their efforts will expand the historic Oklahoma Eagle newspaper, bolster four other Tulsa newsrooms, and launch a new newsroom informed by input from hundreds of Tulsans to serve the city’s diverse information needs. The new nonprofit news organization will add over two dozen jobs to the local news sector and launch in 2025.

The Tulsa Local News Initiative will be governed by a board of local and national industry and civic leaders, including James (Jim) Osby Goodwin, an accomplished attorney, healthcare advocate, and owner of The Oklahoma Eagle; journalist and educator M. David Goodwin; journalist and philanthropist Emily Kaiser; Michael Ouimette, chief investment officer of the American Journalism Project; Mayor Rodger Randle, former Mayor of Tulsa; Ashli Sims, Managing Director of Build in Tulsa; and Marcia Bruno-Todd, Executive Director of Leadership Tulsa; and Sam Combs, managing partner and CEO, COMSTAR Advisors.

The initiative and Jim Goodwin have reached an agreement for the new nonprofit organization to become publisher of The Oklahoma Eagle, an award-winning Black-owned newspaper, and invest in an expansion of its staff, quadrupling its newsgathering capacity and honoring the newspaper’s important legacy in Tulsa.

“This is a historic moment for the Eagle and for Tulsa,” Jim Goodwin said. “For over 100 years, the Eagle has held true in its mission to uplift the voices and perspectives of communities traditionally underserved by mainstream media. Joining this nonprofit movement to grow and sustain public service journalism in our communities will ensure the continued longevity of our work, and ensure that Tulsa and Oklahoma have a strong, independent local press that works for the people above all else.”

Additionally, the initiative will launch a new newsroom dedicated to ensuring all residents of Tulsa have access to the local news they need, and led by Gary Lee, a decorated journalist and former Washington Post Moscow bureau chief. Lee is currently The Oklahoma Eagle’s managing editor and will be executive editor of the Tulsa Local News Initiative, overseeing both the new newsroom and the Eagle.

“We’re building a robust newsroom to provide well-reported, contextual and explanatory coverage that will help Tulsans understand what's happening in their neighborhoods and local governments and to ensure everyone is equipped with the information they need to navigate daily life, get needs met and engage in their communities,” Lee said.

The initiative will also invest in more journalism capacity for four local newsrooms, including The Frontier, an investigative newsroom in Tulsa; KOSU, a public radio station operated by Oklahoma State University; La Semana, a Tulsa-based bilingual Spanish-English newspaper serving Latino communities in the state; and Focus: Black Oklahoma, a radio program on issues relevant to BIPOC, rural, and marginalized communities statewide.

Together with the new initiative newsroom and other partners including The Tulsa World, KOTV, owned by Griffin Media, TulsaPeople Magazine of Langdon Publishing, The University of Tulsa and Tulsa Press Club, these organizations form a growing coalition of partners who have agreed to collaborate to make the most of journalism resources in the city and beyond.

The initiative has kicked off a search for the organization’s first chief executive officer, led by a search committee made up of local and national industry experts. All open roles at the initiative, including newsroom jobs in reporting, editing, production, audience development and more, can be found at localnewsfortulsa.org/jobs.

The initiative was formed following a yearlong research and community listening effort led by a committee of local civic leaders, organized by the American Journalism Project, aimed at understanding whether and how Tulsans get access to local news they can trust. Nearly 350 Tulsans responded saying they were feeling the effects of the severely reduced volume of original reporting in the city.

Tulsa Local News Initiative aims to build a future for local news in Tulsa that strengthens communities by building more connection to and between communities; combats misinformation and disinformation; holds decision makers accountable to better outcomes for Tulsans; represents the diverse perspectives of Tulsa; and equips residents to navigate systems and advocate for themselves and their families.

To ensure the organization remains rooted in community priorities, it is also partnering with local civic leaders to form a community advisory committee that will have the ability to provide ongoing feedback on the newsroom’s progress and impact.

Supporting funders represent a cross-section of individuals, local foundations, and national philanthropic organizations, including Burt Holmes, Clark Wiens, Emily Kaiser, George Kaiser Family Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Mary Lou Lemon Foundation, and the American Journalism Project. Current funders of The Oklahoma Eagle include the Business for Good, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and Emmit McHenry.

“Trusted local news is a vital part of strong communities and we need a broad and diverse coalition of supporters to ensure better outcomes and a better future for all residents of Tulsa,” Emily Kaiser said. “The initiative isn’t just replenishing journalism resources but uniting efforts among Tulsa outlets to earn trust from our local communities and to serve residents in the way that is responsive to what they say they need.”

This coalition is the latest in a national movement of philanthropy and local leaders taking action to support local news, demonstrating that nonprofit local news models can not only bolster local news, but reimagine the way it serves communities. Like other nonprofit news organizations of its kind, the Tulsa Local News Initiative will be supported by a combination of philanthropy, sponsorship, and membership, with a more diversified revenue model that will make the organization resilient for many years to come.

“The local community leaders and journalists in this coalition have come together at a critical moment to invest in a better future for Tulsa,” said Sarabeth Berman, chief executive officer of the American Journalism Project, which is providing incubation support to help the newsroom launch, in addition to funding. “This initiative strengthens transparency, fosters meaningful community dialogue, and helps ensure residents have access to the trusted information they need.”

About the Tulsa Local News Initiative

The Tulsa Local News Initiative is a new nonprofit news organization serving Tulsa with high quality, independent, non-partisan local news. It is the new publisher of The Oklahoma Eagle, the 10th oldest Black-owned newspaper in the U.S., which published its first edition in the fall of 1922, just 15 months after the deadly Tulsa Race Massacre. Supported by a coalition of nearly 20 philanthropy and media partners, the initiative is launching a new local newsroom in 2025 and works in deep partnership with other media organizations to better serve the communities of Tulsa.

About the American Journalism Project

The American Journalism Project is a venture philanthropy dedicated to local news. We believe in civic journalism as a public good and are reimagining its future by building a model to finance and sustain the local news our democracy requires. We make grants to local nonprofit news organizations to build their revenue and business operations, partner with communities to launch new organizations, and mentor leaders as they grow and sustain their newsrooms. To learn more about the American Journalism Project, visit theajp.org.

More information in the factsheet here.