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 three 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 local news initiative 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 with experience in nonprofit local news initiative and similar endeavors, 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 Tulsa business leader Sam Combs.

The nonprofit local news 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, regarding this new nonprofit local news initiative. “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 nonprofit local news initiative will launch a new newsroom, based in The University of Tulsa’s 101 Archer Building, 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.

Read the full article about this nonprofit local news initiative at NPR.