''The Frontier'' is an investigative news and multi-media platform website that practices long-form,

watchdog journalism Watchdog journalism is a form of investigative journalism where journalists, authors or publishers of a News, news publication fact-checking, fact-check and Interviewing, interview political figure, political and Public figure, public figures t ...

related to the U.S. state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. ''The Frontier'' is headquartered in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. The publication has become a

non-profit corporation A nonprofit corporation is any legal entity which has been incorporated under the law of its jurisdiction for purposes other than making profits for its owners or shareholders. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, a nonprofit corporation ma ...

operated by The Frontier Media Group Inc.

History

The corporation, founded in 2016, is overseen by a board that includes Frontier co-founders, former ''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...

'' president and publisher, Robert Lorton III, and Ziva Branstetter, a former special projects editor of the ''Tulsa World'' and currently an editor at ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. Branstetter and Carey Aspinwall, who is now based in Dallas covering Southern U.S. crime news with the Marshall Project, were finalists for Local News coverage for the

2015 Pulitzer Prize The 2015 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded by the Pulitzer Prize Board for work during the 2014 calendar year. Prize winners and nominated finalists were announced on April 20, 2015. Prizes Journalism Letters, Drama, and ...

. They had been nominated for their 2014 work on botched executions in Oklahoma. In 2017, The Frontier's staff included publisher Lorton, former ''World'' staff reporters Dylan Goforth, its Editor in Chief, and Clifton Adcock, Senior Staff Writer, as well as Kassie McClung and Aspinwall. Regarding its initial hires, Andy Rieger a

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

journalism professor and former decades-long editor and columnist at the '' Norman Transcript'' said: "They were some of the best writers and editors the ''World'' had." "That gave it credibility not only in Tulsa, but in Oklahoma." It originally charged $30 a month for the investigative stories on its site, though it subsequently dropped its paywall. At the time it had about 650 members and aimed for 850 in its first 12 months, said Lorton. The organization has conducted research and enterprise reporting on issues important to the Oklahoma public, including a five-part series on rape in December 2017, problems within the Tulsa County jail, stories about major problems regarding a wealthy Sheriff's department contributor who was a reserve deputy who accidentally killed an arrestee, and the bonuses paid to CoreCivic, a for-profit prison operator, despite repeated

riots A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

in 2015 in its Cushing prison, at the same time the staff in state prisons suffered from stagnant wages. The Frontier was honored as a finalist for Best New Website in the 2016 Great Plains Journalism Awards. It also partnered with local, state and national media outlets for groundbreaking investigative projects and experimented with novel ways to tell stories. It is one of Oklahoma's leading advocates for transparency in government and has fought for access to records on the public's behalf. In 2018, it was chosen as one of three finalists for the 2017 annual award in the Scripps Howard Foundation's Community Journalism category, for its series, "Shadow Land: How Rape Stays Hidden in Oklahoma."

Operation

''The Frontier'' gets its operating revenue from subscriptions and donations along with funding from sponsors. Its competitors include the state's major daily newspapers: ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circul ...

'', published by

GateHouse Media GateHouse Media Inc. was an American publisher of locally based print and digital media. It published 144 daily newspapers, 684 community publications, and over 569 local-market websites in 38 states. Its parent company, New Media Investment Group ...

owned by

Fortress Investment Group Fortress Investment Group, LLC is an American investment management firm based in New York City. It was founded as a private equity firm in 1998 by Wes Edens, Rob Kauffman, Pete Briger, Michael Novogratz, and Randal Nardone. Overview When ...

and its investor

Softbank is a Japanese multinational Investment company, investment holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, that focuses on investment management. The group primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services ...

since October 1, 2018, and formerly owned since 2011 by

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

-based billionaire businessman

Philip Anschutz Philip Frederick Anschutz ( ; born December 28, 1939) is an American billionaire businessman who owns or controls companies in a variety of industries, including energy, railroads, real estate, sports, newspapers, travel, movies, theaters, arena ...

and his Anschutz Corporation; and the ''Tulsa World'', which was sold in 2013 to

Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway Inc. () is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Originally a textile manufacturer, the company transitioned into a conglomerate starting in 1965 under the management of c ...

's BH Media Group, controlled by billionaire

Warren Buffett Warren Edward Buffett ( ; born August 30, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of the conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway. As a result of his investment success, Buffett is ...

Investigation impact

The Frontier has partnered on Oklahoma stories with national and international media, such as the Marshall Project, and the Guardian in Great Britain. That investigation of the Pardon and Parole Board alleged that no applications for commutations or pardons had been reviewed for three years. The resulting public awareness of incarceration issues news stories by Frontier, The Oklahoman and Tulsa World spurred policy changes within the agency by 2018 newly elected Oklahoma Governor

Kevin Stitt John Kevin Stitt (born December 28, 1972) is an American businessman and politician serving as the 28th governor of Oklahoma since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2018, defeating Democrat and former state Attorney Ge ...

who led the release of over 500 non-violent offender inmates."We're going home!", more than 500 Oklahoma inmates freed in historic release
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Cary Aspinwall, November 5, 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2021.

References

External links

The Frontier website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frontier Internet properties established in 2016 Mass media in Tulsa, Oklahoma American news websites 2016 establishments in Oklahoma