The Tulsa Flyer — the newest and largest newsroom in a growing nonprofit space — adds more than 20 journalists in Tulsa and quadruples the size of The Oklahoma Eagle
Contact: press@tulsaflyer.org
TULSA, Okla. (Oct. 15, 2025) — The Tulsa Flyer, a new nonprofit news organization, is launching its website today — a fresh, collaborative and sustainable model of journalism that substantially grows the city’s news ecosystem. The Tulsa Flyer will publish stories with accountability, context and care and serve as an essential daily guide to local news and events.
In addition to posting stories on its own website, the Tulsa Flyer is publishing The Oklahoma Eagle, the historic, award-winning, Black-owned newspaper of more than 100 years. The Tulsa Flyer has expanded The Eagle’s staff, quadrupling its newsgathering capacity and honoring the newspaper’s important local and national legacy. The Oklahoma Eagle will continue to publish its weekly print edition and distribute it at various locations throughout Tulsa.
Powering the new combined newsroom is a team of more than 20 talented journalists, who will make their stories available for free on tulsaflyer.org and theokeagle.org as well as posting their reporting across social media channels and on multimedia platforms operated by the Tulsa Flyer’s local news partners. Their goal is to ensure every Tulsan has timely access to the unbiased, accurate information they need to live more informed and connected lives.
To do that, the Tulsa Flyer and Eagle staff will engage frequently with the public in community events throughout the city and seek input via social media and other channels. The joint newsroom is based in the city’s arts district.
Coverage will include accountability stories focused on decisions impacting people’s lives; nuanced coverage of issues like the cost of living, housing, education and health; and dispatches from the city’s vibrant arts and culture scene. The Tulsa Flyer and Eagle will also focus on telling stories about the everyday heroes who make up the fabric of Tulsa.
At launch, the Tulsa Flyer’s coverage includes a story detailing surprising suspension rates among pre-K students in Tulsa public schools programs; resources to help Tulsans connect with their elected leaders; and guides to find the best deals for your wallet on everything from groceries to vintage style.
The Tulsa Flyer and The Oklahoma Eagle will also partner with local media organizations, making their content free to republish on partner sites and collaborating on ambitious reporting projects. The Tulsa Flyer works closely with La Semana and Que Buena Tulsa to share its reporting in Spanish. Other partners include the Tulsa World, KOSU, The Frontier, Griffin Communications and Focus: Black Oklahoma.
The Tulsa Flyer is introducing the Tulsa Documenters program, which trains and pays residents to report on government meetings. Part of the award-winning nationwide effort, the program has trained more than 50 Tulsans so far, who are covering scores of government agencies and boards that impact daily life.
“The Tulsa Flyer is committed to providing Tulsans with the local news they need to be informed and engaged,” said CEO Ziva Branstetter, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and longtime Tulsan. “Our coverage is free to read and intensely local, telling the stories of people in all our neighborhoods while holding power accountable.”
The Tulsa Flyer’s collaborative nonprofit newsroom is a bright spot at a time when more than 3,300 newspapers have closed nationwide since 2005. Tulsa has lost a significant number of journalism jobs during that time.
The Tulsa Flyer — supported by a combination of philanthropic, membership and sponsorship revenue — has raised $14 million to support its mission so far. The news organization will continue to build the vital support necessary to ensure no part of the community is left uncovered. As part of its commitment to be transparent with readers, the organization will disclose all donations more than $5,000.
“When communities lose local news, government goes unchecked and misinformation spreads,” said Executive Editor Gary Lee. “The Tulsa Flyer will be a source of trusted daily news that will equip Tulsans with the information they need to lead fuller, more connected lives.”
The Tulsa Flyer was formed following a yearlong listening effort led by local civic leaders and organized by the American Journalism Project, a venture philanthropy that strengthens local nonprofit news by financing sustainable business models, launching community-driven outlets and mentoring newsroom leaders.
The Tulsa research, which included input from 350 residents, found a consistent desire for a higher volume of local, original reporting.
The Tulsa Flyer Board of Directors is led by Marcia Bruno-Todd, executive director of Leadership Tulsa; and Vice Chair Sam Combs III, who has a long career as a Tulsa business executive and leader in the energy and financial sectors.
The Tulsa Flyer Board of Directors also includes local and national industry civic leaders James (Jim) Osby Goodwin, an accomplished attorney, health care 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; Rodger Randle, former Mayor of Tulsa and director of the Center for Studies in Democracy and Culture at OU-Tulsa; and Ashli Sims, managing director of Build in Tulsa.
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About the Tulsa Flyer The Tulsa Flyer (formerly called the Tulsa Local News Initiative) is a new nonprofit news organization serving Tulsa with high-quality, independent, non-partisan local news. It is the publisher of The Oklahoma Eagle, the 10th-oldest Black-owned newspaper in the United States. The Eagle published its first edition in the fall of 1922, just 15 months after the deadly Tulsa Race Massacre. Supported by a coalition of more than 20 philanthropic and media partners, the Tulsa Flyer works in deep partnership with other media organizations to better serve the communities of Tulsa. To learn more, visit tulsaflyer.org.