The (Tulsa) Frontier Drops Its Paywall, Transitions to a Nonprofit

Last week The (Tulsa) Frontier dropped its paywall, after its first year in business. Starting December 1, readers will no longer have to pay

Subscription Insider: The (Tulsa) Frontier Drops Its Paywall

Source: The Frontier

Last week The (Tulsa) Frontier dropped its paywall, after its first year in business. Starting December 1, readers will no longer have to pay for a monthly membership. They are also transitioning from a for-profit model to a nonprofit one.

“After our first full year at The Frontier, we’re proud of the success we’ve achieved and the impact we’ve had on our community. We’re also humbled by the support from you, the members, and the general public,” said the editorial team in an announcement.

“We want to continue growing and serving the public through our journalism, so we’ve made a strategic decision to transition to a nonprofit model beginning Tuesday,” they added.

The Frontier launched as a for-profit digital media startup last year, operated by The Frontier Media Group Inc. and overseen by a board of journalists including Robert Lorton III and Ziva Branstetter. The news outlet’s mission is to hold public officials accountable and tell important stories on complex issues and that exposure hypocrisy, fraud, abuse and wrongdoing.

In their first year, their stories accomplished just that. In fact, their work detailing corruption at the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office led to the indictment and resignation of the sheriff and big changes at the agency. They also investigated ethics complaints and police department practices, and they told civil right stories.

Why the switch to a nonprofit model? The editorial team says they want their stories to reach a broader audience, and they see their work as a public service which needs to be accessible to the public. Contributions from readers and supporters are still encouraged, and donations can be made online through the Tulsa Community Foundation as one-time gifts or paid monthly, quarterly or annually.

“Though we are taking down our paywall, your continued financial support is more important than ever and now it’s tax deductible. Your contributions will allow us to grow our staff so we can continue serving as a watchdog and expand our coverage into new areas. The new model will allow us to continue serving as a nonpartisan, independent source of news,” they said.

“The change in our model will provide an opportunity for The Frontier to partner with Tulsa’s vibrant philanthropic community in exciting new ways. Also, the nonprofit model will allow you, the members, to continue supporting vital investigative and enterprise reporting,” they added.

According to Nieman Lab, The Frontier had about 750 subscribers who each paid $30 a month and others who paid $1,000 per year for “higher-tiered subscriptions.” In addition to this revenue, The Frontier had corporate sponsors and readers could buy single articles for $5 each. The price of membership, however, created a barrier, so The Frontier did away with it.

This summer Honolulu Civil Beat made a similar move, dropping its paywall, transitioning to a nonprofit, and adopting a membership model. Like The Frontier, their journalism focus was on public affairs. Their reasoning was the same as well. They wanted to expand their reach and make their stories more accessible to the public. Honolulu Civil Beat recently entered a pilot program with the Voice of San Diego to help them build and hone a successful membership program, reports Nieman Lab.

Insider Take:

This is an interesting trend among smaller journalism outlets, and it could be something we see more of in 2017. Smaller outlets want to focus on their journalism and sharing their work, not on the day-to-day hustle that is sometimes required to secure adequate funding for a startup. With a nonprofit model like The Frontier and Honolulu Civil Beat are adopting, they are more likely to attract bigger donors who believe in their work, but who also want the tax deduction not available to them as for-profits.

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