The University of Tulsa has partnered with the American Journalism Project to provide a home for the new nonprofit local news initiative Tulsa Flyer, which has moved into a custom-designed space at 101 Archer this summer.
In exchange for the physical space inside the university’s building, which sits in the Tulsa Arts District adjacent to the city’s historic Greenwood District, Tulsa Flyer reporters and editors will visit the main campus to work with students and faculty, host UTulsa students as journalism interns year-round, cooperate on public lectures and collaborate on grant opportunities to bolster storytelling resources, such as audio and video equipment.
“We have discovered that there are not enough people who are trained to do local journalism at the level we would like,” said Gary Lee, Tulsa Flyer’s executive editor. “One goal of this initiative is raising a new generation of journalists. The University of Tulsa is a perfect partner to conceive of and follow through on that plan.”
Lee acknowledged that the initiative is supported by several local organizations and will work with other area higher education institutions to advance the goal of training local journalists, but UTulsa will remain central to the cause. “I have a great deal of respect for the level of teaching and scholarship at UTulsa,” he said.
A Tulsa native and a descendant of Muscogee (Creek) freedmen , Lee served as a reporter and editor at TIME magazine and the Washington Post in New York, Washington, Germany and Russia before returning home to become managing editor of the Oklahoma Eagle.
Blaine Greteman, dean of UTulsa’s Kendall College of Arts & Sciences and Honors College, followed a similar path from his roots in the small town of Hydro, Oklahoma, to writing for The New Republic, Slate and, eventually, TIME magazine in London.
Greteman relishes the plan for collaboration between the university and Tulsa Flyer. “This is a huge opportunity for our students to work with practicing journalists,” he said. “To the best of our knowledge, UTulsa is the only university in the country to have this kind of partnership with the American Journalism Project.”
A report released this summer by Rebuild Local News and Muck Rack showed the average number of local journalists has declined from about 40 per 100,000 residents to 8.2 since the turn of the century. In Tulsa County, there are just 6.2 local journalists per 100,000 residents, according to the research.
Lee and Greteman also are former writers for their respective college newspapers and are eager to lend their time and talents to bolster The Collegian at UTulsa. With a digital-first mindset, The Collegian is set for a “reboot” as undergraduates learn more about authoritative storytelling and civil discourse. Students will continue to serve as reporters and editors for The Collegian, but now they will have access to veteran journalists at the Tulsa World, The Frontier, The Oklahoma Eagle, La Semana, KOSU and other news outlets.
Greteman said that whether UTulsa students pursue full-time journalism careers or other professions, they will gain an edge in the workplace and prepare themselves for lives as well-informed global citizens by honing their critical thinking and fact-checking skills and practicing the art of clear, concise communication.