What do you get when a city of almost 100,000 people sees a national holding company close the state’s oldest newspaper?
Here at NonDoc, we worried the 2020 closure of The Edmond Sun would leave city government uncovered and could cause an eventual civic crisis. To offer an alternative, we hired a professional journalist to focus on Edmond issues in 2022: Joe Tomlinson.
For the past two years, Joe has covered a myriad of topics in Edmond: homelessness, housing, lawsuits, a leaking pool, a public art park saga, and so many elections. He has exposed a costly internal Edmond Police Department investigation, and he volunteers weekly to support Edmond Santa Fe High School’s journalism class as a member of Report For America.
Joe runs our @Edmond_News account on X, and he produces The Edmond Email every Tuesday. You know Joe, and rising readership metrics mean we know you like his work. Now, we hope you would like to make this journalism job sustainable.
Simply put, after two years of proving our Edmond Civic Reporting Project concept, NonDoc now must ask the Edmond community to help us maintain this important position. If we can’t, well, we don’t want to think about the alternative.
Instead, we know that members of the Edmond community can rise to the occasion and help us build a sustainable donation and sponsorship program to fund this critical journalism job now and into the future.
This week, we are launching a $20,000 fundraising campaign for our Edmond Civic Reporting Project. To encourage your donations, the Kirkpatrick Foundation has generously agreed to match up to $20,000 in contributions received from Edmond residents and businesses for this cause through April 30.
If you live or work in Edmond and you find value in this coverage, please consider showing your support by making a donation to our Writers’ Fund. We also have sponsorship options for organizations wishing to support community journalism in Oklahoma.
Your support will be critical for the sustainability of our Edmond coverage. While Report For America has provided some money for our Edmond Civic Reporting Program position, RFA’s support decreases over a three-year period, meaning it’s up to us to build a fundraising base to sustain this journalism job.
Will you make a one-time donation or become a monthly donor today?
NonDoc is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, so your donations are tax-deductible as allowed under federal law. Donors may want to consult their own tax advisors.
In the meantime, Joe will continue to do what he does best: bring the Edmond community news content it needs and deserves.
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