Looking back at the stories we published in 2024 at The Frontier, I’m proud of the journalism we did that uncovered things the public should know.
This year, The Frontier partnered with national investigative journalism outlet ProPublica to do the kind of journalism that not only addresses an immediate, serious issue in the state, but shows how it fits into a broader global context.
Our series Fields of Green took a look at how Chinese organized crime, drawn by few regulations and cheap land, set up shop in Oklahoma to become a major player in the state’s medical marijuana industry, and how a brutal quadruple homicide at a marijuana farm near Kingfisher linked back to elements of organized criminal gangs who came to the state.
But we didn’t just stop there. We were able to show how the elements of Chinese organized crime that had been in the game for years, and some had links and visits from Chinese state officials.
We were also able to show how some naturalized immigrants from China, drawn to Oklahoma to get into the medical marijuana business and the promise of low barriers to getting into the industry, saw their investments and businesses suffer from what they say was discriminatory enforcement from authorities because of their Chinese heritage. We also looked at the tough, sometimes deadly, working conditions immigrants can face when they come to Oklahoma to work on medical marijuana farms.
But it wasn’t all just about marijuana and organized crime this past year. This year, I believe we had some of our strongest coverage — and unmasking of — so-called “dark money” groups who purchased advertising on behalf of political candidates and ballot initiatives.
In March, we uncovered a SuperPAC spending money on behalf of a Tulsa School Board candidate, who is also married to the man who created the group.
Shortly after that, we wrote about how a task force formed by Gov. Kevin Stitt issued a list of recommendations to,combat the rise of dark money, including increasing caps on political donations to candidates and parties and even allowing for direct contributions to politicians from corporations.
We were there to sort out some of the dark money groups and SuperPACs who supported — and opposed — candidates during the 2024 election, linking some of them to Gov. Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma businessman and former Secretary of Public Safety Chip Keating and a Tulsa political consulting firm, and a national conservative judicial activist organization to the effort to unseat three State Supreme Court justices.
Here’s the thing though, we wouldn’t have been able to do any of this work without you — our readers and donors. The public needs watchdogs to hold their elected officials to account now more than ever.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, The Frontier gets its funding through grants and you, the readers. All of our stories are free to read and republish. Now through the end of the year, your donations will be matched through the collaborative fundraising movement Newsmatch. We can earn up to $24,000 with your help. Please consider donating to support our mission of independent journalism that shines a light on Oklahoma.
