Our Impact
Journalism
that gets results.
The Frontier investigates powerful people and institutions across Oklahoma. Our reporting has prompted investigations, changed public policy, forced the release of government records and helped hold officials and institutions accountable.
Independent · Nonprofit · Run by reporters
Major Impact
What happened next
Some stories don’t end when they’re published. These investigations led to government action, new legislation, criminal justice reform and other significant consequences.
Tulsa Municipal Jail Investigation
Seven deaths. Then the jail closed.
The Frontier found that at least seven people died over three years after being booked into Tulsa’s small municipal jail. Our reporting documented preventable deaths, inadequate medical care and people being jailed while experiencing serious medical or mental health crises.
The Impact
Tulsa announced it would close the municipal jail. Oklahoma’s federally designated disability rights agency opened an investigation, and the Tulsa County District Attorney later asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to review the deaths.
Purged
Toxic wastewater kept coming out of the ground.
The Frontier and ProPublica investigated how oilfield wastewater injected underground has resurfaced across Oklahoma, threatening farmland, creeks and drinking water while regulators failed to stop the pollution.
The Impact
Oklahoma lawmakers introduced legislation aimed at reining in oil companies’ pollution of groundwater after the investigation documented more than 150 incidents where wastewater had gushed from the earth near homes, farms and drinking water sources.
Oklahoma’s Marijuana Black Market
Our reporting reached Congress.
The Frontier and ProPublica documented how Chinese organized crime became deeply embedded in Oklahoma’s illegal marijuana market, following the money, violence and criminal networks operating behind illicit farms.
The Impact
At a congressional hearing, witnesses and lawmakers called for stronger federal action against illicit marijuana farms and cited reporting by The Frontier and ProPublica while discussing threats posed by criminal organizations operating in Oklahoma.
William Henry Jamerson
A 33-year-old conviction was overturned.
William Henry Jamerson spent 24 years in prison for a rape he maintained he did not commit. The Frontier investigated his case and interviewed the victim, who expressed doubts about whether Jamerson was the man who attacked her.
The Impact
In 2024, a Tulsa County judge vacated Jamerson’s 1991 conviction. The judge found that newly discovered evidence — which included The Frontier’s interview with the victim — “undermines confidence in the verdict.”
More Impact
A record of accountability
Investigations aren’t the only stories that produce change. Frontier reporting has prompted hearings, legislation, court victories, investigations, policy changes and greater government transparency.
Oklahoma lawmakers scheduled interim studies to examine whether courts are providing constitutionally required bail hearings and whether the state has adequate resources to expand pretrial release.
Read the story →Ponca City put criminal cases on hold after reporting by The Frontier and The Marshall Project on women charged with felony child neglect for using medical marijuana during pregnancy.
Read the impact →Lawmakers planned an Oklahoma Capitol hearing after The Frontier documented dozens of cases of women prosecuted for substance use during pregnancy, including women who gave birth to healthy babies.
Read the impact →The Frontier sued Pottawatomie County jail officials after they withheld records related to the 2019 death of Ronald Gene Given. An appeals court affirmed an order requiring the video to be released.
Read the impact →Legislation proposed restoring a state board’s authority to oversee tourism and recreation spending following The Frontier’s reporting on the Swadley’s Foggy Bottom scandal.
Read the impact →Oklahoma lawmakers cited The Frontier’s reporting while overriding Gov. Kevin Stitt’s veto of legislation requiring cabinet members and appointed agency heads to file financial disclosure forms.
Read the impact →Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor ended an obscenity investigation after The Frontier reported that dozens of school book titles were under review.
Read the story →The state auditor released an investigation into questionable pandemic spending at the Oklahoma State Department of Health following reporting by The Frontier.
Read the story →A bill sought to speed access to treatment after a Frontier investigation found that Oklahomans with severe mental illness were waiting months in county jails for state hospital care.
Read the story →A lawmaker announced plans for an interim study after The Frontier reported that processing times for rape kits had increased from around 40 days to more than 300.
Read the impact →Two lawmakers sought interim studies on eviction law, with one legislator saying he was examining the issue after The Frontier’s reporting on Oklahoma’s lack of protections for renters.
Read the impact →State health officials released COVID-19 death information after previously denying The Frontier’s requests for the data.
Read the story →Oklahoma disclosed information about businesses receiving tens of millions of dollars in pandemic supply orders after The Frontier reported on the state’s lack of transparency.
Read the story →The Oklahoma State Department of Health released information about COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities after The Frontier pressed the agency for greater transparency.
Read the story →Oklahoma’s mental health agency said it would review mental health training offered to police officers after reporting by The Frontier.
Read the story →Oklahoma’s law enforcement training agency removed a course on “Radical Islam” and changed its accreditation process following reporting by The Frontier.
Read the story →Federal officials halted building projects at Carlton Landing after The Frontier reported that the town pumped millions of gallons from sewage lagoons onto U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land and Lake Eufaula. State environmental officials also launched a criminal inquiry.
Read the impact →State officials investigated changing the name of Lake Hudson and legislation was introduced after The Frontier reported on its namesake’s ties to the Ku Klux Klan. The bill ultimately did not receive a hearing.
Read the story →Interim Oklahoma State Department of Health director Preston Doerflinger resigned less than 24 hours after The Frontier reported allegations that he had choked his wife during a 2012 argument.
Read the story →Recognition
The work has been recognized.
Frontier journalists and our reporting partners have received national and statewide honors for investigative, explanatory, environmental, criminal justice and public-service journalism.
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The Frontier is an independent nonprofit newsroom. Our journalism is free to read because we believe accountability reporting should be available to everyone.
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