How do you begin to go through 30-plus hours of audio recordings and 7,000 emails? I suppose you just start, take detailed notes, listen and read again, and hope the effort pays off.
For the past two months, that’s what I did with audio and emails I received from the governor’s office. The result was a story published on Tuesday that took a closer look at the way Gov. Kevin Stitt first approached the COVID-19 pandemic and how it set the state on its current course.
I joined The Frontier one year ago, leaving a newspaper and taking the plunge into nonprofit journalism for stories just like this.
These are challenging times for journalism, but it may be needed now more than ever. Especially the type of reporting that goes beyond the daily headlines and gives Oklahomans a deeper understanding of what their elected leaders are up to, even when behind closed doors.
The opportunity to do this type of work is one reason I love being at The Frontier.
Another reason is the way readers like you are partners in our work. We rely on the generous donations of our readers, which allows us a level of independence and affirms our belief that Oklahomans care about impact journalism.
Your support matters because this type of journalism matters.