Depending on which editor you talk to, the Oklahoma media intelligentsia is horrified, nonplussed, or grateful for a parallel ecosystem of vigilante or alternative journalists who in recent years have swarmed into a void left by newspapers large and small struggling in the modern media ecosystem. This is particularly true in regard to the kind of investigative journalism that can expose corruption in rural parts of the state. Alternative media vary in seriousness and accountability. The careful and polished among them include the likes of Molly Bullock’s copious Substack Watershed and the anonymously produced The Newkirk Times, which offers a comprehensive archive of sourced documents made readily available. The less rigorous can be found among a state-wide constellation of crowdsourced Facebook groups that recycle names one community to the next: rants and raves, transparency page, sound off raw, community talk. Other muckraking vigilante sites — met with cheers in some quarters, howls in others — challenge the tenets of traditional media and stretch near to breaking the definition of journalism: Guerilla Publishing, Citizens Overseeing Police Oklahoma, V1SUT Vantage, the Microscope of Truth. Jonelle McBride-Thomas, editor of the Anadarko Daily News, the last of a 40-newspaper empire run by McBride-Thomas’ grandfather, recalled an episode with a local independent journalist in which a lawsuit was threatened. “We call them keyboard warriors,” McBride-Thomas said. Oklahoma Watch spoke with several editors who noted that social media commentators can be a boon in that local groups may disseminate newspaper stories. However, Sean Stephens, editor of the 123-year-old Clinton Daily News, regarded social media as more sink than source. “We’re all about accuracy,” Stephens said. “I feel like I fight Facebook every day I come to work.” Beau Simmons, who edits the Enid News and Eagle alongside newspapers in Woodward and Stillwater, said Facebook groups were particularly problematic when it came to breaking news. “It’s not great when a big event happens, and you have people flooding a feed with nonsense,” Simmons said. Calley Lamar, a longtime reporter at the Ponca City News, said that it was precisely at those significant news moments that his duty as a journalist became clear. “It’s a dopamine rush — it’s so easy for people to fall into latching onto online rumor,” Lamar said. “We talk about social media and how it affects media cycles. That’s my responsibility.” That said, Simmons and several other editors noted that Facebook groups act as a kind of town square. Newspaper stories sometimes originate with something revealed on a post or comment thread. “It’s definitely been a way that will point you to something sometimes,” Simmons said. Last month, Oklahoma Watch launched a year-long effort to report on law enforcement corruption in parts of the state that may lack the ability to conduct investigations of necessary length and scope. Preliminary interviews with 26 editors and reporters from Broken Bow to Altus to Woodward to Jay revealed the challenges and duties of modern local news. A core belief united them: newspapers continue to represent the best hope of offering citizens accurate information on corruption, and everything else. Corruption and Stupidity Some small-town Oklahoma newspapers have been owned by the same family for five or six generations. Others were purchased last July. One newspaper is edited by an 88-year-old with 61 years’ experience; another is edited by a thirtysomething who started his career in local news at 20, when he was still a student. Virtually every editor Oklahoma Watch spoke with emphasized the importance of maintaining good contacts with local law enforcement to guarantee access to authorities and records. Connor Choate, editor of the Marietta Monitor, which has been in Choate’s family for five generations, elaborated on the complexity of the relationship between a local newspaper and law enforcement. “I never met a paper that had an incredible relationship with police,” Choate said. “If you do have a paper with a relationship that is too good, there might be something up.” Editor Stan Stamper, whose family has owned the 125-year-old Hugo News since 1951, warned against conflating corruption and bad decisions in reporting on police activity. Recalling a police shooting gone bad, an incident that put children in jeopardy, Stamper waxed axiomatically. “It’s hard to differentiate between corruption and stupidity,” Stamper said. Todd Hancock of the Hobart Democrat-Chief echoed the experience of many editors who were compelled to report unflattering stories about friends and neighbors. The unpleasantness of that particular duty may explain why some alternative media prefer to remain cloaked in anonymity, but Hancock was unflinching. “If something happens and it’s charged in Kiowa County, it’s fair game,” Hancock said. “If someone is charged, I go to the courthouse and get the documents, and do a story.” Documents were a complicated issue for Stanley Wright, editor of the Apache News. Wright said that police can be clannish in terms of releasing information: sometimes they cooperate, sometimes not. “It’s tough to get a police report until a week later; you can get a little as far as what happened, but as far as details, you can’t,” Wright said. “I haven’t pushed it. Mostly you just have to kind of ignore it and go with the best story you can get.” A reluctance to push it may be another motive of the vigilante journalists. Local Newspaper to the Rescue Phillip Reid of the Weatherford Daily News, the mother ship of 14 newspapers Reid oversees, echoed the concern of a number of editors over the legal status of Oklahoma sheriffs, the problem being the lack of a bureaucratic apparatus to remove sheriffs who fail to perform their duties. “Oklahoma sheriffs have zero oversight,” Reid said. “Once he’s elected, he doesn’t even have to show up to work.” That’s exactly what happened in Woodward County. In 2025, Sheriff Kevin Mitchell was discovered to be spending an inordinate amount of time out of the country, in Panama. A local newspaper came to the rescue. Simmons of the Enid News and Eagle recalled the work of reporter Rachael Van Horn at the Woodward News, which contributed to Mitchell’s eventual resignation, Simmons said. It wasn’t unlike the goals of some vigilante journalists, who may make confrontational appearances at public meetings, but Van Horn wrote about the subject with calm, professional detachment — and the sheriff was forced out. “I think we played a role in raising awareness,” Simmons said. “Folks were coming to meetings. We probably made a difference by having consistent pressure on the idea that we would not let it go.” Not Enough to Get Myself Killed Citing economic necessity, staffing shortages and the dangers attendant to journalism, editors across the state spoke forthrightly of the struggles small town newspapers face as they attempt to serve as a watchdog to powerful local authorities. Melanie Anspaugh, who bought the Cheyenne Star 26 years ago when she was 29, acknowledged that interpersonal dynamics could affect what she chose to cover.“You worry about it, in the back of your head,” Anspaugh said. “If something came up, I would say, ‘Do I really want to piss him off?’” Carol Conner, who had no newspaper experience when she bought the Fairfax Chief more than a decade ago, allowed that the existential danger of losing advertisers can cause her to shy away from certain stories. “I always say, ‘That will be in my last edition,’” Conner said. For others, the dangers of reporting were not strictly economic. Amie Cato-Remer of the Sequoyah County Times spoke of a fear familiar to journalists all over the world. “I want a story, but not enough to get myself killed,” Cato-Remer said. That too may explain why some — but not all — vigilante journalists prefer to remain in the shadows. But it did not explain the courage of Bruce Willingham, editor of the McCurtain County Gazette, which attracted nationwide attention several years ago for an investigative tactic involving a recording device disguised as a pen. Willingham recalled a different story that had revealed to him that the stakes of journalism are sometimes life and death. “We had to make a decision — it wasn’t just the newsworthiness of the story, it was whether printing this was going to get us killed,” Willingham said. Too Many Stories, Not Enough Journalists Willingham noted that very few papers in Oklahoma could afford true investigative journalism. Reid of the Weatherford Daily News went further than that, suggesting that true deep-dive journalism might be a cumbersome challenge even for outlets like the Oklahoman and the Tulsa World. Editors across the state sounded similar laments, stemming from the fact that newspaper staffs have been shrinking. “When there’s only one or two reporters, you can’t really pull anyone off their beat,” said Simmons of the Woodward news. Charlene Belew of the Duncan Banner had a similar problem: too many stories, not enough journalists. “We’re a staff of two,” Belew said. “Some of the stories we would like to get into down here in Duncan are just so involved. We don’t have the man-hours.” Editors from Anadarko, Frederick and Poteau all spoke of the challenges of producing a regularly appearing publication with a reportorial staff of one. The Most Extensive History Book Ever Written Local corruption and the pressures of vigilante journalism aside, a consistent theme sounded from editors across the state: local news should remain local. Marione Martin of the Alva Review Courier spoke on behalf of many editors on the importance of providing access and insight into local governance. “I want a story, but not enough to get myself killed.”Amie Cato-Remer “We try to keep people informed about what is going on, be it meetings or political races,” Martin said. “We concentrate on the local news.” Similarly — and in a sharp contrast to the vigilante journalists — a number of editors reflected on the importance of a newspaper’s role in celebrating the communities they serve. Charles Gerian of the Blackwell Journal-Tribune said that in addition to acting as a watchdog, newspapers should address a stigma that has come to be attached to media by endeavoring to become an avenue for celebrating cities and counties. “People still get a kick out of FFA livestock show pictures,” Gerian said. “In small towns, you have to hold people accountable, but if your grandmother is turning 100, that’s important too.” Reflecting on broader questions of journalistic philosophy, John Small, a reporter at the Johnston County Sentinel, offered a concise job description and self-evaluation. “Our mission is to tell people what they need to know whether they want to know it or not,” Small said. “You run into those situations where you wonder why you bother — but we bother because we care. I think we’re living up to our responsibility pretty well.” Reid of the Weatherford Daily News said that the challenge for small towns right now was news deserts, or more broadly the erosion of local newspapers. Within months, Reid said, a town that loses its watchdog can see havoc erupt as officials exploit the lack of oversight. Rather than lash out at the vigilante journalists, Reid’s 14-paper conglomerate has evolved its own aggressive online campaign. He cited stories whose impact had reached far outside the communities his newspapers serve. It was crucial, Reid said, to engage with the changing media landscape because big media wouldn’t do much for local markets. “Google won’t do it, radio won’t do it, television won’t do it,” Reid said. “Newspapers are the most extensive history book written on any town, anywhere. It’s a very important role, and it’s disastrous for communities when they lose it.” Simmons of the Enid News and Eagle expressed hope that the goals of acting as a watchdog and upholding democracy can still be fulfilled. “I think we can inform and entertain, and hold people accountable,” Simmons said. “With smaller staffs, you have to make choices but you can still fulfill all of those roles.” Choate of the Marietta Monitor cited a profound sense of satisfaction at achieving the goal of an engaged citizenry, even in a diminished news ecosystem. “When I first started going to local meetings, it was just me,” Choate said. “Now, it’s not. Seeing more people engaged in local government is so gratifying. Good journalism is not about getting people more enraged, but getting them more involved.” For Hancock of the Hobart Democrat-Chief, the vigilante journalists would remain an unavoidable presence, but they could not replicate what a physical newspaper offered in sheer force and lasting impact. “Print is so permanent,” Hancock said. “That permanence — people tend to remember more and forgive less.” J.C. Hallman covers a variety of topics for Oklahoma Watch. Contact him at [email protected]. The post Oklahoma Editors Reflect on the Challenges Faced by Small-Town Newspapers appeared first on Oklahoma Watch. ...read more read less