Oklahoma · Independent · Reader-funded
Finally! A News and EntertainmentPlatform that Reflects our Values!
The Colony OK is an independent Oklahoma newsroom, funded by the people it reports for. No advertisers. No chain owner in another state. It is being built in the open, and this is the founding roll.Reading is free. No card.
Create a free accountThe founding roll
9 of 1,000 claimedOne-time. Not a subscription, and not an investment. Or subscribe from $4.99/mo →
Article I
A newsroom, a studio, and a channel — under one masthead.
Not a blog with a paywall. An investigations desk, a daily file, a podcast studio, a channel that runs around the clock, and a public record of how every official in this state votes. Here is all of it, and here is what is honestly finished — 15 of 23 pieces working today.
Read
Watch and listen
The newsroom
Membership
And here it is, running.
Not screenshots. The channel below is the one playing right now, and the headlines are the last things filed.
Last filed
- The Heat Advisory Runs Through Tonight. Here Are the Numbers Behind Oklahoma's 110-Degree Week, and Where to Cool Off.Aug 16
- Fifteen Oklahoma Counties Have Now Banned Outdoor Burning, and the List Is Still Growing.Aug 15
- Early Voting in the Superintendent Runoff Starts Aug. 20. Here Is Every Date and Deadline Left.Aug 14
- Starting Dec. 31, SoonerCare Will Check 330,000 Oklahomans' Eligibility Twice a Year. The Time to Get Ready Is Now.Aug 13
Last published
- Ep. 020 — Faith in the SchoolhouseFaith & Freedom
- Field Report 014 — The Sheriff's Race They Don't Want AuditedOklahoma Underground
- Ep. 003 — Green Mandates Hit the PipelineEnergy OK
We'd rather show you an honest map than a fake storefront.
Article II
Why this exists.
Oklahoma's newspapers didn't die. They were bought.
Chains bought them, cut the reporters, kept the mastheads, and ran them from a thousand miles away. What's left prints wire copy and press releases. The Capitol has fewer reporters watching it than it did twenty years ago, and the people who noticed are the people it is easiest to take advantage of.
We're not trying to replace what was lost. We're building what should have been there instead: a newsroom whose only customer is its reader.
Article III
For Oklahomans who stopped trusting the paper.
You read to the end.
Full documents, named sources, and the parts that complicate the story — not a headline with the complications trimmed off.
You're tired of national noise.
A school board vote in Tulsa changes your week. A cable panel in New York does not.
You want to know how yours voted.
The Report Card grades every official issue by issue, and attaches the evidence to each grade so you can check our work.
You've wanted to fund this kind of work.
Not a tip jar. A founding seat, with your name on the record of who paid for it.
The Contributors
The people who make it.
Reporters, hosts, and producers — named, pictured, and answerable for what they file. Your founding seat is what puts them in the field and keeps them there.
Marven GoodmanInvestigative Journalist
Katy SmithPolitical Reporter
Everett PiperColumnist
Jake MerrickFounding Publisher
TheColonyOK Writers — The standing byline for stories drafted with AI assistance and edited by The Colony newsroom before publication. Pieces under this byline are assembled from public records, published reporting, and state and federal data — the sources are linked at the foot of every story. They do not represent original on-the-ground reporting by a Colony journalist; work that does carries that journalist's name instead.
Article IV
Advertising decides what gets covered. So we removed it.
Every dollar comes from a member, so every story answers to one.
Article V
Founding is a matter of public record.
Every Charter seat is recorded permanently — name, tier, and certificate number — and your seal appears beside your name across the site. It does not lapse when your founding access term ends. Colonist seats run two years, Freeman five, Proprietor for life; the recognition is permanent for all three. There will only ever be a thousand names on it.
Article VI
Every colony has its first thousand.
A one-time founding membership across three tiers. 1,000 seats. When they're gone they're gone — the cap never moves.
ColonistColonist
$500one-time · 2-year founding access · 600 seats
- Founding-only content for your full 2-year term
- Charter member profile with the blue Colonist seal
- Numbered digital founding certificate — yours permanently
- Permanent listing on the Wall of Honor — never lapses
FreemanFreeman
$1,000one-time · 5-year founding access · 300 seats
- Everything in Colonist, plus:
- 5-year founding access
- Enhanced, more prominent profile with the white Freeman seal
- Priority seating at Colony live events
ProprietorProprietor
$2,500one-time · lifetime founding access · 100 seats, ever
- Everything in Freeman, plus:
- Lifetime founding access — non-transferable
- VIP access at Colony live events
- A direct say in editorial direction — quarterly survey & vote
- An annual Founders dinner with Jake
- A custom Colony challenge coin — a physical keepsake of the founding
Not ready to found it? Subscribe.
The founding price. Full library, ad-free, the way Colony OK members started.
The network, unlocked. Oklahoma's 24/7 broadcast plus everything we keep for our own.
Cancel anytime. Both rates rise after launch; neither rises for you.
Charter Colonist is a one-time founding membership, not a subscription. Founding access runs by tier — 2 years for Colonist, 5 years for Freeman, and lifetime (non-transferable) for Proprietor — while recognition (your numbered certificate, seal, and Wall of Honor listing) is permanent for every tier and never lapses. It is not an investment — no tier offers any financial return, interest, or equity, and payments are not refundable or repayable. Charter Colonist is separate from the $4.99/month Founding Subscriber rate.
Article VII
Questions.
Article I is the whole answer, and it is the same list we work from. Nothing on that list is marked live unless it is — and the count in Article I is generated from those marks, not written by hand.
Dream Beyond
Dream beyond the news.
The newsroom is the foundation, not the finish line. Here is where a thousand founding seats can take this platform. None of it is promised for a date — Article I stays the honest map of what runs today — but all of it is the plan.
An online gym
Training you can do from a living room in any of the 77 counties, led by Oklahomans — strength, mobility, and accountability without a franchise membership.
An online school
Courses on civics, history, media literacy, and practical skills, taught plainly and archived so a family can learn on its own schedule.
Full-length documentaries & movies
Feature-length work on Oklahoma stories that deserve more than a segment — funded by members, owned by no studio.
Election Direction
Every race, every ballot measure, every candidate on the record — building on the Report Card so a voter walks in knowing exactly who stands where.
Faith services, streamed
Sunday services and gatherings from congregations across the state, carried live for the homebound and the far-from-home.
Live daily shows
A full daily slate on the 24/7 channel — morning to sign-off, live and unscripted, made here.
Local events & news
Fairs, ballgames, town meetings, and the county-by-county file — covered because you live there, not because it trends.
A newsroom is what we owe you. This is what we want to build you.
Article VIII
If you're not ready yet.
A thousand seats is a real number and $500 is a real amount of money. If today isn't the day, leave an address. You'll get the weekly letter — what we filed, what we spent, and what moved on the list in Article I.
Double opt-in, one click to leave. We don't sell it — Article IV is the reason there is nobody to sell it to.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship opportunities.
Oklahoma businesses can stand with the platform without touching the journalism: host-read podcast pre-roll, newsletter sponsorship, and live-event partnerships. Sponsors underwrite the shows and the signal — never the coverage. Article IV is not for sale, and that is exactly why this audience is worth reaching.
A thousand names. Then the roll closes.
991 founding seats remain across all three tiers.
Not founding it? Subscribe from $4.99/mo →