Midwestern news nonprofit The Beacon shuts down its Wichita newsroom
The Beacon, a prominent Midwestern news nonprofit that began publishing news coverage in Kansas City in 2020 and expanded to Wichita in 2021 with almost $4 million raised from local philanthropy and the American Journalism Project, is shutting down its Wichita newsroom three years after its launch.
“Our vision hasn’t changed. We’re thinking beyond our newsroom and want to help foster a thriving local news ecosystem,” reads a message to readers attributed to The Beacon Team published Monday. “However, we’ve realized that we can’t do it all, and have made the decision to no longer have a staffed newsroom in Wichita.”
Prior to the announcement, The Beacon’s Wichita newsroom included an editor and two reporters focused on local government and community health. Last month, I reported on a yearslong pattern of turnover, including the departure of The Beacon’s most recent education reporter, and disagreements over mission in The Beacon’s Wichita newsroom.
“The transition will happen in phases, with the expectation to no longer have a staff presence in Wichita by the new year,” Beacon CEO Stephanie Campbell told me in a follow-up email.
The Wichita Beacon was one of four listed “startup initiatives” of the American Journalism Project, a “venture philanthropy” established in 2019 to fund nonprofit local news through a mix of grants, business support, and startup incubation.1
The Beacon will continue to publish local coverage of Kansas City and statewide coverage of both Kansas and Missouri.
In 2021, the Wichita Foundation committed $1.1 million to The Beacon over three years, part of “a combined $3.85 million three-year commitment” in partnership with the American Journalism Project. In an interview last week, Wichita Foundation chief strategy officer Courtney Bengtson told me the foundation had allocated “just over 60%” of that funding to The Beacon.
“We continue to work with The Beacon Media to pivot our prior commitment toward a more sustainable future for the Wichita ecosystem,” Bengtson told me in a follow-up email Tuesday. She specified that approximately $350,000 remains from the original grant to The Beacon. “How that money will be reallocated is still being decided,” she added, “but a small portion will go to The Beacon to support the successful transition of staff and assets, and the majority will go to supporting other Wichita local news ecosystem partners.”
The two Wichita-based board members of The Beacon — Shelly Prichard, president and CEO of the Wichita Foundation, and Tami Bradley, a local consultant — were removed from the online list of The Beacon’s board of directors earlier this month.
“Shelly provided her expertise on nonprofit governance to the Board and has a vested interest in the mission,” Bengtson told me. The Wichita Foundation and Beacon Media “continue to work on a new solution for the Wichita ecosystem,” she said, adding, “as a Wichita-based funder, stepping down from The Beacon board provides [Prichard] the opportunity to support other organizations with a deeper Wichita presence.”
The Beacon’s public statement notes it plans to transition Wichita Beacon archives “to a local Wichita-based outlet, keeping the stories accessible to the community.” The statement also suggests The Beacon will continue participating in Wichita’s Documenters program.
“Though our presence is changing, we’re not stepping away from Wichita,” the statement says. “We remain dedicated to ensuring that the community has access to vital information and that the local media ecosystem thrives.”
Updated with comments from Wichita Foundation chief strategy officer Courtney Bengtson and Beacon CEO Stephanie Campbell.
- The other three are Signal Ohio, The Houston Landing, and Free Press Indiana. While Signal Ohio and Free Press Indiana both came out of the AJP’s “startup studio,” the Wichita Beacon is unique, since it was an expansion of the existing Kansas City Beacon instead of a from-scratch startup; the Landing evolved out of partnerships with local philanthropy in Houston.