The ''Tucson Sentinel'' is a nonprofit

online newspaper An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, founded in 2009 and began publishing full-time in January 2010, with a focus on

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and regional news.

History

The Sentinel was founded in 2009 after the shutdown in May 2009 of the

Tucson Citizen The ''Tucson Citizen'' was a daily newspaper in Tucson, Arizona. It was founded by Richard C. McCormick with John Wasson as publisher and editor on October 15, 1870, as the ''Arizona Citizen''. When it ceased printing on May 16, 2009, the daily ...

, a 138-year-old afternoon daily newspaper that was closed by the

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. It began publishing full-time in January 2010, with an emphasis on local politics and public policy issues, including the border and immigration. The site was one of the initial wave of local independent online news sites to spring up around the country as daily newspapers endured layoffs and closures. The site is among hundreds of startup local news organizations across the country founded to fill the gaps left by declining print newsrooms. Smith was among the founders of the Local Independent Online News Publishers (LION Publishers) group in 2012, and has served as the chairman of the board of that national nonprofit organization. LION Publishers has grown to include more than 200 CEO/owners of locally focused independent news sites. The Sentinel joined the Investigative News Network (now the

Institute for Nonprofit News The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) is a non-profit consortium of journalism organizations. The organization promotes nonprofit investigative and public service journalism through its association of member entities. History INN was founded a ...

) in 2011. That group is an organization of now more than a national organization of more than 200 nonprofit, nonpartisan news organizations that produce high-quality journalism.

Funding

The Sentinel is a nonprofit organization that generates revenue in the form of sponsorships, reader donations, and local display advertising. The nonprofit has received grants from the

Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation The Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation (EEJF) is a grant-making foundation based in Oklahoma that provides grants to journalism institutions throughout the United States. In 2011, the foundation's assets were $91.1 million and $4 million ...

, Fund for Investigative Journalism, and the

Knight Foundation The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, also known as the Knight Foundation, is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts. The organization was founded as the Knight Memorial Education ...

/INN.

Awards and recognition

Investigative reporting and analysis published by the Sentinel has won state and national awards. Blake Morlock, author of the
What the Devil won't tell you
columns that analyze local public affairs, was named as the first-place winner of the 2017 Community Column Writing award by the Arizona Press Club. The contest judge Martin Salazar, an editorial writer for the Albuquerque Journal. Reporters Paul Ingram and Joe Watson jointly won 2017 Arizona Press Club awards in both the Community and Statewide divisions for their August 2017 story
Decorated Marine vet may be deported, despite likely U.S. citizenship
" Ingram, a senior border and political reporter for the Sentinel, and Watson, a freelancer working with the Sentinel, were awarded second place for Community Immigration Reporting, and third place for Statewide Immigration Reporting for their efforts on the story. The judge was Richard Marosi, a longtime border reporter at the ''Los Angeles Times'' and two-time Pulitzer finalist. Dylan Smith was a first runner-up in the Arizona Press Club's 2017 Community Journalist of the Year competition. Dylan Smith was named as a 2017 winner of the annual Sledgehammer Award by the Arizona Press Club for his work pushing government officials to release information. Paul Ingram won a 2017 national award for his photojournalism, receiving an honorable mention from the Institute for Nonprofit News in the Impact Prize for Nonprofit News Photography contest. He was one of just seven photographers seven journalists working for nonprofit news organizations to be recognized with an INN award, which he received for his 2017 picture of a teenage boy sprinting away from the Nogales border wall that separates the U.S. and Mexico, just after illegally climbing over the barrier with a ladder from the sister city of Nogales, Sonora. In recognition of the fifth anniversary of the site beginning full-time publishing, Tucson Mayor

Jonathan Rothschild Jonathan Rothschild (born 1955) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st mayor of Tucson, Arizona from 2011 to 2019. From 2001 to 2011, Rothschild was managing partner at the law firm Mesch Clark Rothschild. Early life and edu ...

proclaimed Thursday, January 22, 2015, as TucsonSentinel.com Day.

References

{{reflist American news websites