GTR Newspapers Celebrates 20 Years
By GRANT ROWL
Contributing Writer
FIRST UNION BOUNDARY: The first Union Boundary was published in February, 1993. At that time, Year-Round School was a hot topic. The extension of Highway 169 was expected to bring more business to the area.
Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers, Oklahoma’s largest monthly news group, is celebrating 20 years of publishing with the February 2013 issue of its flagship publication, the Union Boundary.
Tulsan D. Forrest Cameron, who holds a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, founded the Union Boundary, Inc. in 1993. He has served Newspapers as editor and publisher since its inception. Sharon Cameron joined the company in 1994 as the co-publisher, a position she continues to hold. Both Sharon and Forrest hold undergraduate degrees from the University of Tulsa and degrees from Morehead State University in Kentucky.
Forrest Cameron says that he is very appreciative of all the individuals who have made the longevity of the company possible. He says, “We greatly appreciate our readers and advertisers and also the many talented people who have contributed to the papers in the areas of writing, editing, artwork and distribution. We are also very fortunate to be living in such a great area with such fantastic people.”
The mission of the Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers is to provide metropolitan Tulsa-area readers and advertisers with interesting, targeted local news and information at reasonable advertising rates and produced by professional writers, editors and graphic artists, and to distribute the news and information to readers in the most efficient ways.
The original purpose of the company was to publish the Union Boundary, a monthly tabloid-sized newspaper serving residents and employees within the Union Public School District located in southeast Tulsa County in the city limits of both southeast Tulsa and northwest Broken Arrow.
The Union School District area is different than most geographical areas in that it does not have a city or town within its boundary. Therefore, at the time of the founding of the Union Boundary, the district was not being served by a single newspaper.
The company continued to grow in its early years, and in 1995 the Tulsa Free Press and the Jenks Gazette were established. (The names of these two papers were eventually changed, though keeping the original target markets. Today the Jenks Gazette is the Jenks District Gazette, and the Tulsa Free Press is now the Midtown Monitor.)
Due to the company having three papers, a name to describe the company was needed. In 1995 the name of the company became Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers, and with the acronym for brevity, Newspapers.
Growth continued into 1996, the year when Newspapers went online with www.gtrnews.com. was one of the first publications in the nation to go online, and the site has won national awards.
Expansion continued in 1998 with the addition of the Owasso Rambler, and in 1999 the Broken Arrow Express was added. In 2002, the Bixby Breeze was established.
Though education coverage is very important to the papers, coverage also includes civics and politics, economics, variety, sports, health and wellness, energy and environmental issues, social events and more. In addition, education coverage includes private schools as well as public schools.
has won local and national awards over the years, including the Tulsa Metro Chamber Media Advocate of the Year, First Place in the Independent Free Papers of America Vic Jose Award for Best Paper of Excellence in North America, Award of Excellence Winner in the Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Statewide Competition, Energy Advocate of the Year for Journalism Award and the Tulseys Legend Entrepreneur Award.
In addition, has won many awards from the Oklahoma Press Association and the Independent Free Papers of America.
Forrest Cameron has seen many changes in technology since the founding in 1993. He says, “When we started, we didn’t even have a fax machine, and we did not use computers. It’s a new world now. The technology has allowed us to be more efficient and to give better news coverage and to reach a larger audience. We look forward to the next 20 years to give our readers and advertisers the best possible coverage in the new information age.”
Updated 02-25-2013
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