Tucson Sentinel
Tucson Sentinel is a nonprofit online newspaper based in Tucson, Arizona. It began in 2009 after the Tucson Citizen, a 138-year-old daily, shut down in May of that year. Dylan Smith, who had been the Tucson Citizen’s online editor, started the Sentinel with Michael Truelsen. The site began publishing full-time in January 2010, focusing on Arizona and regional news, especially local politics, public policy, and border/immigration issues. It was part of a wave of nonprofit online news sites created as traditional papers faced layoffs and closures.
The Sentinel funds its work through sponsorships, reader donations, and local display advertising. It has received grants from foundations such as Ethics and Excellence in Journalism, the Fund for Investigative Journalism, and the Knight Foundation in partnership with INN. The newsroom’s investigative reporting and opinion pieces have won state and national awards, including recognitions from the Arizona Press Club.
Dylan Smith helped launch Local Independent Online News Publishers (LION Publishers) in 2012 and has served as its board chair. The Sentinel joined the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), formerly the Investigative News Network, in 2011. In 2015, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild proclaimed January 22 as TucsonSentinel.com Day to celebrate the site’s fifth anniversary.
Staff writers have included Paul Ingram, Blake Morlock, Jim Nintzel, Maria Coxon-Smith, Gene Moreland, Natalie Robbins, Bianca Morales, Julie Jennings Patterson, and Ted Prezelski.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 23:44 (CET).