The Beacon Kansas City is a non-profit online news outlet covering Kansas City local news focused on in-depth journalism in the public interest. It launched in March 2020. It is part of The Beacon, a regional nonprofit news network serving Kansas and Missouri that was founded by Kelsey Ryan, who served as the Beacon’s first publisher.

Beacon stories are revelatory, contextual, data-driven and solutions-driven, with a focus on Kansas City local news. Our reporting centers around issues in health care, education, housing, labor, health and local and state government.

Vision: Communities that are well-informed and actively involved.

Mission: The Beacon cultivates engaged and informed communities through accessible reporting and active community engagement on crucial local subjects, anchored by a sustainable nonprofit revenue model.

Awards & Recognitions

Find the full list of awards and recognitions that The Kansas City Beacon has received here.

How we cover Kansas City local news

Affiliations and memberships

Policies and standards

Journalists must work to earn the trust of the public. The Beacon is transparent about its reporting and ethical practices. Journalists at The Beacon:

  • Sign agreements to abide by the Society for Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics.
  • Agree not to take any merchandise or food from sources exceeding $5.
  • Do not display yard signs or financially support political candidates.
  • Disclose all potential conflicts of interest before hiring.
  • Routinely write about their processes for finding information and how they analyzed data and records.
  • Use social media to engage with readers.
  • Participate in events and podcasts about their work.

As part of our transparency pledge to readers, The Beacon follows the Institute for Nonprofit News’ requirements to disclose its financial backers: No more than 5 percent of our annual budget will come from anonymous donations, we will post our 990 tax forms to our website, and we will publicly identify all donors who give more than $5,000. 

Our journalism is not influenced by any funder, partner or parent organization.