The Texas Tribune
Encyclopedia
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit news
organization headquartered in Downtown
Austin, Texas
, devoted to state government and public policy. It aims to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. Its website
and content in various delivery platforms serves as an alternative news source for Texas, with a goal of supplementing the mainstream sources that exist.
The Texas Tribune, like Voice of San Diego
and MinnPost
before it, is part of a trend toward nonprofit journalism with an all-digital platform.
In addition to journalism posted online at its site texastribune.org, and in the pages and on the sites of its distribution partners, the Tribune hosts on-the-record, open-to-the-public events: conversation series featuring elected officials and other newsmakers, conferences on major topics of interest to every Texan, a college tour, and the like.
The Texas Tribune was founded in the summer of 2009 by venture capitalist John Thornton and veteran journalists Evan Smith
and Ross Ramsey. The idea for the organization originated with Thornton, who spent much of 2008 and 2009 barnstorming the country in support of the idea that public interest journalism is a public good. Thornton wrote, in July 2009:
Thornton and his wife, Julie, contributed the initial seed money to fund the organization's nascent operations and began to raise money from around the state and around the country from individuals, corporations, and foundations. He hired Smith, the longtime editor of Texas Monthly
, to be CEO and editor-in-chief of the Trib, and the two recruited Ramsey, the longtime editor and owner of Texas Weekly, to be managing editor. Smith and Ramsey subsequently hired several well-known members of the Capitol press corps to join the team: Matt Stiles, of the Houston Chronicle
; Emily Ramshaw, of the Dallas Morning News; Brandi Grissom, of the El Paso Times
; Elise Hu, of KVUE-TV; and Reeve Hamilton, who covered the Texas Legislature for The Texas Observer
. Morgan Smith, formerly of Slate
, started writing for the Tribune in January 2010.
Brian Thevenot, a two-time Pulitzer Prize
winner who was formerly special projects editor for The Times Picayune of New Orleans, joined the staff in October 2009. He has since left the Tribune, and is now business editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
. In 2011, the Tribune announced the hiring of the twice named AP Staff Writer of the Year, Jay Root, formerly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The Texas Tribune has been actively developing an open source publishing platform along with the The Bay Citizen
, specifically tailored for nonprofit news organizations like itself. The system, named Armstrong
, was funded through a $975,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
. It is based on technology the Tribune has been using since 2009.
The Texas Tribune launched on November 3, 2009.
and editor in chief
), Ross Ramsey (managing editor
), H.O. Maycotte (director of technology), and about eight journalist
s.
Smith was Texas Monthlys editor (2000–2008), president
(2008–2009).
Financier
T. Boone Pickens has donated $150,000. Foundations have also donated around $1.1 million, including a total of $750,000 in grants from the Houston Endowment and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
. Corporate sponsorships have brought in the funds as well. Most of the 68 corporate sponsors made a $2,500 commitment as co-founders of the publication, and it seems that this figure has not grown substantially since the launch. "In the coming months, we intend to become far more sophisticated in the way we market corporate sponsorships of both our site and our events series, TribLive," Thornton wrote.
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
organization headquartered in Downtown
Downtown Austin
Downtown Austin is the central business district of Austin, Texas. Downtown is located on the north bank of the Colorado River. The approximate borders of Downtown include Lamar Boulevard to the west, 11th Street and sometimes Martin Luther King, Jr...
Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, devoted to state government and public policy. It aims to promote civic engagement through original, explanatory journalism and public events. Its website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
and content in various delivery platforms serves as an alternative news source for Texas, with a goal of supplementing the mainstream sources that exist.
The Texas Tribune, like Voice of San Diego
Voice of San Diego
Voice of San Diego is a nonprofit news organization focused on issues affecting the San Diego region.The organization's mission is to "To consistently deliver ground-breaking investigative journalism for the San Diego region...
and MinnPost
MinnPost.com
MinnPost.com also known as MinnPost is a non-profit news website in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a focus on Minnesota news. Its mission is "to provide high-quality journalism for news-intense people who care about Minnesota."...
before it, is part of a trend toward nonprofit journalism with an all-digital platform.
In addition to journalism posted online at its site texastribune.org, and in the pages and on the sites of its distribution partners, the Tribune hosts on-the-record, open-to-the-public events: conversation series featuring elected officials and other newsmakers, conferences on major topics of interest to every Texan, a college tour, and the like.
The Texas Tribune was founded in the summer of 2009 by venture capitalist John Thornton and veteran journalists Evan Smith
Evan Smith
Evan Smith is the CEO and editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune.Born in New York, Smith has a bachelor's degree in public policy from Hamilton College and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University...
and Ross Ramsey. The idea for the organization originated with Thornton, who spent much of 2008 and 2009 barnstorming the country in support of the idea that public interest journalism is a public good. Thornton wrote, in July 2009:
In Micro 101, we learn that such "public goods" as clean air and national defense will not be produced in sufficient supply exclusively by market forces. Allow for the sake of argument that what I'll call "capital J" Journalism — journalism that takes on serious, complex issues and puts them in the context of how citizens interact with their government — is such a good.
Thornton and his wife, Julie, contributed the initial seed money to fund the organization's nascent operations and began to raise money from around the state and around the country from individuals, corporations, and foundations. He hired Smith, the longtime editor of Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Austin, Texas. Texas Monthly is published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. and was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the environment, industry, and education...
, to be CEO and editor-in-chief of the Trib, and the two recruited Ramsey, the longtime editor and owner of Texas Weekly, to be managing editor. Smith and Ramsey subsequently hired several well-known members of the Capitol press corps to join the team: Matt Stiles, of the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
; Emily Ramshaw, of the Dallas Morning News; Brandi Grissom, of the El Paso Times
El Paso Times
The El Paso Times is the English-language newspaper for the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas. The paper was founded in 1881 by Marcellus Washington Carrico. It originally started out as a weekly but within a year's time, it became the daily newspaper for the frontier town.The newspaper has a daily...
; Elise Hu, of KVUE-TV; and Reeve Hamilton, who covered the Texas Legislature for The Texas Observer
The Texas Observer
The Texas Observer is an American political newsmagazine published bi-weekly and based in Downtown Austin, Texas. The non-profit magazine is nonpartisan, but the publication has historically been an advocate for liberal politics...
. Morgan Smith, formerly of Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, started writing for the Tribune in January 2010.
Brian Thevenot, a two-time Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winner who was formerly special projects editor for The Times Picayune of New Orleans, joined the staff in October 2009. He has since left the Tribune, and is now business editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
. In 2011, the Tribune announced the hiring of the twice named AP Staff Writer of the Year, Jay Root, formerly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The Texas Tribune has been actively developing an open source publishing platform along with the The Bay Citizen
The Bay Citizen
The Bay Citizen is a non-profit news organization covering the San Francisco Bay Area. It was founded as the Bay Area News Project in January 2010 with money provided by Warren Hellman's Hellman Family Foundation. On May 26, 2010 the organization launched the website, baycitizen.org...
, specifically tailored for nonprofit news organizations like itself. The system, named Armstrong
Armstrong (content management system)
Armstrong is an open source news publishing platform jointly developed by nonprofit online news organizations The Texas Tribune and The Bay Citizen with the assistance of a grant by the Knight Foundation. The core of the content management system's functionality has been used by The Texas Tribune...
, was funded through a $975,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is an American private, non-profit foundation dedicated to supporting transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts....
. It is based on technology the Tribune has been using since 2009.
The Texas Tribune launched on November 3, 2009.
Personnel
Staff includes Evan Smith (CEOChief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
and editor in chief
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
), Ross Ramsey (managing editor
Managing editor
A managing editor is a senior member of a publication's management team.In the United States, a managing editor oversees and coordinates the publication's editorial activities...
), H.O. Maycotte (director of technology), and about eight journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s.
Smith was Texas Monthlys editor (2000–2008), president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
(2008–2009).
Writers
- Ross Ramsey (managing editor)
- Julian Aguilar
- Justin Dehn
- Kate Galbraith
- Brandi Grissom
- Reeve Hamilton
- Elise Hu
- David Muto
- Emily Ramshaw
- Jay Root
- Morgan Smith
- Matt Stiles
Funding
Thornton raised more than US $2 million before the project was made public in July 2009. He invested $1 million of his personal money to the organization. By the November 2009 launch, the Tribune raised $3.6 million dollars from more than 1,000 individual donors and at least fifty corporate sponsors.Financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
T. Boone Pickens has donated $150,000. Foundations have also donated around $1.1 million, including a total of $750,000 in grants from the Houston Endowment and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is an American private, non-profit foundation dedicated to supporting transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts....
. Corporate sponsorships have brought in the funds as well. Most of the 68 corporate sponsors made a $2,500 commitment as co-founders of the publication, and it seems that this figure has not grown substantially since the launch. "In the coming months, we intend to become far more sophisticated in the way we market corporate sponsorships of both our site and our events series, TribLive," Thornton wrote.
External links
- The Texas Tribune
- The Texas Tribune on FacebookFacebookFacebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...