From the Dallas South News Wire
On Tuesday, DallasSouthNews.org editor Shawn Williams wrote a column for the Dallas Morning News nominating Texas Tribune editor Evan Smith as Texas of the Year. Below are a few excerpts from the article. Click here to read the article in its entirety.
Evan Smith
- Many career journalists have found it cathartic to pen columns akin to obituaries lamenting the decline of media as we know it. But other writers, reporters, and business types have traded in their pallbearer suits and are enthusiastically working to figure out what’s next.
- One such person is Evan Smith, editor-in-chief of the new nonprofit news organization The Texas Tribune. Smith spent 17-plus years at Texas Monthly, one of the most respected publications in our state. While Smith was at the helm, Texas Monthly earned numerous honors, including the National Magazine Award for General Excellence.
- While many see nonprofit news and hyper-local journalism as a threat, Smith says that traditional forms of media can flourish as well. “We don’t believe that for-profit media is going anywhere,” Smith told me the day before the Texas Tribune launched. “The work that they do is too important.” But he added, “If by our existence we cause other media to step up the level of their game, we win.”
- …in many ways, recognizing Evan Smith as Texan of the Year would be like awarding President Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize: a nod to past performance and future expectation more than present circumstances. But his decision to help shape the next phase of journalism may encourage others to do the same. If that happens, we win.
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