NEWS ANALYSIS
A Pioneer For The Future Of Local News
Evan Smith, the founder of the Texas Tribune, has been a “true pioneer” in finding ways to cover local communities as a nonprofit. When Evan Smith co-founded the Texas Tribune back in 2009, digital-first nonprofit newsrooms were something of a rarity. So his move from top editor of the award-winning Texas Monthly magazine, at the urging of venture capitalist John Thornton, was considered slightly bizarre. As it turns out, Smith and company — he and Thornton recruited Texas Weekly editor Ross Ramsey to join the endeavor — had a good idea of what they were doing, or figured it out along the way.
