When was the austin american statesman founded

The paper began as a semiofficial organ of the state executive committee of the Democratic party and was the only major Democratic newspaper in Texas at that time. It advocated "straight out Jacksonian Democracy" during the Reconstruction period of Republican control of the state. The paper was prominent in the election campaign of , which resulted in the defeat of the Republican regime in Texas. In the paper began daily morning publication, and from to the publishers were John Cardwell and a Mr.

In the Democratic Statesman took over the Austin Tribune founded , a competitor that in had absorbed a smaller local newspaper called the Austin Daily News. From an early age, Shannon FitzPatrick figured out how to interpret the disparate news elements for herself. The journalism has been professional and with writers like Ken Herman and guest columns by writers like Leonard Pitts and Molly Ivins, I have been consistently enlightened, entertained and inspired.

There has been humor from John Kelso and Ken Herman and tenacious coverage of law enforcement and politicians. A good balance, presented evenhandedly, and with a minimum of typos and grammatical errors.

Keep it up. As important as breaking news, political reports and opinions, sports, and business stories are, readers tend to cherish the way the Statesman interprets the city's culture on a daily basis.

We have seen the paper change in many ways, but it always had a familiar feel. Back in the day, John Kelso — we were actually subjects of two of his columns — Mike Kelly, Kitty Crider and others like yourself gave us reason to read.

So, keep up what you are doing! After moving here in , Bob Knaus and his family felt the paper was a great way to get to know Texas. I tell my friends about the Hutto Hippos and the results from the small towns with great names — Palestine, Dime Box.

It is evident that the staff of the Statesman really cares about Austin and what goes on here — good and bad. Now a digital subscriber as well, Lalitha Krishnan feels that reading the Statesman is a must for her and her husband.

My husband cannot start his day without reading the Statesman. So thank you and your fellow columnists for doing an amazing job and for keeping this paper alive. Looking forward to several more years of happy reading. Chad Simpson likes the Statesman for multiple reasons, and he receives the physical paper every day of the week.

I also want to toss in some appreciation for Peter Blackstock and Deborah Sengupta for helping to keep me in the loop on the music scene in Austin. This newspaper's renewed and intense focus on investigative reporting, which, historically speaking, was not a priority during its first or so years, has been noticed. I'd also assumed that most racism in American institutions was due to 'bad apples.

A good number or readers testified to their productive engagement with newspaper reporters, editors and photographers. Doesn't sound like much of a big deal, but some of those kids who played tennis had never received public recognition for their efforts, and seeing their name in the newspaper was a really, really big deal. The Austin NewsGuild joins other guilds across the country that have unionized newsrooms in recent years, including at the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Arizona Republic.

The Dallas Morning News staff voted to unionize in October , becoming the first newspaper in Texas to do so. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram staff announced it had unionized shortly after. Like many of these papers, the Statesman has faced years of downsizing, hiring freezes and, most recently, furloughs during the pandemic. It has also endured a series of corporate handoffs—three in as many years. Gannett laid off seven Statesman staffers , including veteran sportswriter Suzanne Halliburton and culture critic Joe Gross, in April.

Three months later, the company signed a lease at MetCenter , a corporate business park that the Statesman will move into next year. Its iconic riverfront headquarters will be redeveloped.

Then in October the company reportedly offered employees voluntary buyouts. Melissa Taboada, who worked as a reporter at the Statesman for more than 20 years, announced she had taken a buyout last month. Veronica Serrano, an editorial assistant who has worked at the Statesman for 16 years, said a union is the best way for employees to speak up to the paper's corporate ownership.

Victor Pickard, a professor of media policy and political economy at the University of Pennsylvania, said this push toward organizing is "a rare glimmer of hope in this really dismal landscape.

Unions at legacy media companies, such as the Statesman, may help counterbalance publishers' singular focus on profit, which often comes at the expense of jobs. But unions alone likely won't insulate newspapers from a changing industry. Instead, Pickard said existing newsrooms will need to transition to new business models—like the nonprofit Texas Tribune or low-profit Philadelphia Inquirer —that help lessen commercial pressures.

This story has been updated to include comment from a professor of media policy and political economy. Recently around the web, from Mediagazer:.

All Mediagazer posts on Austin American-Statesman ». Primary author : Mark Coddington. Main text last updated : July 3, How could this entry improve? What's missing, unclear, or wrong? Name optional. Email optional. Explore: Bloomberg. Recently updated entries. Encyclo is made possible by a grant from the Knight Foundation.