Business News

The New York Times Expands Texas Report

Thursday 21. October 2010 - The Times Will Publish Added Pages on Fridays and Sundays with News Provided by The Texas Tribune

Third in a Series of Local Print and Online Initiatives
The New York Times announced today an expanded Texas report, to be produced in collaboration with The Texas Tribune, a non-partisan, independent, non-profit news organization, beginning Oct. 29. The new pages will complement the national and global coverage that has made The Times a popular read in the region.
“This collaboration with The Texas Tribune will allow us to expand our coverage of the state of Texas, supplementing our own work with sophisticated reporting by local journalists who have deep roots in the community,” said Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times.
The Texas pages, appearing on Fridays and Sundays in the front section of copies of The New York Times distributed throughout Texas, will feature coverage of Texas government, politics, culture and lifestyle by some of the state’s top reporters, analysts and critics. The coverage will be led by chief executive and Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith, who launched The Texas Tribune in 2009 after an award-winning tenure as editor and president of Texas Monthly magazine. In its first year in operation, The Tribune has been named a finalist in the General Excellence in Online Journalism/Small Site category of the Online Journalism Awards.
The pages will emphasize enterprising coverage of public affairs, with exclusive stories published in The Times before they appear anywhere else. Incisive Texas columnists will provide insight into how power is wielded in the state. And each week, leading arts and food critics will select the best things to do, see and eat in Texas.
On Mr. Smith’s watch, Texas Monthly was nominated for 16 National Magazine Awards and was twice awarded the National Magazine Award for General Excellence. Mr. Smith previously held editorial positions at a number of national magazines including The New Republic, where he was deputy editor.
“All of us at the Tribune are honored and thrilled to be working with The Times — it’s a validation of our hard work this year, and an endorsement of our belief in the power and value of public interest journalism,” says Mr. Smith. “Together we’ll shine an even bigger, brighter light on the issues that matter to Texas and Texans.”
“Our intent is to roll out these expanded reports in several key markets around the country, working with local journalists and news organizations in a collaborative way,” said Scott Heekin-Canedy, president and general manager of The Times. “This approach is a service to our readers and will have the added benefit of strengthening our subscriber retention.”
The Times launched added pages called “The Bay Area” in the San Francisco Bay Area in October, 2009, and since June 4, 2010, has published branded local news content from The Bay Citizen, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public media organization based in San Francisco. The Times also has published a Chicago area report, produced in collaboration with the Chicago News Cooperative, since November, 2009. The Texas report will be distributed across the state, rather than in one market.
The online component of the Texas report, at NYTimes.com/Texas, will consist of news from The Tribune, including up-to-the-minute news feeds throughout the day, along with regional Times content. In print, the regional content will be supported by local advertising. The New York Times will pay The Texas Tribune for its journalism, as it does other news services whose work appears in the pages of the newspaper and on