By Ellen Clegg
The staff of The Texas Tribune, one of the most well-known — and arguably most successful — digital nonprofit newsrooms in the country, announced a move to unionize on Wednesday. As Sarah Scire of Nieman Lab reports, 90% of eligible staffers signed union authorization cards, and 86% signed a mission statement that asked Sewell Chan, the editor-in-chief, and Sonal Shah, the CEO, to voluntarily recognize the NewsGuild-CWA.
In T-Squared, a section of the Tribune’s website that features memos and reports of internal doings, Shah wrote: “Our response is simple. If Tribune employees want to be represented by a union, we will respect their right to representation.” She also cautioned that formal recognition will involve a legal process and “require some time.”
She continued with a mission statement of her own: “Free, trustworthy and reliable news and information make Texas a better, healthier, more vibrant place to live and work. We have provided quality journalism for 14 years and will continue to do this important work together.”
In our book, “What Works in Community News,” Dan and I profiled the Tribune and interviewed both Chan and co-founder Evan Smith, who had announced in January 2022 that he intended to step away as CEO by the end of that year. Smith made good on his promise. He is now a senior adviser to the Tribune and to Emerson Collective, a nonprofit founded by Laurene Powell Jobs that is working to buttress local news outlets across the country.
Nonprofit status allows for a diversified revenue stream, which, in the Tribune’s case, includes a robust events series, donations from individuals and foundations, corporate sponsorships, advertising, and a subscription-based newsletter for political insiders. But that doesn’t insulate a newsroom from economic pressures. So while the Tribune has expanded its reach — journalists now live and work well outside of Austin, in communities like Lubbock, Lufkin and Odessa — last year a budget shortfall resulted in the first-ever layoffs and executive pay cuts.
Scire reports that staffers cited the layoffs as a “grim reminder that the media industry isn’t always employee friendly.” Indeed, a peek at the Tribune’s 2022 annual report shows the beginnings of a gap between revenues and expenses. It wasn’t much at that time, as the Tribune reported that it booked $12.1 million in revenue and recorded $12.4 million in expenses. But it’s logical to assume that worrisome trend continued.
