The ‘Shameful’ End of a Crucial Texas Muckraker

When news broke on Sunday night that the storied journalism institution known as The Texas Observer—the great incubator of national industry talent and Lone Star State muckraker once helmed by the irreverent Molly Ivins—a wave of fury, sadness, and hopelessness washed over the state’s press corps.

Nationally recognized journalists called the closure everything from an “ego-driven tantrum” to a “damn shame,” and it seems they’re just getting started. Some aren’t ready to give up on the historic magazine. But I’m paralyzed by sadness for what was my first real reporting home and what was, for Texas, a place uniquely and steadfastly dedicated to holding a spotlight onto injustice and oppression.

I’ve never talked about this publicly, but I’ll admit it now: It was a fluke that I even got my first-ever journalism fellowship at the Observer.

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