A newspaper writer from Texas will receive a $5,000 state award from the Center for Integrity in News Reporting at the annual TPA Convention and Trade Show.
In November 2025, the center received a grant from the SNPA Foundation to fund awards in 14 Southeast states as an extension of the CFINR national awards. Texas was among the 14 states included in the first round of state awards.
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas will hold an open government seminar on June 18 in Dallas in conjunction with the Texas Press Association Convention and Trade Show at the Hyatt Regency DFW Airport Hotel.
Scheduled from 1 to 4 pm. Thursday, June 18, the training in state open meetings and public records laws is free and open to public officials, journalists and others interested in open government. While being held during the TPA convention, the seminar is not limited to TPA members or convention attendees.
COOPER, Texas — Ashley Colvin, publisher of the Cooper Review, makes her living by wearing two hats — figuratively, at least.
One is the hat of a weekly journalist working in the trenches of her hometown. In an earlier era, a black-and-white PRESS card would have been tucked into the hatband of her fedora.
Her other hat is the camouflaged duty cap of an Army National Guard soldier. It usually hangs on a military headquarters hatrack, since Colvin serves as a paralegal for the National Guard’s Joint Adjutant General’s Corps.
MINEOLA – TPA Past President Phil Major announced his retirement from the Texas newspaper industry with the sale of the Wood County Monitor in early May.
Major addressed the sale and his retirement in a column published May 7 in the Monitor.
“We leave the paper in the more-than-capable hands of new owner-publisher James Taylor and manager Carley Tucker,” Major wrote.
The Red River Sun in Childress became the Greenbelt Intrepid with the May 1 edition. Publisher and owner Roger Estlack discussed the change in this column, published the same day the name changed.
By ROGER ESTLACK, Publisher, The Greenbelt Intrepid
This week marks a new chapter in this newspaper’s proud history with a new moniker and a fresh look. The Sun has set, and The Greenbelt Intrepid looks to the future with a mission to fulfill the ideals of local journalism through service to our communities.
HEBBRONVILLE – The Enterprise has marked 100 years and more than 5,000 editions.
In a story published May 6, Publisher Pancho Hernandez Jr. noted that when the newspaper began, a year’s subscription for Hebbronville and Jim Hogg County residents was $2.
“It was also a time when pressmen cranked their presses to produce the newspaper for the weekly editions,” Hernandez noted.
“Much has changed since then. No longer do the presses run locally, and the old metal type and cabinets that held the letters and numerals used to print newspaper pages have long been retired.”
From the Victoria Advocate
VICTORIA – The Victoria Advocate is celebrated its 180th anniversary May 8, marking nearly two centuries of chronicling the history, growth and transformation of the Crossroads region.
Founded May 8, 1846, the newspaper is the second-oldest newspaper in Texas and the oldest continuously operating newspaper west of the Colorado River. Since its founding, the publication has documented wars, hurricanes, economic booms, political shifts and generations of community life across South Texas.
Obituaries published in the June 2026 edition of the Texas Press Messenger.
Jill Darden
FORT WORTH - Fort Worth Black News founder Jill Darden, 52, died suddenly April 24 — days before her birthday on May 2, her sister Ginger Darden-Ford confirmed.
AUSTIN — The Texas Newspaper Foundation has selected four exemplary journalists – William Blair Jr., Randy Mankin, Frank Mayborn and Burl Osborne — for induction into the Texas Newspaper Foundation Hall of Fame in June.
The induction ceremony will take place during the Texas Press Association 2026 Convention and Trade Show Hall of Fame banquet at Hyatt Regency DFW International Airport at 11:45 a.m. Friday, June 19.
Register now for the Texas Press Association Convention & Trade Show June 18-20 at the Hyatt Regency DFW Airport Hotel.
Registration forms and information are available online at www.texaspress.com.
The three-day event includes the annual trade show, the Hall of Fame and Golden 50 Award luncheon and a full slate of industry sessions, as well as an excursion to the American Airlines CR Smith Flight Museum. (See Page 4 for a full agenda.)