On Monday evening, March 16, my wife and I had finished dinner and were settling in to watch a recording of the national news when my phone rang. The number and name identified the caller as the general manager for our newspaper in Gatesville. I could not think of a “newspaper” reason for her to call that evening, and my heart stopped for a beat, wondering if something was wrong with her or her family.
Election season is under way. Many would say the cycle never ends. No sooner are votes tallied than strategists eye the next election. Make no mistake, many lawmakers routinely cast votes with one eye on policy and one eye on politics, especially if they are in swing districts.
Office-holders are scrutinized more than ever in today’s political dynamics. In turn, media are under the microscope.
By Jim Pumarlo, Consultant
My introduction to S. Griffin Singer dates back more than 30 years. A second-year journalism student at the University of Texas, I faced a long list of required courses with numbers for names and no roadmap to sequence them.
By YVONNE MINTZ, The Facts
Registration loomed, and I felt very much a number myself when I showed up at Professor Singer’s office door.
“Griff” knew it all, friends told me. But because I hadn’t had him for class yet, my knock was timid, his response somewhat tepid.
Spring is upon us and all late-season cold fronts aside, the sun is shining.
John Denver put it well in his old song:
“Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy
Sunshine in my eyes
Can make me cry
Sunshine on the water
Looks so lovely
Sunshine always makes me high.”
By AUSTIN LEWTER, Director, Texas Center for Community Journalism
Of course, The Temptations liken sunshine to love:
“I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day
When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May.”
How much more can we take?
That question is the topic of many of our conversations between newspaper colleagues. We discuss it quietly with almost a whisper, as if it’s some big secret we’re afraid others will find out about.
By LISA CHAPPELL, TPA President 2025-26
As the new year dawns, we look ahead to an exciting calendar in 2026.
As we do, we are grateful for a busy 2025 and count our blessings for the relationships fostered along the way.
By AUSTIN LEWTER, director, Texas Center for Community Journalism
We welcomed 2025 with happy news from Parker, Tarrant and Wise Counties when we learned that the Tri-County Reporter would not be closing.
Happy New Year! It’s 2026 and the time is here to hold true to your New Year resolutions. Or maybe not. After many years of setting the same resolution — work out more, eat better, lose weight, yada yada — followed by my typical pattern of not sticking to it, I finally stopped making resolutions.
By Lisa Chappell, 2025-26 president, Texas Press Association
A friend recently took a new job as a manager of a community weekly.
He is an experienced operator and a passionate newspaper guy. He went to work and hit the ground running.
By AUSTIN LEWTER, Director, Texas Center for Community Journalism
As with most managers these days, he has a foot in both the editorial and advertising world.
Local governments are putting the finishing touches on 2026 operations as this year nears a close. Budgets and tax levies have been presented to citizens, debated and adopted. Most newsrooms have been there at each step reporting on individual budgets of city, school, county and other bodies with taxing authority. Pause for a moment. Is your work done? Have you given readers a complete picture?
By Jim Pumarlo, consultant
The December 2025 edition of the Texas Press Messenger marks the end of the publication’s 100th year. Beginning in January 2026, the Messenger will be an eEdition newspaper available online at www.texaspress.com.
Some bound books and many microfilms of the print Messenger dating to 1925 are held at the Texas Press Association offices, while more complete archives are housed at the Briscoe Center for American History, part of the University of Texas Library System.