The 2025 TPA Convention and Trade Show June 19-21 will feature Texas Open Government Training as a bonus opening day event.

Convention headquarters is the the Embassy Suites by Hilton Denton Convention Center.

The training set for 1-4 p.m. Thursday, June 19, is free and is jointly sponsored by TPA and the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. Speakers include Tom Williams of the FOIFT board and Haynes and Boone and Tamara Smith of the Texas Attorney General’s office.

WASHINGTON – Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced his intention to step down in February, notifying the the Postal Service Board of Governors that it is time for them to begin the process of identifying his successor.

No time frame for naming a successor was given.

DeJoy took the helm of the postal service in the summer of 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term. He was a Republican donor who owned a logistics business before taking office and was the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who was not a career postal employee.

The 2025 International Symposium on Online Journalism at UT Austin March 27-28 will feature leading journalists from top news outlets and organizations, like National Public Radio, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, ProPublica, and The New York Times.

“Every year, ISOJ convenes leading journalists from across the globe to share cutting-edge practices, tools, and trends, and this year’s program is no exception,” said Summer Harlow, associate director of the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, which organizes ISOJ. 

In a transaction expected to close at the end of the first quarter of 2025, Hearst is purchasing the Austin American-Statesman from Gannett Co.

Founded in 1871, the Statesman has been named Texas Newspaper of the Year three times by the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors and more recently was recognized as a 2023 Public Service Pulitzer Prizes finalist and a 2024 Edward R. Murrow Award winner.

Promotions, new hires and other employment news reported by Texas newspapers and published in the March 2025 edition of the Texas Press Messenger.

Taylor Press welcomes new editor, reporter

TAYLOR – Granite Media Partners welcomed two new staff members at the Taylor Press.

Jason Chlapek is the new area managing editor for the Taylor Press and the Elgin Courier. Emily Treadway is a general assignment reporter specializing in education.

One of my greatest satisfactions sitting behind the editor’s desk was appreciating the newspaper had a pulse of the community. Credit extended beyond the newsroom; all employees served as our collective eyes and ears. 

By JIM PURMARLO, Consultant

Delivering news is hard work, as editors well know. Stories don’t just fall in your lap. You must develop news sources, which can be a painstaking process. Sources willingly share good news. When bad news surfaces, they often create detours and roadblocks.

Community newspapers have a long history of vibrant opinion pages. A vibrant opinion page gives folks a platform in their community to make their voices heard.  A vibrant opinion page welcomes letters to the editor. A vibrant opinion page welcomes differing views. But fewer and fewer community newspapers are publishing vibrant opinion pages. 

By Austin Lewter, Director, Texas Center for Community Journalism

The last several years have brought a lot of angst for us all as we try to determine how to attract more readers/subscribers and advertising customers.

By Bill Patterson, TPA President

Sometimes this heartburn is because we’re reluctant to change – or just scared to change. We’re afraid if we make a change or give something up that we’ve always done, we will lose more readers, subscribers and advertisers.

I think reality is just the opposite. If we don’t keep moving forward with bold changes, we will continue to become less relevant.

I’ve been blessed, over the past 20 or so years, to be able to make a living putting words on pages.

By AUSTIN LEWTER, Texas Center for Community Journalism

I’ve yet to publish a book, and I was reminded recently at a faculty meeting that newspaper columns are not equal to peer-reviewed articles — at least in the eyes of many in the academic world.

Nonetheless, I have published thousands of stories and columns in newspapers across Texas.

In my day job at the university, I teach young people how to put words on pages.

Happy 2025 to each of you, and congratulations on another year of essential service to your communities!

By BILL PATTERSON, TPA President 2024-25

Having a local media company these days is not for the faint of heart. It takes guts, perseverance, innovation and a talented team to make it happen.

I hope you’ve seen the national survey that Coda Ventures conducted recently for America’s Newspapers. It’s a reaffirming report that speaks to the trust of local newspapers. Local newspapers ranked as the most trusted local media.