TPA makes the dream work for community newspapers

I would like to start by saying thank you to the TPA board and members for allowing me to serve as your 147th president. I am honored to have the opportunity and I am excited to work for you so that you get as much as you want from your Texas Press Association.

By LISA CHAPPELL, TPA President 2025-26

You know the saying “you get what you give?”  Well, it is true in many instances but only partially true when it comes to being a member of TPA. You see, TPA gives us many things that help our newspapers and us as professionals to be successful with very little asked in return. Yes, there are the annual dues we pay, the conferences we pay for and every other year we’re asked to call on our state legislators in Austin when fighting bad bills. 

That is not much to ask for what we are given.

Honestly, the only burden is a small amount of money for dues, conferences and the TPA contest. But that money gives a huge return on your investment. Yes, you pay for the contest, but you get bragging rights and recognition for your team’s hard work. The conference does cost a few bucks, but the camaraderie with your peers, finding new vendors to help you and information and ideas you get from the meetings … all worth it. Not to mention the countless hours that Mike Hodges and Donnis Baggett spend during the legislative sessions on your behalf to fight horrible bills and fight to keep public notices in our newspapers. That alone is worth much more than what we pay in dues.

You all obviously know the benefits, since you are a member. But if you know of a newspaper that is not a member or is not involved, encourage them to join and encourage them to attend the conferences.  This is a huge family. We are all in this together and we are stronger together. 

I know that once I started participating in TPA by attending the conferences, I became a better publisher and leader. It gave me relationships that I can lean on, learn from and yes, even vent to on those days when it all seems to be crashing in. It gave me lifelong friendships for which I will forever be thankful.

If you were not able to be at the conference this year, here is some of what you missed (besides great conversations, sharing and lots of laughter). 

We had a ton of award winners, but the top winners that took home the sweepstakes awards were The Facts (Clute), The Williamson County Sun, The Graham Leader, the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, The Pilot Point Post-Signal, the Frio-Nueces Current, The Madisonville Meteor, The Clarendon Enterprise and the Luling Newsboy & Signal. Congratulations to all of you!

Our 2025 Hall of Fame inductee was the amazing and fascinating Laurie Ezzell Brown. It is truly a well-deserved honor. Her grit and tenacity are astounding. She is a real life wonder-woman.

We had some great sessions about AI in the newsroom, a fantastic presentation by Rob Curley on how to have a successful nonprofit local newspaper, some great roundtable discussions, updates on our industry trends, open government  training, a golf tournament and several other sessions. We had 30 vendors, including some first-timers. 

A big thank you to our sponsors eType Services, AEP Texas, Mayborn School of Journalism UNT, Blox Digital, Ad Messenger, Texas 2036, Advantage Newspaper Consultants, Smartico, Metro and Bluefin Technology Partners LLC.

A huge thank you to our staff at TPA for putting on another fantastic conference and contest. What an incredible team you are. 

And I would be remiss if I did not say we have an equally awesome board of directors. They include a handful of cut-ups and agitators (you know who you are) but they are all hard workers and leaders who care tremendously about our industry and your success.

As your president I want to hear from you. Let me know if there is something I can do for you, or if you have something you would like TPA to do for you. I can’t promise everything will get done, but ideas and suggestions are always welcome. Our board of directors is here for you, so let’s work together to have a strong 2025-2026.

After all, they say “teamwork makes the dream work.”