The Houston Chronicle has been selected as one of five Texas media organizations to collaborate with ProPublica and the Texas Tribune in the second year of a local investigative initiative aimed at strengthening accountability journalism in local newsrooms across the state.
Over the next year, the five newsrooms — including the Big Bend Sentinel, KRIS 6 News in Corpus Christi, KXAN Investigates in Austin and the Texas Observer — will report on state and federal efforts to restrict local control, in collaboration with the Texas investigative unit housed at ProPublica and the Tribune.
The Chronicle is joining the investigative initiative for the second consecutive year. This year’s partnership focuses on education and will extend the reach and community impact of the Chronicle’s journalism in a coverage area that is essential for Houston and a newsroom priority.
“We’re thrilled to be tackling this important issue in Texas with partners who share the same dedication to impactful journalism,” said Kelly Ann Scott, editor in chief of the Houston Chronicle.
“This collaboration works because it makes everyone’s journalism stronger, and stronger journalism means more accountability for the communities we serve,” said Alejandra Matos, managing editor of news and strategy for the Houston Chronicle.
The Chronicle in 2024 doubled the number of journalists on its investigations team, focusing on topics such as government accountability, the energy transition and the medical industry.
In 2020, ProPublica and the Tribune launched a first-of-its-kind collaboration to publish investigative reporting for and about Texas. Both organizations publish the team’s stories, which are distributed for free to other news organizations in Texas and beyond.
“The first year of our Texas investigative initiative demonstrated the critical role local newsrooms play in holding accountable the powerful officials of this very influential state. We are eager to keep working with local partners, so together we can be force multipliers and produce strong investigative journalism,” said Vianna Davila, deputy editor of the ProPublica-Tribune investigative unit.
ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. With a team of more than 100 dedicated journalists, ProPublica covers a range of topics and focuses on stories with the potential to spur real-world impact. Its reporting has contributed to the passage of new laws; reversals of harmful policies and practices; and accountability for leaders at local, state and national levels. Since it began publishing in 2008, ProPublica has received eight Pulitzer Prizes.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public media organization whose mission is to promote civic engagement and discourse on public policy, politics, government and other matters of statewide interest. In addition to publishing at TexasTribune.org, it hosts live journalism events across the state and allows outlets to republish its work for free. It has journalists based in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, McAllen, Lubbock, Lufkin, Odessa, San Antonio and Washington, D.C.