03/28/2023
Dear Friend ,
You have likely seen headlines that say the Texas Observer will cease to exist after this week. Like you, the staff is in shock, but unwilling to declare defeat. To survive, we need YOUR help.
A majority of the members of the board of the Observer, the Texas Democracy Foundation, voted over the weekend to lay off all staff and shutter the publication. They made this decision without informing or involving staff, donors, or readers—and without trying to fundraise. We all found out we lost our jobs via the media yesterday. They announced this morning that we would cease publication March 31, 2023.
The editorial leaders of the Observer have asked President Laura Hernandez-Homes and others on the board to reconsider their decision and allow those who’d like to help the Observer to serve on the board. We are hopeful the board will revisit the decision to cease publication and lay off staff. These funds will be used to support us as we move forward into a new era of the Texas Observer.
Over the years, we have asked for your support. Editorial independence and journalistic freedom have been the hallmarks of the Observer since its founding in 1954. The publication has been freer—less encumbered by the demands of business, advertisers and grantmakers—than any other publication of its stature. The institution has been a home for countless journalists over the years and a served as a vital watchdog against extremists, corporations, and politicians.
Texas needs a publication that will bear witness to the injustice happening in our state and expose those responsible for it. Because Texas is in shambles and needs the Texas Observer. Because democracy needs a free and independent press.
We have sent many emails, like this one, that state the importance of your support. To assist the staff, we have set up a GoFundMe to raise $200,000 in donations from our supporters. It’s the donation—not the amount—that counts. We ask for your contribution if you can offer money. Otherwise, please share the ask.
The impact of this shutdown on the current team is devastating. Shuttering the publication would be extremely damaging to an editorial staff that was recently and successfully rebuilt after a previous crisis. It would adversely affect staff who need their pay to cover cat food and rent, to pay for kids in college and people who have a baby on the way. It would cause us to lose credibility with those who have supported stories already published or in progress, including our series on women’s health and threats to Texas rivers.
We are pivoting our donations from our homepage to this Go Fund Me. Will you help save the staff of the Texas Observer by contributing now?
On behalf of the full staff and with deepest thanks,
Gabriel Arana
Editor-In-Chief
PS: When Texas is at its worst, the Texas Observer must be at its best. And it is readers like you who, for seven decades, have made us the best we can be. Please give now.
The Texas Democracy Foundation, the nonprofit parent of the Texas Obse… James Canup needs your support for Help Save the Texas Observer & Fight Staff Layoffs