“[I]f our nerves are shot, we’re excited, elated, enthralled (…) For those of us who willingly quit good jobs with big media companies to join an untried journalism start-up with an untested business model, this site, this thing, is the expression of our ideals, the realization of our dreams, and the validation of our faith,” said the editor-of-chief of the new non-profit Texas Tribune upon launching yesterday:
“What we intend to accomplish with the Trib – what we mean to do on an ongoing basis – is right there in our stated mission: to promote civic engagement and discourse on public policy, politics, government, and other matters of statewide concern,” wrote Evan Smith:
“We’ll do this through our original reporting, published on this site and in the pages of and on the web sites of our syndication partners, and our various on-the-record events, which will always be open to the public: an annual ideas festival, a weekly conversation series, a college tour, and the like. In true twenty-first-century fashion, we’re approaching the task of storytelling across multiple platforms: text, audio, video, blogs, databases, mobile, social.
“We’re treating you, the reader or viewer or listener or user, as if you’re the customer, and we’re busily puzzling through how best to meet your various demands. Our goal is to maximize your ability to personalize your experience; as we move to day five and day ten and day thirty, we’ll be adding new and innovative ways to do just that.”
The publication has also produced this YouTube video: