The Texas Observer (also known as the Observer ) is an American magazine with a liberal political outlook. The Observer is published bimonthly by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization , the Texas Democracy Foundation . It is based in Austin, Texas .
13-514: On March 27, 2023, it announced that it was ceasing publication. However, on March 29, it was announced that publication will continue following a successful crowdfunding campaign by staff. The Observer was founded by Frankie Randolph and Ronnie Dugger in Austin in 1954 to address topics often ignored by daily newspapers in the state, such as those affecting working people and concerning class and racism. According to Texas Public Radio (TPR),
26-608: A national grassroots populist organization. In 2000 Dugger sought the Green Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate in New York. Dugger used his 2011 George Polk Award acceptance speech to question the nuclear policy of mutually assured destruction, saying, "Why are nuclear weapons called weapons of mass destruction when morally they are weapons of mass murder?" This continued his long vocal concern about nuclear weapons going back to his questioning of LBJ about how many would be killed in
39-540: A nuclear war up to expressing doubts when President Obama calls for a nuclear-free world. Dugger and his friends decided to build The Texas Observer into an independent liberal weekly paper. He said "I sought to practice journalism according to three basic standards, accuracy, fairness instead of 'objectivity,' and moral seriousness." He went on to mentor and influence progressive Texas journalists Willie Morris , Molly Ivins , Billy Lee Brammer , Lawrence Goodwyn , Kaye Northcott , and Jim Hightower . Dugger taught at
52-593: Is published bimonthly by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization , the Texas Democracy Foundation . It is based in Austin, Texas . On March 27, 2023, it announced that it was ceasing publication. However, on March 29, it was announced that publication will continue following a successful crowdfunding campaign by staff. The Observer was founded by Frankie Randolph and Ronnie Dugger in Austin in 1954 to address topics often ignored by daily newspapers in
65-579: The George Polk Award in recognition of his lifelong achievements in journalism. The following year he was dubbed the "godfather of progressive journalism in Texas" in an in-depth feature published in the Austin American-Statesman by Brad Buchholz. In 1952 Dugger, along with Ralph Yarborough , John Henry Faulk , and others campaigned against Governor Allan Shivers , a Democrat who supported
78-595: The Observer published an exposé on then-Governor Rick Perry 's "Enterprise Fund". The report found that 20 recipients of the 55 grants available through the fund were given to Perry campaign contributors or contributors to the Republican Governors Association (RGA) after he became chairman. In March 2023, the board of the Observer's parent organization, the nonprofit Texas Democracy Foundation, voted to close
91-545: The University of Texas and was editor of The Daily Texan 1950–1951. He was the founding editor of The Texas Observer from 1954 to 1961. Later he served as the Observer's publisher, spending more than 40 years with the political news magazine. Dugger has published hundreds of articles in Harper's Magazine , The Nation , The New Yorker , The Atlantic Monthly , The Progressive and other periodicals. In 2011 Dugger won
104-718: The University of Virginia , Hampshire College , and the University of Illinois . He also held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities , the Rockefeller Foundation , and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars . The Texas Observer The Texas Observer (also known as the Observer ) is an American magazine with a liberal political outlook. The Observer
117-417: The 1970s, Molly Ivins served as the Observer's co-editor and a political reporter. In 2010, the Observer published an exposé on then-Governor Rick Perry 's "Enterprise Fund". The report found that 20 recipients of the 55 grants available through the fund were given to Perry campaign contributors or contributors to the Republican Governors Association (RGA) after he became chairman. In March 2023,
130-652: The Republican Party presidential candidate, Dwight Eisenhower . Shivers accused Dugger and his friends of being communists . Dugger criticized Lyndon B. Johnson and his shift away from the left of the Democratic Party when he came under the influence of Herman Brown and George R. Brown . "The alliance (of Brown & Root and Johnson) became common knowledge as his political identity changed from left to right before everyone's eyes", Dugger said. In 1996, Ronnie Dugger also co-founded The Alliance for Democracy ,
143-427: The early Observer "represented the liberal wing of the once-conservative Democratic Party " that was dominant in Texas. During this period, the Observer was critical of conservative or moderate Texas Democrats, including Lyndon B. Johnson during his Senate tenure and Governors Allan Shivers and John Connally . In the 1970s, Molly Ivins served as the Observer's co-editor and a political reporter. In 2010,
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#1732859574126156-410: The publication and lay off its 17 employees, including 13 journalists. A crowdfunding campaign to save the publication raised over $ 300,000 in two days, spread mostly through word of mouth via Mastodon . The campaign was successful. Notable Observer staff and contributors, past and present: Ronnie Dugger Ronnie Dugger (born 1931) is an American progressive journalist. Dugger attended
169-457: The state, such as those affecting working people and concerning class and racism. According to Texas Public Radio (TPR), the early Observer "represented the liberal wing of the once-conservative Democratic Party " that was dominant in Texas. During this period, the Observer was critical of conservative or moderate Texas Democrats, including Lyndon B. Johnson during his Senate tenure and Governors Allan Shivers and John Connally . In
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