171. Texas Public Radio and the San Antonio Report Are Merging — Here's Why
This week on bigcitysmalltown, Bob Rivard sits down with Ashley Alvarado, CEO of Texas Public Radio, and Angie Mock, CEO of the San Antonio Report, to discuss a major development in San Antonio's local news landscape: the two organizations are merging.
Effective July 1st, the San Antonio Report will donate its assets to Texas Public Radio, combining operations under one roof to strengthen independent, nonprofit journalism in San Antonio.
They discuss:
- Why two financially healthy organizations chose to merge — and how this is different from the consolidations happening elsewhere in the industry
- What the combined newsroom will look like on day one: 31 journalism positions, with all but four working as reporters in the community
- How the San Antonio Report's digital specificity and Texas Public Radio's broadcast reach complement each other — and what that means for covering the city
- Why YouTube has become unavoidable for reaching younger San Antonians, with 60 to 75 percent of county residents turning to it for news every week
- What Ashley Alvarado learned leading a similar merger at KPCC in Los Angeles — and how those lessons are shaping the approach here
- How the two newsrooms will physically unite, with the San Antonio Report moving to TPR's downtown facilities in late July
- The challenge of serving a politically diverse city — and why relevance and trust have to be built together, not assumed
- What the merger means for investigative and accountability journalism at City Hall and beyond
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