The Texas Tribune’s mission is to raise the level of civic engagement in Texas by providing in-depth journalism, data and events to help our fellow citizens become better informed about politics, public policy and state government. But we also take seriously the need to facilitate a statewide conversation about our priorities, and we understand that few things stimulate discussion more than opinion and commentary. That’s why we’ve created TribTalk — a digital forum for dialogue and debate about the day’s news. Think of it as an op-ed page for the 21st century.
TribTalk features pointed, provocative perspectives on elections, economics, public education, higher education, health care, race and immigration, transportation, energy, the environment, criminal justice and more from a diverse array of political players and policy experts from across Texas — both well known and unsung, predictable and unexpected, established and emerging. We hope these contributions from the state’s thought leaders make for the same kind of compelling reading, viewing and listening you’ve come to expect from the Tribune. (We’re also accepting columns submitted by readers like you. If you’d like to write for TribTalk, learn how here.)
For the record, the points of view expressed in these submissions don’t reflect those of the Tribune or its journalists.
You may see some columns clearly labeled as “paid placement” and visually differentiated to prevent readers from confusing them with independent editorial content. These columns are produced by corporate supporters of the Tribune who contract with its business staff to post them on TribTalk. They’re the digital equivalent of “advertorials” you’ve seen in newspapers and magazines for decades. Again, the points of view expressed don’t reflect those of the Tribune, and those corporate supporters play no role in the Tribune’s editorial decisions. Find more information on paid placement here.
Finally, you’ll notice that TribTalk looks different from the main Tribune site. We mean to use TribTalk as a laboratory to experiment with design, features and functionality. Contributors are encouraged to engage with readers via an innovative commenting system.
You can donate to support TribTalk here and help us get to talking!
Tell us what you think! Email your feedback to tribtalk@texastribune.org.