An association for alumni and supporters of The Daily Texan, student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin

Texas Student Media

Initial donation to Daily Texan from Friends Innovation Fund

The Friends of the Daily Texan has made the first grant to The Daily Texan from the recently-created Innovation Fund, created to support a sustainable future, quality journalism and innovative work at the student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin. The initial grant was $1,300-plus for much-needed equipment to allow the staff to create multi-media more efficiently for the web. “We are grateful to the FotDT for their continued partnership and support,” said Texas Student Media Director Gerald A. Johnson. “Prior to the Friends’ generous funding, the newsroom was sharing the personal equipment of the video editor. As […]

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Saying ‘thank you’ to Griff Singer

Saying “thank you” to an individual who meant so much to your life and career is not as simple as it might seem, because those words alone cannot fully convey the sincerity behind the remark. Nonetheless, University of Texas at Austin ex-students, faculty and staff and students – friends and colleagues from more decades than we care to admit – gathered Oct. 17 to honor and celebrate the contributions of Griff Singer, retired journalist and instructor at the journalism school at UT-Austin. The Friends of The Daily Texan alumni group sponsored the event. As the program cover noted, the event […]

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Friends of Daily Texan Innovation Fund Established

The Friends of The Daily Texan, Inc., a non-profit group created by Texan alumni to help build a strong future for The Daily Texan, has created an Innovation Fund to support a sustainable future, quality journalism and innovative work at the student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin. Friends of The Daily Texan is a non-profit organization formed in the spring of 2013 by a group of concerned alumni. The Daily Texan is known as one of the best student-run newspapers in the country, producing notable alumni like Walter Cronkite, and fulfilling an important watchdog role at the […]

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Event to honor Griff Singer, create ‘Friends’ Innovation Fund for Daily Texan

  The Friends of the Daily Texan will hold a benefit luncheon to honor Texas journalist and journalism professor S. Griffin with the inaugural Griff Singer Award for Outstanding Service to the Daily Texan. The luncheon is scheduled at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 17 at the old art museum on the UT campus. Funds from the event will be used to create the Friends of The Daily Texan Innovation Fund, managed by the alumni group in support of The Daily Texan and its initiatives. Chairing the event is Jane Chesnutt, former editor of Woman’s Day magazine and a 2011 Distinguished Alumnus. […]

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Bill Powers and The Daily Texan

Remember just a year ago that The Daily Texan was in the financial ditch, with no fix in sight, and no plan or vision to solve its problems? Remember the fear that The Texan would simply fade away, both as a print and digital product, bringing an inglorious end to a glorious 114-year history? Today the Texan problems remain (it’s not fixed, folks, so don’t relax your support), but there is a hope for the future and new management coming, and new supervision – the Moody College of Communication. Time has been bought to build a real business plan, and […]

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New Texas Student Media Director Named

Gerald Johnson, most recently the executive director of local advertising and digital services for The Houston Chronicle, has been named the new director of Texas Student Media. His appointment begins July 21, 2014. Texas Student Media (TSM) is composed of The Daily Texan, Texas Travesty magazine, the Cactus yearbook, KVRX 91.7 FM and Texas Student Television (TSTV). On July 1, TSM will officially transfer from the Division of Student Affairs and be housed in the Moody College of Communication. Johnson has more than 15 years of experience leading business development and sales initiatives for The Houston Chronicle and Hearst Media. […]

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Dean Hart: Helping Texan Is Personal

By Roderick Hart / Dean, Moody College of Communication I was teaching happily at Purdue University when I got a job offer from UT in January of 1979. I accepted the offer and the next thing I did was take out a mail-order subscription to the Daily Texan. Knowing I’d be moving to Austin in June, I figured that reading the Texan would help me get to know the UT student body before arriving on campus. So my connection to Texas Student Media is a long one, and I now find myself in charge of its administrative side. Many details […]

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Dean offers support to keep Texan daily

By Nicole Cobler and Jordan Rudner / The Daily Texan At its annual budget meeting, the Texas Student Media board voted to keep The Daily Texan on its five-day a week print schedule after Roderick Hart, dean of the Moody College of Communications, promised to ask President William Powers Jr. for transitional funding to prevent TSM bankruptcy. “Moody will have a viable business plan in place by fall of 2017 that will put TSM on road for success,” Hart said in the meeting. “I am highly optimistic about our ability to turn around the TSM budget proposal.” TSM oversees five properties […]

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The Texan: Crisis To Recovery in 12 Months

The Media Committee of Friends of The Daily Texan, Inc. has released a detailed approach outlining a path to profitability for The Daily Texan and Texas Student Media, both in the midst of a financial crisis. The report outlines 66 specific revenue ideas that can be implemented for little or no cash outlay, plus a variety of additional changes suggested as The Texan attempts to build a viable business model for transitioning to digital delivery.   The cover page is immediately below, followed by text of the full report: Contents About This Report Before Proceeding, Ponder … Executive Summary Financial […]

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TSM moving under Moody College of Communication

By Jordan Rudner The Daily Texan   Texas Student Media and its entities, including The Daily Texan, are being moved under the domain of the Moody College of Communication, though many questions about the implications of the move remain unanswered. TSM, the umbrella organization that manages a number of student-produced media properties, including Cactus Yearbook, Texas Travesty, Texas Student TV, KVRX 91.7 FM and The Daily Texan, is currently housed under the Division of Student Affairs and has been under severe financial constraints for the last several years. Roderick Hart, dean of the Moody college, said he agreed to assume […]

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