Dallas Free Press named ‘Best New News Outlet’ by D Magazine

This content originally was a newsletter Dallas Free Press emailed to insiders. To become one, sign up here for free.

“Best new news outlet.”

This is the title bestowed upon us by our friends at D Magazine as part of their Best of Big D annual awards. It’s always wonderful to be recognized for good work, but to receive this honor from a peer newsroom was especially meaningful.

In the not too distant past, newsrooms were all competing, trying to outdo and out-“scoop” each other. In Dallas, we’re now collaborating.

Part of the founding mission of Dallas Free Press is to explore solutions to our city’s systemic inequities. We knew we couldn’t do that on our own, so we worked to form the Dallas Media Collaborative. D Magazine is one of several local newsrooms we partner with to tackle the tough civic issues that none of us can adequately cover alone.

Dallas Free Press is honored to be named one of Big D’s best, and thrilled to work with journalists across the city to push toward solutions for a better Dallas.

Our team and coverage are growing!

This summer Jeffrey Ruiz joined our team as our Report for America (RFA) corps member, expanding our ability to cover civic issues important to South Dallas and West Dallas neighbors. Some of you have probably run into him at a community meeting in the last few weeks!

“At its core, RFA matches emerging journalists looking for their next professional opportunity (with an emphasis on journalists of color) with news organizations that need to augment their news team and increase their coverage of communities and issues, which receive almost no reporting,” noted a recent Editor and Publisher article that is worth a read.

Dallas Free Press was among the 16% of applicants chosen for a corps member this year, one of only 69 newsrooms in America. Report for America funds part of the corps member’s salary for three years, and asks that we fundraise the remainder with the support of our community – because they believe in local journalism for the community, supported by the community.

Can we count on you to support Dallas Free Press’ community journalism? This year, for North Texas Giving Day on Sept. 22, we are raising $30,000 to sustain Jeffrey’s reporting and ensure that our communities receive the type of local reporting they deserve. Early giving starts today, Sept. 1! Donate here.

Report for America corps member Jeffrey Ruiz graduated from the University of North Texas with his bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is passionate about amplifying community voices and values the importance of having Latino/a/x reporters on staff. In his spare time he loves to spend quality time with his family and take long walks with his dog. 

Email Jeffrey | Learn more about Jeffrey’s role

Interested in becoming part of our growing team?

Our Dallas newsrooms do not reflect our city’s residents — yet. We at Dallas Free Press believe in community-powered journalism, so we’re building a pathway from Dallas high schools to Dallas newsrooms, starting with efforts to engage high school students in South Dallas and West Dallas.
We are currently seeking a journalism pathway coordinator to facilitate our pathway program, teaching students about writing, storytelling, civic engagement, media literacy and critical thinking skills.

Learn more about the journalism pathway coordinator position and apply here.