Dallas Free Press reaches over 130 with innovative text news service
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We were told from the get-go, “If you try to do this with email, you will fail.”
That’s what West Dallas leaders advised when we started discussing the possibility of community journalism for the neighborhood. People get their news from their phones, they told us.
So in June, before we had an email newsletter — before we even had a website! — we started sending texts with community information to West Dallas and South Dallas residents’ phones. We use a format called Subtext, and we have three different texting services: one for South Dallas residents, one for West Dallas residents in English, and one for West Dallas residents in Spanish.
We already have more than 130 text subscribers and we’re actively working to grow that reach.
We send at least one and sometimes three or four texts a week. Via Subtext, neighbors can respond to us one-on-one, and we can text them back directly as well. When we recently asked for feedback (via text, of course), one longtime West Dallas employee told us:
“This feels like what journalism is supposed to be.”
Please help us increase our reach to people who live and work in South Dallas and West Dallas! Any amount you give between now and Dec. 31 will be tripled (!!!), thanks to our partnership with NewsMatch, and would go directly to supporting community, civic and solutions journalism for and with these neighbors.
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Keri Mitchell has spent 20+ years as a community journalist, including 15 years dedicated to community and civic journalism at Dallas’ Advocate magazines. She launched Dallas Free Press in early 2020 with the belief that all neighborhoods deserve reporting and storytelling that values their community and holds leaders accountable.
Mitchell says she is energized by “knowing our work is making an impact — listening to people, telling their stories with strong narratives paired with compelling data that leads to change. I also love spending time in our neighborhoods and with our neighbors, learning from them and working to determine how journalism can be part of the solution to their challenges.”
Mitchell is proud to be the winner of multiple awards during her journalism career including: Finalist in Magazine Feature Reporting (2018) and Finalist in Magazine Investigative Reporting (2017) from Hugh Aynesworth Excellence in Journalism, Best Feature Story (2011) from Texas Community Newspaper Association and Best Magazine Feature (2011) from Dallas Bar Association Philbin Awards.
Areas of Expertise:
local government, education, civic issues, investigative and enterprise reporting
Location Expertise:
Dallas, Texas
Official Title:
Founder + executive director
Email Address:
keri@dallasfreepress.com
