Texas Tribune

Budget: $400,000

The Texas Tribune raised $4 million in seed funding for the first 3 years of operation from major donors, foundation support, corporate sponsors and 1,600 individual members.

Revenue Strategy: Sponsorship, Members/Individual donors, Niche or print publication

The Tribune acquired a weekly political newsletter for revenue generation and plans to launch other subscription-based speciality publications.

Other Support: Major donor, Grant, Pro-bono services

The Tribune receives pro-bono and in kind support for legal and accounting services, office space, design and public relations.

Administrative Staff: 8 paid, 0 volunteer

Chief Executive Officer, publisher, accountant, office manager and fundraiser. The Tribune also has a staff of four I.T. employees.

Editorial Staff: 13 paid, 0 volunteer, 0 freelance

Managing editor, 12 full-time reporters and three on-contract digital producers.

Competitive Environment: Less Competitive

Less competitive because of increasing cutbacks in state government coverage across the news market.

Partnerships: Content, Employee

The publication shares a reporter with a public broadcast radio station; the two organizations split the cost of the reporter’s salary. The Tribune also provides its content without cost to any news organizations.