Texas Observer raises nearly $200,000 to save publication in just one day
The funds could potentially stave off layoffs and closure of the magazine for another month.
March 28, 2023Updated: March 28, 2023 3:43 p.m.
Texas Observer staff have written a formal proposal to the Texas Democracy Foundation and created a GoFundMe to delay layoffs and save the publication from closing.
GoFundMe
Looks like the Texas Observer might be saved after all. Just one day after the publication’s staff started a GoFundMe to stave off layoffs and the ultimate closure of the 68-year-old liberal magazine, staff has already nearly reached its $200,000 goal. As of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, the GoFundMe has raised $186,846.
James Canup, the now former managing director for the Observer and the Texas Democracy Foundation—the nonprofit that owns the Observer—said he organized the GoFundMe to support staff ahead of their final day on Friday. “I hope that the directors of the Observer’s parent nonprofit, the Texas Democracy Foundation, will, upon seeing the massive and generous public response to this appeal, reverse its decisions to lay off staff and cease publications,” Canup said in a statement Tuesday. “If that happens, all of the funds raised will be transferred to the Texas Democracy Foundation and will be restricted for spending exclusively on supporting staff—namely, payroll and benefits for current employees.”
However, if the nonprofit decides to move forward with closing The Observer, the funds will be distributed among all staff. As noted by Canup: “It seems to me that it will be hard for the foundation to shut it down and lay people off in light of this overwhelming surge of public support for the Texas Observer and its staff.”
The GoFundMe was created on the same day the magazine’s editorial leaders sent a formal proposal to the Texas Democracy Foundation’s board, outlining steps to delay layoffs and ultimate closure. Their requests included the resignation of members of the board who voted for closure, appointing a staff member to the board as a voting member and recruiting one or more nationally known journalists with experience in assisting journalism nonprofits in times of crisis.
The most recent edition of the Texas Observer. On Sunday, the publication announced it would be closing and laying off all its staff. But they’re not going down without a fight.
Ariana Garcia
If the GoFundMe goals are met, the layoffs could be delayed for at least another month. Staff said they are sill waiting on a formal response from the Texas Democracy Foundation. In the meantime, a coalition of former Texas Observer staff, organized by former Observer reporter Andrea Grimes, have also created a solidarity statement in support of staff’s efforts to keep the publication alive. Former staff members, freelance reporters, other members of the media, subscribers, readers and supporters can sign.
On social media, several Texas Observer staff members said they only learned the magazine would cease publication and lay off all staff through a Texas Tribune report released on Sunday. Their last day would be on Friday, March 31, should the closure proceed.