Last week, The Texan hosted a very successful 88th Session Kickoff event featuring panels of legislators discussing various topics they are tackling this session. It was substantive and incredibly informative.
We had both Republican and Democratic elected officials attend — from House members, to Senators, to the sitting lieutenant governor of Texas. With an event of such magnitude, obviously newsworthy things were going to be said and it’s why we invited other members of the media to attend via press passes.
And newsworthy it was, as many articles from other media outlets were spawned from our event. But boy did the media show their lack of respect for The Texan in those articles nonetheless!
One example: the descriptor of The Texan used in multiple articles. In a piece by the Houston Chronicle written about comments made during the border security panel, The Texan was referred to as a “right-leaning news site.”
Why the preface of “right leaning”??
First, it’s not that the adjective of “right leaning” is an inaccurate description — of our personnel, at least. But it is wholly inaccurate that it is descriptive of our reporting.
The Texan does not push ideological narratives — left, right, or center. We just report the facts on issues and policies so Texans can make up their own minds.
Do I think it’s important to hire reporters who understand those issues and policies from a right of center perspective? Hell yeah, I do. Do I think we should cheerlead for one team or the other? Hell no, I don’t. And that’s fully stated in our Code of Ethics for all to see and read:
As an organization founded by a former state senator, The Texan could be viewed by detractors as a partisan entity. It is not. While our team certainly holds a worldview that is right-of-center, there are no agendas or hidden loyalties. Our journalists are tasked with pursuing the truth and reporting it to our readers regardless of political, religious, or ideological leaning.
But where The Texan acknowledges our ideological priors — and actively suppresses them in the articles we write so that Texans can just read the facts and make up their own minds — these outlets do the exact opposite!
Those of you who are right of center know what I’m talking about. These legacy outlets act as if they’re entirely impartial, but their leftist ideology is baked into virtually everything they produce.
For instance: if you believe in a secure border, you’re racist.
If you believe in the traditional marriage of one man and one woman, you’re a bigot.
If you believe a minor should wait until adulthood to have their sexual organs surgically altered, you’re causing childhood suicides and have blood on your hands.
It goes on and on.
This is a typical perspective from the Chronicle writers, and yet would they describe themselves as left leaning?
Of course they wouldn’t, and that’s the problem.
The Chronicle doesn’t even provide a similar but reverse moniker when it mentions the Texas Observer. For those of you who do not know, this is the outlet notable for its impartial journalistic hits such as “Greg Abbott Is Full Of Shit” and “Queer and Trans People Need Our Solidarity Now.”
At least the Observer comes from a position of honesty. They describe themselves as a progressive outlet and yet the Chronicle does not describe them as such! You just can’t make this stuff up.
I started The Texan to provide an actual alternative to this liberal nonsense and get back to focused, fact-based reporting that doesn’t spit on the values of ANY Texans — and I’m proud to say that as we near the fourth year of operation, we’re nailing it.
Join us — subscribe to The Texan today — not because you are conservative or progressive or anything in between, but rather because you want to be informed with facts, not ideology.
We are The Texan — a statewide, political news organization dedicated to providing readers with fact-based political news. Period.