102. The San Antonio Report at 13: Local News, Elections, & The Future of Journalism

[00:00:00] Bob Rivard: Welcome to big city, small town, the weekly podcast, all about San Antonio and the people who make it go and grow. I'm your host, Bob Rivard, the nonprofit San Antonio report, which my wife, Monica Mackley and I founded in 2012, celebrated its 13th anniversary earlier this month. It was called the Rivard Report for many years, but the name was changed during the pandemic as I stepped down as editor and publisher.

[00:00:28] Bob Rivard: The report was an early city based non profit news site in the beginning, with just a few other sites operating in other major U. S. cities, but with the continuing demise of print newspapers, hundreds of cities now look to independent, non profit news sites to fill some of that gap. In local news coverage Our guests today are publisher angie mock and editor in chief lee munsell angie and lee welcome to big city small town

[00:00:53] Angie Mock: Thank you.

[00:00:54] Angie Mock: Thanks for having us.

[00:00:55] Bob Rivard: So happy anniversary

[00:00:57] Angie Mock: Thank you Let's just start by [00:01:00] saying we wouldn't be celebrating this momentous Anniversary. If it were not for you and Monica. So we have a huge debt of gratitude. The whole city does.

[00:01:10] Bob Rivard: Well, I told Monica this morning that I was going to look right in the camera

[00:01:14] Angie Mock: and

[00:01:14] Bob Rivard: say thank you to all the donors who made it possible and believed in our crazy idea in the beginning and have sustained the report and its staff ever since.

[00:01:23] Bob Rivard: 13 years, which is remarkable when you think about it, that something that was started with so little Other than a vision and a dream, really, and now look at it today and people rely on it and count on it and may not be aware that it's been there for 13 years.

[00:01:42] Angie Mock: Yeah, you were definitely in Monica were definitely trailblazers in the nonprofit space and journalism.

[00:01:47] Angie Mock: I believe at the time you started it, like you said, there were maybe. 30 non profit news organizations in the country. There are over 450 non profit news organizations in the U. S. now, which is [00:02:00] pretty remarkable in that amount of time. So, the model is proving itself.

[00:02:04] Bob Rivard: Well, we're in the fastest growing city in the country.

[00:02:07] Bob Rivard: Or maybe next year, Austin will be fastest and we'll be second, but that's

[00:02:10] Angie Mock: a lot.

[00:02:10] Bob Rivard: That's what we're seeing in the San Antonio Austin corridor. And yet U. S. newspapers continue to decline. Lee, I know you're going to the Poynter Think Tank Institute in St. Petersburg, and there's a lot of hand wringing over that.

[00:02:25] Bob Rivard: But every year, there's fewer journalists. And when you look at a city the size of San Antonio that's growing. And I'm talking about the multi-county area around it that you serve. Um, it's a, uh, huge responsibility and every journalist counts and, and so the report is playing a key role and will continue to do that, I hope in the, in the coming years.

[00:02:47] Bob Rivard: And there's lots to talk about. And let's start with the mayor's race, because yesterday you guys reported on the lottery drawing.

[00:02:55] Angie Mock: Yeah.

[00:02:56] Bob Rivard: 27 names on the ballot with no [00:03:00] particular logic or reason to how they're going to be listed by my calculus. Lee, that's about three screens on the computer when people go into the booth to vote.

[00:03:10] Bob Rivard: And so they're going to have to go a long ways down to find number 25 through 27 or whatever it is on the last page.

[00:03:19] Leigh Munsil: Yeah, it's going to be a fascinating mayoral election for a lot of reasons. It's going to be on a Saturday and fiesta. Um, it's, it's just going to be, uh, so important for voters to plan ahead to know who they're interested in voting for and, and, and know where they are on the ballot.

[00:03:36] Leigh Munsil: Um, do that kind of pre work. We have a voter guide coming out here pretty soon. Um, with information about candidates, we have Q and a's out in the field and I know you're doing a Q and a as well. Um, and, and, uh, All of this serves to help the community of San Antonio be more informed and prepared as they go into that ballot box to choose, um, you know, the first time we've had an open mayoral race in a really long time.

[00:03:58] Leigh Munsil: So it's, it's going to be a big moment for the city [00:04:00] and being prepared for voters is going to be really essential.

[00:04:03] Bob Rivard: Last week, um, Andrea Drewsch, your political reporter, also did an article on how little it takes to get onto the ballot in the city of San Antonio, basically a hundred bucks and I think no felonies.

[00:04:15] Bob Rivard: Uh, that's pretty much all of us. And, um, In my opinion, and I know you guys don't editorialize, but in my opinion, that's making it exceedingly and unreasonably difficult for all but the most committed voters because they're going to see 27 names, most of them unfamiliar. And, um, it is going to require a lot to ask voters to go through multiple pages on the computer screen just to see the mayoral candidates, much less city council candidates or whatever issues happen to be on that, that ballot.

[00:04:48] Bob Rivard: And, um, we do editorialize here and believe that it's an urgent. Priority for the city, the new mayor, the new council when they're seated to push for a charter [00:05:00] reform to change the nature of the of the of the process so that fewer people only legitimate candidates, if it's possible, uh, appear on future ballots.

[00:05:12] Leigh Munsil: Yeah. And Andrea worked really hard on that piece. Um, and it was something that we'd been meaning to get to forever. In fact, uh, Wendy cook, our, our managing editor from a few years ago had, had long been talking about how this was a unique in San Antonio. If you look at Texas cities, if you look at cities across the country, either they have a signature, uh, threshold and, and you can get on the San Antonio ballot with signatures.

[00:05:35] Leigh Munsil: This year, Andrea checked with the city clerk. None of them did. They all just paid. Um, cause the, the bar is so low money wise. Um, so all that to say this is unique in San Antonio. It's worth pointing out. Um, and you're allowed to have an opinion. We, we really just want to point out, uh, instances like that, where we think that there's, there's something that the public should be aware of.

[00:05:55] Leigh Munsil: And, and that was the point of, of that piece was to, to raise that issue. And, and I think, [00:06:00] uh, Andrea did a great job with the reporting on it. And, uh, she even kind of, Factored in talking to the, the city clerk, what inflation would be, uh, and, and it was, you know, I think the 600, 700 range, um, it would be if you had counted for inflation since 1974, I believe, which was when that 100 mark was set.

[00:06:18] Leigh Munsil: Um, and it was discussed in the charter review, uh, last year when, when the city looked at changing the charter, whether or not they would, they would change that threshold, um, and they ultimately decided not to.

[00:06:30] Bob Rivard: I would say they buckled. But there's another editorial position. I like the fact that Andrea talked about the city of Houston charges a little over 1, 000 and they don't have the ballot problem we have.

[00:06:41] Bob Rivard: So there's the solution right there. And if people want to be critical and say that you're excluding certain people from campaigning, if you can't raise 1, 000, you can't campaign. So we're not excluding anybody.

[00:06:54] Leigh Munsil: And the number of signatures if you if you don't want to pay the the fee and just go out and collect signatures, the number of [00:07:00] signatures was very, very small.

[00:07:01] Leigh Munsil: It's a percentage of turnout. I believe in the last election, it was super complicated. So we didn't even really get into all of it all in the story. But in some cases, it was tens of signatures, not hundreds.

[00:07:11] Bob Rivard: Well, in other news of importance and interest, uh, and of course this podcast releases on Friday morning, but it's being previously recorded, so we don't know exactly what's going to take place at City Council, but the Bexar County Commissioners and Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai are appearing before City Council and they're discussing Project Marvel and what the county or city might do or not do and in the way of funding and accelerating funding.

[00:07:37] Bob Rivard: Uh, that project to bring the spurs back from the east side downtown to hemisphere to fund, um, expansion of the Alamo dome and the convention center and build a land bridge over I 37. Um, how are you guys going to cover that?

[00:07:52] Leigh Munsil: Well, um, I would just, uh, be remiss if I didn't say go to san Antonio report. org.

[00:07:56] Leigh Munsil: We will have this story up on the website by the time this podcast, [00:08:00] uh, posts, but, uh, we have a really great team of reporters. As you mentioned, Andrea Drush, just excellent political reporter. Sherry Bidiger is probably a Biden. Uh, your followers know, um, already have read a lot of her work. She covers development for us.

[00:08:15] Leigh Munsil: Um, development is a big piece of this Project Marvel question and story. And so, in fact, uh, we've meant to do some more huddling between the two of them to talk about, Okay, who takes what when Project Marvel stuff bubbles up? Um, cause there's just so much to cover with this story and it's a, City shaping project, right?

[00:08:31] Leigh Munsil: It's going to be, um, hugely influential in the future of the city, how it happens, whether it happens, where the money comes from. All of this stuff is going to be, um, one of the biggest stories, if not the biggest story for San Antonio over the next five, 10 years and on. Um, and the Spurs is such a big piece of the city's identity is such a big piece of its history.

[00:08:50] Leigh Munsil: And, um, when you talk about development, you know, as, as people gather around something like the Spurs, it helps the city. spur, sorry for the pun, uh, economic [00:09:00] investment in areas of the city. And so it's just, it's a really interesting story and we've been covering it. We're going to keep covering it. Um, and looking for ways to add value, uh, explaining it well to the audience, I think is really important.

[00:09:12] Leigh Munsil: Um, even the most versed of, uh, San Antonio news readers still occasionally need an explainer on something, including Project Marvel, I think even if you've been reading about it every once in a while, you need that step back. Okay, what's actually happening here? What are we talking about? Who's on which side of this?

[00:09:27] Leigh Munsil: Um, you know, Bear County Judge Peter Sakai kind of putting up the brakes and saying we need more transparency about that. That was a big moment, um, in the Project Marvel saga. And, uh, you know, there's just a lot of, um,

[00:09:47] Bob Rivard: It does seem like we're at the stage now in Project Marvel where it's becoming a public conversation rather than behind closed doors and that, um, the public financing of sports arenas and stadiums is always a [00:10:00] controversial, uh, ballot issue, uh, around the state and around the country, and, um, some cities have done it one way with largely public funding, other than Other, uh, you know, sports franchise owners have, you know, funded the arenas, uh, with from their own deep pockets.

[00:10:16] Bob Rivard: And I think we're looking in San Antonio for some combination of private and public funding. But, uh, we haven't heard numbers yet, and hopefully we'll hear numbers. Very soon. Um, when I think about the Spurs and San Antonio report, I can't help but think about the fact you guys hired one of the most celebrated sports voices for many years in our city, Ken Rodriguez, who originally came back to his hometown.

[00:10:40] Bob Rivard: He was a Jefferson High School product. Um, and he was at the Miami Herald when he became an express news sports columnist, and he's been freelancing for the report for many years. But now he's on staff.

[00:10:54] Leigh Munsil: Yeah, yeah. Um, Ken just joined us a couple weeks ago, weeks ago. Yeah. And on a new beat that we're really [00:11:00] excited about.

[00:11:00] Leigh Munsil: Um, it's a culinary features beats, um, features writer. The idea being that, um, you know, we're always going to do the news that San Antonio's value. We're all, we's going to go deep on the news that San Antonio's value. However, we also want to add in more of this lifestyle coverage that brings people in in the door also helps them be more informed and not just, you know, 10 restaurants opening in San Antonio next week.

[00:11:23] Leigh Munsil: It's it's the ideas of the people behind the the restaurants. Um, and, you know, the, the whole food industry, it's, it's a huge portion of our economy. Um, it's a, it's a business story. It's a labor story. It's a, um, it's a features people story. I think Ken is great at just telling those stories of people behind, um, ventures.

[00:11:43] Leigh Munsil: And I think there's an entrepreneurial spirit, spirit in San Antonio that is worth paying attention to, um, and telling great stories.

[00:11:50] Bob Rivard: Well, he already surprised me with the story last week, um, about the Facebook page. I think it's called the San Antonio restaurant

[00:11:59] Angie Mock: group [00:12:00] group.

[00:12:00] Bob Rivard: I was stunned by that guy's reach and I had never heard of it.

[00:12:04] Bob Rivard: I consider myself sort of a foodie, uh, but had never heard of it or the influence that individual or he and his. Partner have on the, uh, professional restaurant scene. Uh, so he'll bring a fresh eye. What I wonder is whether you're going to let him out of the corral and write about sports. Not

[00:12:21] Leigh Munsil: anytime soon,

[00:12:22] Angie Mock: probably.

[00:12:24] Leigh Munsil: Well, absolutely. Once somebody, each of our reporters has, you know, interests and, and stuff that they're good at covering that might be a little bit off their beat, um, kind of certainly. One of those, but we're super excited about culinary and he's really excited about culinary. There's a lot of good stories to tell.

[00:12:39] Leigh Munsil: So, um, you know, maybe at some point there will be sports stuff to cover and there's a lot going on with the Spurs, but keep in mind when we cover sports because we don't necessarily cover the game story every day. It's it's features coverage as well. It's it's the people behind the games the same way as the people behind the restaurants.

[00:12:56] Leigh Munsil: There's really a common thread between all of that coverage. Yeah,

[00:12:59] Angie Mock: [00:13:00] Ken is a long desired addition to our team. I think, as you know, I think you would have loved to

[00:13:06] Bob Rivard: know many times. We rang his bell.

[00:13:09] Angie Mock: Exactly. So the timing just is perfect for us to bring him on board. You know, he's a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and to have him on the team is just we're just super excited.

[00:13:21] Angie Mock: And he does have quite a gift for telling him. a story from a very human perspective. And we think it, uh, you know, digital audiences tend to be a little bit older and we think his storytelling is going to open up some new new readers for us as they flock to his work.

[00:13:38] Bob Rivard: Yeah, you could. Ken had a great second career with Our Lady of the Lake University in the higher education space, but now that he's back in journalism, that's great.

[00:13:48] Bob Rivard: And you could actually go into your own archive and do the best of Ken Rodriguez over the years because it's one memorable story after another that he's just a gifted writer. And he really is. He should have [00:14:00] never gotten away from San Antonio, but we got him back and that's a good story. Um, Lee, how much Texas Tribune will you publish over the course of the legislative session?

[00:14:11] Bob Rivard: Because public school funding is in the balance. There's a very controversial voucher bill that the governor is pushing hard on an emergency basis. And, um, you know, there's just a number of other issues that are of keen interest to people right now for the next five months.

[00:14:26] Leigh Munsil: Yeah, there's tons going on in the state legislature.

[00:14:28] Leigh Munsil: Um, I think we have long had a, as you mentioned, partner partnership with Texas Tribune, um, and they make their coverage available for local newsrooms to use. We'll do some of that. We also have, um, an awesome team on staff helping us. Make sense of those statewide issues for a local audience, particularly as you mentioned, Andrea Drush covers politics.

[00:14:49] Leigh Munsil: Um, in fact, it's hard to find a trip story lately that she hasn't already gotten to in some way, which is, which is a great problem to have. Um, and she certainly has a good sense of [00:15:00] the Texas legislature and how it affects local issues. We're also, um, sending her for the first time to essay to DC to do that kind of, you didn't mention this yet, but I know you're going to get to it, like federal changes and what that means.

[00:15:12] Leigh Munsil: means for San Antonio. Huge story for us. We've already, I feel like we've been national politics reporters over the past three weeks, not by any choice of ours, but just because there are so many federal policies changing so quickly that affects so many people in our community that if you're covering local news, right, you're, you're touching on those issues.

[00:15:28] Leigh Munsil: But, but either when you cover those sorts of stories, you need to be so comprehensive that it tells a reader everything they need to know, or you need to be so specific about someone who's affected by a policy, um, that it adds some value to the conversation, I think. What you need to not do as a reporter, and I talk to staff about this a lot, especially when there's kind of federal things changing or state things changing is cherry pick a couple examples and put it together to say this.

[00:15:52] Leigh Munsil: This says something for San Antonio. Some cases it does. In some cases it doesn't. But this is these are the reporting challenges that are a [00:16:00] lot of fun on Zochiel Garcia, and she's been excellent so far. In fact, she's only gotten up and running in the past couple of weeks. But we have her working this week.

[00:16:11] Leigh Munsil: Probably by the time this, uh, launches, we'll have it out on a, uh, education savings account or vouchers explainer, which is just going to be, you know, the basics of, of how much money we're talking about, like by the numbers really is the way to put it, uh, what it means for parents, um, how it compares to the basic allotment, like what it means for, for San Antonio specifically, if Senate bill two were to pass as a.

[00:16:35] Leigh Munsil: Currently is written. Um, well, it's past, but if the house version ends up looking like the Senate version, but, um, again, we're trying to add some value for the local community on these stories, um, as well as pull from Texas should be in when, when there's something to publish.

[00:16:49] Angie Mock: And we're going to be doubling our education reporting very, very soon.

[00:16:53] Angie Mock: How so we are, uh, we are adding a higher education reporter, as you well know, you know, with 17 [00:17:00] or 18 independent school districts and. In Bexar County, you know, you've got a lot to cover from K through 12. It is a very full time job. Pre K

[00:17:10] Bob Rivard: through 12. Pre K through 12.

[00:17:11] Angie Mock: You're correct. And so, um, we, we've been working with this organization called Open Campus, a national nonprofit to help stand up.

[00:17:21] Angie Mock: Higher ed reporting across the country. They're specifically interested in Texas. And so we're in the process of interviewing candidates for our first ever dedicated higher ed reporter. And then on April the 1st, we'll be having what you founded. Uh, and I don't, this is going to shock you. I think it will be the 10th annual educate San Antonio regional education forum on April one.

[00:17:46] Bob Rivard: And who's coming to that?

[00:17:48] Angie Mock: We are incredibly excited. We're going to be having the recently departed 12th United States Secretary of Education, Dr. Cardona. Miguel Cardona is [00:18:00] going to be with us for our 10th annual. And we think he's a great selection. Like Lee said, with everything that's happening in Texas, there's a lot to talk about.

[00:18:10] Angie Mock: And certainly he has a very recent perspective on what's happening. Um, across the country, he can tell

[00:18:18] Bob Rivard: us whether there's going to be an education department going. Wouldn't that be

[00:18:21] Angie Mock: spicy?

[00:18:23] Bob Rivard: Um, you mentioned social Garcia, the new education reporter. I've been accused fairly of being so pro UTSA. I should mention she's an A and M San Antonio graduate is

[00:18:34] Angie Mock: our first.

[00:18:35] Bob Rivard: Is she a, uh, homie from San Antonio? And did she go to public schools or where she's from? She did

[00:18:39] Angie Mock: go to public schools in the Houston area. Okay. She was one of the first sort of non-traditional, uh, a and m San Antonio students.

[00:18:47] Bob Rivard: Oh, really?

[00:18:48] Angie Mock: Yeah, because she came and she decided to go there and, uh, she, when I was interviewing her, she's, she, I said, so did you live in the dorm?

[00:18:55] Angie Mock: And she said, well, we didn't even have dorms at first. Mm-hmm. We had to live in hotels. [00:19:00] So she's a, she, uh, we're just super. Happy to have her on board, really hit the ground running.

[00:19:06] Bob Rivard: Well, if, um, Dr. Ochoa from

[00:19:10] Angie Mock: Texas A&

[00:19:10] Bob Rivard: M San Antonio is listening, we need to have you on the podcast soon, doctor, and, you know, level the playing field here among public institutions of higher education.

[00:19:19] Bob Rivard: Um, we are at a Inflection point in the city. Um, Lee, you mentioned, uh, all the national issues are local issues, whether they're immigration or, uh, so many different funding things we're looking at. I was at a leadership meeting last night in the city and, uh, the room was filled with people that I know voted for President Trump and others that didn't, but they were all incredibly wary.

[00:19:44] Bob Rivard: Um, about funding for San Antonio, NASA funding for the Southwest Research Institute, National Institute of Health funding for Texas Biomed, um, funding for research at UT and UT Health, UT San Antonio and UT Health. [00:20:00] Um, everybody's very worried about what's happening to funding, uh, Elon Musk and, and the Doge initiative in Washington right now.

[00:20:10] Bob Rivard: Yeah, people are very cautious about speaking about it publicly because there are, uh, heightened political sensitivities and, and, uh, President Trump and has made no, uh, no secret of his fact of using the Justice Department and other federal authorities to protect him. Go after people that are his critics or his adversaries.

[00:20:31] Bob Rivard: And people are very worried about exactly how to defend the public funding that we receive here in San Antonio. It's just vital. Tens of thousands of jobs are at risk here. And I'm just wondering how you're going to cover that because it is very difficult to get people to speak about it publicly. But the level of anxiety is acute.

[00:20:51] Leigh Munsil: Completely agree. Um, I think the key is not to get it. Distracted by the chaos and anxiety, because everybody will tell you, [00:21:00] you know, about their anxiousness or what the chaos feels like. Um, but again, being very specific on what is changing, where it's changing, who it affects. Um, again, the job of a journalist is to Demystify complicated moments to find what's actually going on and to tell the story of real people affected by policy changes.

[00:21:20] Leigh Munsil: Um, and I, I will just note that the interrogation of how to spend money the best possible way, that's a journalist's job as well. And so, thoughtful interrogation. Of where and how money is spent is a reasonable role of a journalist, as well as talking about, um, you know, these programs or, or, um, efforts that are happening in the community, as you mentioned, like swearing is a great example.

[00:21:43] Leigh Munsil: I think Angie could speak to that as well. that they're doing unique work, research, important work, um, trying to tell the stories that, that are, um, affecting those places in these moments. And again, I, I will just note, I came from Washington. I spent 10 years covering national politics news. Um, in fact, I was [00:22:00] in Washington, um, covering politics during the last four years of the Trump administration.

[00:22:04] Leigh Munsil: And so, you know, several years ago, but, uh, I experienced it the first time. And, and there is certainly. So much you could tell every day that it's easy to get kind of distracted by the oh no, what's going to happen storyline. It just doesn't add a lot of value as a journalist to write the oh no, what's going to happen storyline.

[00:22:22] Leigh Munsil: It's to find out what's actually going to happen and then tell those stories as they happen. And I think we've already done some good work with that, and I think we'll keep doing that, um, but it crosses all beats. I mean, it's a business story, it's a development story, it's a research story, it's, it's all the things that we cover.

[00:22:36] Leigh Munsil: Politics, certainly, obviously, um, it's a workforce story. Sherry Biediger and, and Raquel Torres did one on, um, Just, uh, the work of, of migrant workers in, in San Antonio and, and what that means for our workforce, specifically, if some of these immigration policies change in the way that the administration has been signaling.

[00:22:54] Leigh Munsil: Um, and so just really interesting stuff.

[00:22:56] Bob Rivard: Well, you have only so many reporters. Yeah. [00:23:00] Yeah. I would like

[00:23:00] Leigh Munsil: double the amount of reporters that we have. Yeah. Yeah. And

[00:23:03] Bob Rivard: if you could double them, you'd want to double them again. Exactly. It's the nature of editors to spend money wherever it's found. But, um, You know, there's this blitzkrieg of executive orders that's emanating from Trump's White House.

[00:23:16] Bob Rivard: And, and so, although we don't know the outcome in many cases, it is important to report what he's intending to do or what he's saying he's going to do, whether it turns out that way exactly or, or, or not. Absolutely. Um, and I just wonder in the In the era we're in where newspapers are declining and where there's been this, you know, rapid increase in nonprofits, whether you look beyond the Texas Tribune and are there national nonprofits now that you can start to partner with to give people more original reporting out of Washington, just because almost every national story is becoming a story with local implications that people are a part of.

[00:23:58] Leigh Munsil: Yeah. And [00:24:00] partnerships is a big part of our, um, you know, strategy for the future. I think, uh, journalists sometimes just put their heads down and do the job in front of them and, and trying to think strategically about who's a good partner and, and how to partner well with them. Um, to, as you said, get more great coverage in front of the audience, I think is a big part of what I like to do.

[00:24:19] Leigh Munsil: Um, again, I have national experience and, and know a lot of people in those worlds. Um, Um, and you know, there's certainly are opportunities to partner more on that sort of coverage. But I think this is a big moment also to buckle down. As you mentioned, we only have, you know, eight reporters for all of San Antonio, so we can't tell every story.

[00:24:37] Leigh Munsil: So we need to decide where our time is best spent every day and which stories we can add value on for, for the San Antonio community. And I think our audience and hopefully members of your audience as well would agree that we do that. We do add a lot of value. Our stories are deep. People spend a lot of time on them, two minutes, three minutes sometimes on these stories, which are metrics I [00:25:00] never saw when I was in Washington.

[00:25:01] Leigh Munsil: You know, people would read the headline, a couple of paragraphs and move on with their day. But here in San Antonio, we feel a huge responsibility at the San Antonio Report because we know people are reading every word of the stories that we write. And that's a big responsibility. Big opportunity also to help inform our community as best we can.

[00:25:19] Leigh Munsil: But to your point,

[00:25:20] Angie Mock: I mean, the way more collaboration, more potential combination, uh, is probably long term something that's going to happen in the journalism world.

[00:25:30] Bob Rivard: Yeah, it was always the strength of daily newspapers that they were able to draw on syndications and news services and others to give people that complete sort of global report.

[00:25:40] Bob Rivard: And, you know, people, some people, uh, You know, read the paper for local news, and some were much more interested in the world around them, and it just seems like there's enough nonprofits operating at the national level now that you could, you could offer people even more content on the site. But I notice, um, I don't know [00:26:00] very much about it, but I see more and more reporters are funded by an entity called Report for America, and I think it's some sort of arrangement where they pay half of the salary to the entity for a while.

[00:26:13] Bob Rivard: on the organization to hire the reporter after a couple of years or something. I wonder if you, have you looked at that or?

[00:26:21] Angie Mock: We just haven't found the right opportunity for it and it's, it's not quite half and there's living expenses and stuff like that. That it ends up being a little bit more of a heavy lift and it.

[00:26:32] Angie Mock: It appears to be at first, but we definitely would love to do it at some point. Um, we have pretty robust internship programs, as you know, and, um, we're really, Lee and the team, and we all are really committed to helping train up the next generation. Of reporters and so definitely it was something we would like to do

[00:26:53] Bob Rivard: with your limited reporters.

[00:26:54] Bob Rivard: I wonder how you do make some of those choices. Lee. I'm a downtown inner city [00:27:00] guy, but I have to tell you yesterday I found myself in Stone Oak and got on the apps and it said to go 6 miles from 2 81 and 16 04 to uh, 1604 and I 10 would take 40 minutes, six miles, 40 minutes, a red line from one end to the other because of the expansion that's going on.

[00:27:23] Bob Rivard: And of course, I could have turned the other way to 1604 and I 35 if I had been going that way and encountered the same thing. So we have TxDOT, the Texas Department of Transportation. It's called that, but it's really the Texas Department of Highways. It's constitutionally mandated to spend 95 percent of its funds on highway expansion and roads.

[00:27:42] Bob Rivard: And it's decidedly anti mass transit at the state level. People here are clamoring for some sort of mobility solution to the I 35 corridor from here to Austin. And now that we're expanding 1604, you're looking at these multi year projects. [00:28:00] And the economic impact of making people spend 40 minutes in their car to go six miles, much less their longer commute.

[00:28:08] Bob Rivard: Uh, I don't think anybody's measuring it, but it's, it's palpable. And when I just sort of casually mentioned that to people. You would have thought I was talking about a death in the family. Everybody came around me. So you need to hear my story and everybody was moaning and groaning, particularly people that live and work out in that part of the city.

[00:28:27] Bob Rivard: And I wonder whether or not, is that a story for the reporter? It's just too much to, to get your arms around.

[00:28:34] Leigh Munsil: We've done all sorts of stuff on infrastructure and this moment in infrastructure, what it means for San Antonio. Um, I think occasionally on stories like this, we did, uh, for CityFest two years ago, we did a future of, of transportation infrastructure, like panel events, um, which is a virtual event.

[00:28:50] Leigh Munsil: Uh, Andrea moderated that one. Um, and, you know, we talked about the airport, we talked about freeways, all of those things. It's hard to get text out to appear on a panel, by the way, if you [00:29:00] would like to help me with that, uh, we would always love to have more, you know, communication from text out on things.

[00:29:07] Leigh Munsil: Although I did hear a text out official say not to us, to someone else, uh, in the past, like. Year or so that, uh, construction on the freeways is just going to be the experience of Texas drivers between now and forever, basically our entire lifetimes, which is a fascinating thing to come out and say, and also, uh, I think speaks to this moment.

[00:29:28] Leigh Munsil: You started this podcast talking about San Antonio's major growth, right? That's a challenge of growth. Um, and as you start to do the projects, the projects are happening. There is some light at the end of the tunnel on things like, um, various corridors, uh, I 35 is gonna go up onto a second level, which is gonna be fascinating.

[00:29:47] Leigh Munsil: There's there's lots going on. Um, and we're gonna keep covering those stories as one offs and also stepping back and having conversations when necessary.

[00:29:55] Angie Mock: We've tentatively slated for the second half of the year, an event around [00:30:00] infrastructure.

[00:30:02] Bob Rivard: I agree with you. I think we're at the point in the city where our growth is so inexorable.

[00:30:07] Bob Rivard: Get used to it. It's not changing. I think the city bond projects to improve roadways and and other key infrastructure is Uh, from 2017 on has been unprecedented in the amount of projects going on, and that's not going to change. It's going to accelerate in the 2027 bond when we finally get around to that.

[00:30:26] Bob Rivard: And I think the state projects, they're here to stay. And we're just it's it's the growing pains of being such a fast growing city.

[00:30:35] Leigh Munsil: Absolutely. But I would also note, this is a big part of why I came here, right? If you look at the demographic trends of

[00:30:42] Bob Rivard: You love traffic.

[00:30:43] Leigh Munsil: Yeah, big fan of traffic. Uh, no, but if you look at the demographic trends of the nation, Texas cities are the future of the nation.

[00:30:50] Leigh Munsil: The demographics of Texas cities are going to be the voting demographics of this nation. 10 years from now, partly because of the growth in the Hispanic community, how that's affecting the [00:31:00] whole national political landscape is fascinating to me. I did 10 years in national politics and, um, San Antonio is the future and, and how we solve problems like growth have implications for the whole nation.

[00:31:12] Leigh Munsil: And so like, let's tell great local stories, um, because it means something to, to manage growth well in a community like San Antonio means something as it has implications for others.

[00:31:23] Bob Rivard: Well, let's find some ways to get you some more reporters, Angie, um, we've, we've spoken for a half an hour about editorial content, but let's talk about how challenging it is to run a nonprofit in, in the post COVID era that we're all living in.

[00:31:38] Angie Mock: It's. But you, you nailed it. It's challenging. We've even recently reported on some of the challenges that the nonprofit community has had coming out of COVID when there were employee retention tax credits and other types of funding that helped us all get through that very, very difficult time. Um, and those don't exist anymore.

[00:31:59] Angie Mock: And so it's [00:32:00] really hit a lot of nonprofits hard. We're no exception. To that and and then you tack on on top of that, you know what's happening in media across the country? Um, just, you know, lack of trust. And that's why we work so hard every day, every single day to make sure that we're building trust in our readership.

[00:32:24] Angie Mock: Active news avoidance is like a real thing, so we are constantly making sure that we're doing everything to attract, to keep readers and attract new readers, but, you know, it comes down to funding and the beautiful thing about the nonprofit model is that you can, you can, you know, you're not taking any profits and distributing those news.

[00:32:47] Angie Mock: to, you know, shareholders or bonus plans and things like that, if, if you have something left over at the end of the year, which we often don't, but if you do, you invest in the [00:33:00] nonprofit model. You invest that back in the journalism and over time, you know, that's what you did and that's what we continue to do.

[00:33:07] Angie Mock: Um, but the fact is donors. Donors in San Antonio, they give to schools, uh, public schools, , uh, places of worship. They give to the arts, uh, social service organizations.

[00:33:22] Bob Rivard: Cats and dogs.

[00:33:23] Angie Mock: Cats and dogs. Cats and dogs. Health care. So what we have increasingly have to do is persuade more people like. Big philanthropist, but also just your everyday don't giver that investing in local nonprofit news is just as important to the vitality of our community as investing in schools, churches.

[00:33:52] Angie Mock: Cats and dogs.

[00:33:54] Bob Rivard: I heard one national political pundit say yesterday on an NPR program that people don't know [00:34:00] what they've got until it's gone, quoting the famous rock song. And I think that's the case sometimes that people do take for granted. The report's been around for 13 years and some people just think, ho hum, it's there and it's free and, and, uh, and I rely on it or I'm subscribed to the newsletter.

[00:34:18] Bob Rivard: But, uh, they have, you, you sort of have to be in the business of constantly reminding people that every dollar counts. Every

[00:34:24] Angie Mock: dollar does count. It counts a lot. And like I said, you know, with this model, you know, we're not beholden to, you know, major advertisers. And it only works if you have brought a broad base of community support.

[00:34:39] Angie Mock: That's the only way this model works. And like you said, after 13 years, you know, we're sometimes taken for granted that Well, they're always there. Somebody, somebody is going to make sure that the San Antonio report is there every morning to publish what's happening in depth in our community. And I would just say I wouldn't take that for granted [00:35:00] with what's happening across the country in journalism.

[00:35:02] Angie Mock: No one should take that for granted.

[00:35:05] Leigh Munsil: I think this should resonate with with listeners, partly because of everything that you mentioned at the beginning of the podcast with the changes in the industry with newsrooms going away, live in a news desert for a little bit, and you start to realize how much you appreciate your local newsroom.

[00:35:21] Leigh Munsil: Right? I think our country has more familiarity now with what it looks like when communities don't have strong local coverage, and therefore there is appetite and desire to see newsrooms like the San Antonio Report thrive in a community like San Antonio that deserves great coverage that's available to everyone.

[00:35:38] Leigh Munsil: We don't have a paywall, um, and that's a big part of what makes us special and we think that that's important.

[00:35:44] Angie Mock: You know, our good friend, our mutual good friend, Chico Newman, says it this way, um, And he's so right. If the San Antonio report did not exist today, had you not started this, uh, converted it to a nonprofit, [00:36:00] we wouldn't be asking for 10, 000 or, you know, 3, 000 gifts.

[00:36:05] Angie Mock: We'd be out trying to start what this community benefits from every single day. Local quality in depth local news would be trying to start this thing and you know, that's exactly what's happening in cities where newspapers are not, have gone away or not performing in the way that they used to. So the Fort Worth report, you know, we helped stand up the Houston landing, um, the Nashville banner, all these cities are having to raise millions of dollars.

[00:36:39] Angie Mock: To create what we have in this city today that was that we never raised that kind of money for

[00:36:49] Bob Rivard: when I don't remember the exact number, but when we first started, we not only were appealing to the Chico Newman's and Graham Weston's and Charles Butts and the other major philanthropists of the [00:37:00] city and they responded in an extraordinary way, but we were trying to get the millennial generation and we were very successful in getting them both as readers and you.

[00:37:10] Bob Rivard: And as members supporting members and, um, I'll say that being a member doesn't mean when you read us, you're a member and you've got to write a check or in the world we live in today, um, zealous or cash app us or give us, you know, a monthly, but I think our initial membership for. Individuals was as low as 35 or 50 a year at the time.

[00:37:34] Bob Rivard: This would be 2012 or 13 or whenever it was. Um, what is it today? If somebody wants, there's actually a

[00:37:41] Angie Mock: minimum you can join for 5 a month or you can join for 150 a month or whatever. Um, you know, we want this news to be available to all, but we certainly rely on, you know, the community to keep us going each and every day and to be [00:38:00] able to Staff at the level of eight reporters and and hopefully grow that, you know, over time

[00:38:06] Leigh Munsil: and I like to say if you can pay for Netflix, you can pay for news, right?

[00:38:09] Leigh Munsil: Like those, those subscription services keep going up and they keep adding it back in commercials after you've already been a subscriber, however long that one's for Amazon. But, um, for real, though, this this is something that if you value You know, support it. Um, and you can start by just becoming a newsletter subscriber.

[00:38:26] Leigh Munsil: If you don't subscribe to our newsletters, top right corner of our, our website, sanantonioreport. org, you can become a member right there. You can also subscribe to our newsletters and don't worry, we will ask you in our newsletters to become a member, um, very shortly because, uh, that's, that's how we do this is, is we do great work.

[00:38:43] Leigh Munsil: We get it in front of the audience and then we say, We need your help to support this. Um, and it's slow going sometimes to make that case. But I think, uh, it's something that the community continues to support because it is important to have this resource in San Antonio

[00:38:58] Angie Mock: and one thing that is happening in [00:39:00] the community.

[00:39:01] Angie Mock: The San Antonio Area Foundation last year designated themselves as a press forward to support this effort. chapter, if you will. And so they've been going through the process of doing research on news, news deserts, uh, just anything about news, not just in Bexar County, but in surrounding counties. And they are about to, uh, come out and publish that research.

[00:39:26] Angie Mock: And then we'll be convening, uh, through the Area Foundation folks, uh, to talk about you know, the reality of what is happening with news is in the area. So we're hopeful that, um, that will really garner the attention of a lot of people.

[00:39:44] Bob Rivard: Well, we've long, uh, hoped the San Antonio area foundation would become a major funder.

[00:39:49] Bob Rivard: And we've seen, uh, other organizations like the Houston endowment, um, invest millions of dollars in the Houston landing, for example, among other major philanthropic donors and. [00:40:00] I hope that happens because it's an investment for the whole city. We're just about out of time, but I want to ask you before we go, a question I'm asking a lot of people, which is, um, do people still work remotely at the report?

[00:40:13] Bob Rivard: Do you still allow that? Are you demanding everybody come back in? Where are you on this whole hybrid thing?

[00:40:18] Angie Mock: We think we've landed in it. They're really good place. In fact, I dropped a bag off at the office this morning early before I was earlier here, and two of our editor and a reporter were already at their desk working away.

[00:40:31] Angie Mock: So what we landed on was a hybrid work schedule. And of course, you know what it's like for a reporter? They're in and out and a photographer. So, you know, obviously we're real flexible and just want people to be able to be able to do their jobs. But we see the value you The value of being together in that newsroom is really great, and you can really see it when it happens.

[00:40:55] Angie Mock: There's more collaboration across reporters. There's more, it's really [00:41:00] in depth, um, thoughtful editing, um, it, it just, and, and for the business team as well. So that's really working for us.

[00:41:09] Bob Rivard: Well, it seems to me that, um, the push that we're seeing now of everybody back in the office full time kind of ignores the fact that having the freedom to manage your day a little bit better is really actually something if you are a self starter, um, It increases your productivity.

[00:41:26] Bob Rivard: On the other hand, if you're all working remotely, you miss that collaborative spirit that you can only get by people being in. So some sort of medium seems to be the answer to that.

[00:41:36] Leigh Munsil: Well, and as Angie mentioned, reporter life is a little bit different. You're coming and going, you're out at assignments, um, and photojournalists as well. They're kind of our front lines of shaking hands, meeting the community.

[00:41:48] Leigh Munsil: They, they, um, Their days in the office don't have to look the same as, like, an editor day in the office. Um, although, like you said, there's something special about a newsroom. Um, again, it's a big [00:42:00] part of why I was interested in doing this in this way in Texas. Like, uh, if you look at our top stories for 2024, many of them have two bylines on them.

[00:42:09] Leigh Munsil: Those dual byline stories where two journalists from different perspectives who cover different beats team up and, and look across each other's beats and see something in the other's beat that, that they could perhaps extrapolate on based on their sourcing and understanding of politics and development, for example, like when Sherry and Andrea work together, um, that story has kind of a special sauce to it because it's, it's greater than the sum of its parts.

[00:42:32] Leigh Munsil: And so, um, those things only happen with some level of in person interaction.

[00:42:37] Bob Rivard: Well, I think we've had a good opportunity here at the 13th anniversary to talk about the importance of the San Antonio report to the community. I was really touched when, um, the report's original first reporter, Iris Dimmick, who's moved on to the Haven for Hope where she'll do great work, uh, was at a city council meeting where they actually paused the official business to extol her [00:43:00] impact as a journalist on San Antonio.

[00:43:02] Bob Rivard: Uh, on the local community, and that was incredibly flattering. I've never seen that happen for anybody else, and I just think it's a testimony to the, uh, the value that people put in the report and the people that have worked there.

[00:43:14] Angie Mock: It's proof that journalism is an essential service for the public good.

[00:43:20] Bob Rivard: With that, we'll close. Thanks for coming on to Big City Small Town. Angie Mach and Leigh Munsell, San Antonio Report.

[00:43:26] Leigh Munsil: Thank you so much. Thank you.

[00:43:32] Bob Rivard: Please share this episode with friends and colleagues, and do sign up for our new newsletter, Monday Musings. Big City Small Town is brought to you by Western Urban, building the city our children want to call home, and Geekdom, where startups are born and smart ideas become businesses. Our producer is Corey Ames, video by Erica Rempel, sound engineering by Alfie De La Garza of Sound Crane Audio.

[00:43:55] Bob Rivard: We will see you next week.