Fort Worth Report - American Journalism Project

The Fort Worth Report is a nonprofit news organization that produces independent, factual news coverage that aims to hold government officials accountable, find solutions for community issues, and strengthen a diverse and rapidly growing city and home county.

In April 2021, a coalition of local partners came together to launch the Fort Worth Report in response to the sharp decline of legacy media. As other news outlets have cut back staff, the Fort Worth Report newsroom has stepped up to fill the widening local news and information gaps through substantive, solutions-focused reporting that promotes civic engagement among local residents. In 2022, with support from the Fort Worth community, the news organization grew to a team of 17 and was named New Business of the Year in the large division by LION Publishers. The newsroom is now regularly producing community-driven journalism covering city and county government, schools, business, healthcare, the environment, arts and culture, and the people, events and ideas that make up Fort Worth’s unique identity.

With support from the American Journalism Project, the Fort Worth Report will build on this early success and pursue a vision to serve as the primary source of local news for an increasingly diverse community, expanding their reporting to new audiences while continuing to explore and deepen partnerships with other mission-aligned Texas media. They will add new business and revenue capacity to fuel this growth along with the infrastructure to ensure long-term sustainability.

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We want to be a consistent, reliable source of news on the issues that matter most to communities across the Fort Worth area. Communities here have seen a sharp decline in local news offerings. Our vision goes beyond just filling the gap; we’re building a robust reporting team to ensure we’re covering a wide range of issues, launching partnerships with local public media, exploring reporting needs in the suburbs of Fort Worth and increasing the civic engagement of traditionally underserved communities.

Chris Cobler, Chief Executive Officer and Publisher

Leaders

Chris Cobler

Chief Executive Officer and Publisher

Chris Cobler is a longtime daily newspaper leader who started his career as a reporter in his hometown at the Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal and then worked at newspapers in Colorado, South Dakota and Texas. In Texas, he first served as managing editor of the Denton Record-Chronicle and later was editor and publisher of the Victoria Advocate. As editor, he led two newspapers to recognition as the best in the nation for their size. His newspapers have earned hundreds of state and national honors, including the Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity Leadership. Cobler was the first Donald W. Reynolds Nieman Fellow for community journalism at Harvard University, where he studied the digital future of news and how to promote a constructive community conversation about changing demographics. He is a recipient of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association Editorial Achievement Award for courage and commitment to open government; the Texas Press Association Frank W. Mayborn Award for Community Leadership; and a current board member and past president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
Thomas Martinez

Managing Editor

Committed to strong community journalism, Thomas R. Martinez brings more than 25 years of experience as a writer and editor primarily at newspapers in his home state of Colorado and more recently in Texas. As an editor, Martinez helped lead coverage on several high impact journalism projects, including explaining to readers the difficulties of living with disabilities through the eyes of a reporter and community members who were disabled; using the anniversary of 19 migrant deaths as a springboard to explore the complicated issues of the border and racial issues in south Texas; and examining, through the lens of solutions-based journalism, the socioeconomic disparities that Hurricane Harvey left it in its wake. Martinez is also an award-winning columnist who brings a personal touch to tough topics like suicide and mental health. A disabled Army veteran, he cares deeply about veterans’ rights and belongs to the Disabled American Veterans organization.