Darla Cameron is the Tribune’s new interim chief product officer

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We’re happy to announce that Darla Cameron will serve as The Texas Tribune’s new interim chief product officer. In this critical position, Darla will oversee product development and management, engineering and design, working closely with editorial, audience and revenue teams to deliver the Tribune’s journalism in fresh and innovative ways that build trust with more Texans.

Darla replaces Liam Andrew, who left the Tribune after almost nine years. He joined the American Journalism Project as the technology lead for their product and AI studio. Darla has been a cornerstone of the Tribune’s journalism for over six years, crafting compelling visual narratives as a senior designer/developer, then as an editor for data visuals, and most recently as managing editor for visual journalism. In addition to managing our investigative partnerships, Darla has consistently demonstrated a keen eye for product development, leading the data visuals team in redesigning the government salaries explorer, our COVID tracking efforts and election product strategy. She also worked closely with Liam to develop new AI guidelines and use cases for AI in journalism. Her nuanced understanding of newsroom and audience needs and her innovative storytelling approach have been key in shaping our visual content strategy. Darla’s collaborative approach and project management were critical in our award-winning Uvalde coverage and the execution of other ambitious projects. Darla is a graduate of the University of Missouri Journalism School, and she previously worked at The Washington Post and Tampa Bay Times.

As interim chief product officer, Darla will lead all product development initiatives, from guiding product ideation, revenue opportunities and strategy to overseeing execution and launch. She will also play a key role in product strategy for the local initiatives. We’re excited to see the new ways our journalists will collaborate with the product team to build industry-leading, innovative methods to help Texans better understand the complexities of state-level issues that affect their communities.

Darla will also manage Laura McReavy Hearnsberger, the Tribune’s new data analyst. Laura will lead our data and analytics strategy, supporting the whole staff with data-informed insights, and helping us define and track our big organizational and product goals.

It’s a big job, which Laura is excited to tackle. She has a background in both data analysis and journalism education, giving her a great window into how we work and what data is most important to a newsroom. As a consultant, she has worked with high-growth startups, public education policymakers and political campaigns. As a former public school educator, she loves communicating and teaching new concepts. And as a technology and innovation coordinator for school districts, she has delivered scores of reports and dashboards, consistently adapting to new roles and challenges. She’s excited to join the Tribune and take on this new challenge with the product team.

Laura earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Texas State University, a master’s of education in educational technology leadership from Lamar University and a doctorate of education in organizational leadership from Pepperdine University.

Disclosure: Lamar University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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