Remembering John Thornton, founder of The Texas Tribune

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Texas and the American journalism community have lost a luminary. John Thornton, a founder of The Texas Tribune and one of the most vital and influential leaders in nonprofit journalism, died on Saturday. He was 59.

His passing is an immeasurable loss for our staff, our board, our many supporters and readers past and present. Without John, the Tribune and the ecosystem of nonprofit news that it helped build would not exist. The Tribune was born in 2008 from his search for a sustainable model for news. He was a leading venture capitalist in Austin at the time, having served as managing partner of Austin Ventures. He and his partners had been studying the decline in the media business. Newspapers and television stations were slashing their staffs. Coverage of state capitols — the places where billions of the public’s dollars are spent to support our schools, roads and health care — was disappearing the fastest. John concluded that public service journalism was a public good — and that the commercial businesses that had traditionally supported it were unlikely to sustain it moving forward.

So he conceived of the concept of a reliable, honest, and fair nonprofit news outlet devoted to engaging Texans and empowering them to be active participants in their democracy. He then recruited Evan Smith, then the editor and president of Texas Monthly, to be CEO. And he provided the initial seed donation and fundraising support that allowed Evan and Ross Ramsey, our third co-founder, to hire a staff.

“Without John Thornton, there would be no Texas Tribune,” said Ross Ramsey, co-founder of the Tribune. “He was the principal author of the business plan that made us successful, and that has become a model for news startups around the country. He was smart, funny, intense, and dedicated to the idea that news is a public good that is critical to a functioning democracy. All of us continue to benefit from his work. I'm grateful to count him as a friend.”

The Tribune, of course, was a smashing success. Now our journalists span the state — they're in Austin, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, El Paso, Waco, Brownsville, Odessa, Lufkin and Washington, D.C.. We’re launching local news sites in Waco and Austin and possibly beyond— an initiative that John enthusiastically supported. Our work holds public officials accountable and lifts up the needs and experiences of Texans across the state. The impact has been recognized by numerous awards, including the Peabody Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Awards, the National Online News Association Awards, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Texas Managing Editors. Last year, we were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. John's original vision not only came to life — it exceeded everyone's, including his own, expectations.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say John Thornton changed American journalism — and saved it,” said Evan Smith, co-founder and former CEO of the Tribune. “No one made him do this. He believed in standing up and supporting, with his time and money, the right kind of news organizations around the country because he knew the consequences of the vast need going unmet. For nearly 20 years, he put in the work. He was a pioneer and a visionary, and he catalyzed a movement. Every community is better, smarter and healthier because of him. He gave people who never met him and never knew his name the means to be more thoughtful and productive citizens — to be the best civic versions of themselves. That’s especially true in Texas. In all 254 counties, there’s a place to turn for reliable, credible, independent local news because of The Texas Tribune, and there is a Texas Tribune only because of John. This was his baby. It was his thing. We walked in his footsteps. All 31 million of us in this state are in his debt.”

But he didn’t stop at the Tribune.

Our model has served as an inspiration for scores of nonprofit news sites across the country. Indispensable outlets like CalMatters, Mississippi Today and the Nevada Independent have directly cited the Tribune as inspiration. Cities and states across the country now have their own versions of the Tribune. And John has played a major role in their growth. In 2018, he took his nonprofit news vision national by co-founding the American Journalism Project. Working with co-founder Elizabeth Green, founder of the nonprofit education publication Chalkbeat, he recruited funders across the country to invest in local news nonprofits. The AJP provides much-needed funds, but it also provides vital business and strategic support to ensure that the outlets it’s backing can achieve sustainability. So far, the AJP has raised more than $225 million for 50 nonprofit newsrooms operating in 36 states, including supporting the Tribune’s investment in local news.

“John Thornton didn’t just imagine a future for nonprofit news in Texas — he built it,” said Sonal Shah, CEO of the Tribune. “His vision has shaped the national movement to revitalize journalism and his belief in the power of public service journalism laid the foundation for stronger, healthier communities. This movement to support local news wouldn’t be possible without his leadership and relentless advocacy. We are all better for it.”

Anyone who met John immediately saw his passion and his energy. He was brilliant, funny, generous and supportive. He was a mentor to many.

“No one was more passionate about The Texas Tribune and rallying people to the cause of public service journalism than John Thornton,” said Trei Brundrett, chair of the Tribune’s board of directors. “We will miss our fellow board member, who we could always count on to be more ambitious in service of our mission. We will do our best to match his enthusiasm and make sure the Tribune is an incurring institution and reflection of his legacy.”

“John was a nonprofit journalism mastermind, a visionary and true believer who changed the trajectory of my career not once but twice,” said Emily Ramshaw, former editor-in-chief of the Tribune and co-founder of The 19th. “He vibrated with ambition and start-up energy. His enthusiasm was infectious. (His love of cargo shorts, not so much.) John loved deeply; no matter how full his plate was, he always made sure you knew how proud of you he was. My heart is broken, but his legacy lives on, in the hundreds of nonprofit newsrooms that followed his lead.”

He’s survived by his wife, Erin Thornton, and two stepsons, Wyatt Driscoll and Wade Driscoll. Plans for a memorial will be announced soon.

The mission that John Thornton forged for The Texas Tribune, and the values he fought for, live on. We miss him already.