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Brandi Grissom

Brandi Grissom’s staff photo

Brandi Grissom worked at the Tribune from its launch in 2009 until 2014, rising to the rank of managing editor. In addition to editing duties, Grissom led the Tribune's coverage of criminal justice issues. During her tenure at the Tribune, she was chosen as a 2012 City University of New York Center on Media, Crime and Justice/H.F. Guggenheim Journalism Fellow and was a fellow at the 2012 Journalist Law School at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Grissom, along with Tribune multimedia producer Justin Dehn, received a 2012 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting for work on the case of Megan Winfrey, who was acquitted of murder in February 2013 after the Trib’s coverage brought statewide attention the case. Grissom joined the Tribune after four years at the El Paso Times, where she acted as a one-woman Capitol bureau. Grissom won the Associated Press Managing Editors First-Place Award in 2007 for using the Freedom of Information Act to report stories on a variety of government programs and entities, and the ACLU of Texas named her legislative reporter of the year in 2007 for her immigration reporting. She previously served as managing editor at The Daily Texan and has worked for the Alliance Times-Herald, the Taylor Daily Press, the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung and The Associated Press. A native of Alliance, Neb., she has a degree in history from the University of Texas.

Past Contributions

  • 2010: White Attacks Perry's Border Crime Claims

    By Brandi Grissom

    Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White today called on GOP Gov. Rick Perry to remove claims on his public and campaign Web sites that crime on the Texas border has dropped 65 percent. Perry campaign spokesman Mark Miner defended the claims. He said Perry's claim refers to temporary crime drops in discreet areas during so-called "border surge" operations. Full Story 

    BIll White, Rick Perry at their Primary 2010 reception speeches.
    Credit: Callie Richmond, Caleb Bryant MIller

  • Skinner Gets a Stay

    By Brandi Grissom

    Hank Skinner was set to die Wednesday for the 1993 murders of his live-in girlfriend and her two mentally disabled adult sons — a crime he insists he did not commit. About an hour before he was to have poison pushed through his veins, the U.S. Supreme Court spared his life. Full Story 

    International media gather around death penalty abolitionist Kiersten Saldano shortly after the Supreme Court announced a stay of Hank Skinner's execution.
    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller

  • Spillover Politics

    By Brandi Grissom and Julián Aguilar

    Leaders from one end of the Texas-Mexico border to the other want Gov. Rick Perry to tone down the scary rhetoric and get real about solving problems in their hometowns. And, by the way, they would like to be consulted about security plans that affect their communities. "We know what's going on on the border," says Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas. "Our needs were not taken into consideration." Full Story 

    A screengrab from Perry's "Border" spot.
    Credit: Texans for Rick Perry

  • The Secret Pardon

    By Brandi Grissom

    Barring the intervention of the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles is Hank Skinner’s last hope for reprieve from the poison-filled syringe he is set to meet on Wednesday. The board makes life-or-death decisions, recommending to the governor whether an execution should be delayed, called off or carried out, yet it’s one of the least transparent agencies in state government. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Caleb Bryant Miller

  • TribBlog: Perry Sends Choppers to the Border

    By Brandi Grissom

    Revealing more details about the first phase of the border spillover prevention plan that he activated Tuesday, Gov. Rick Perry today announced he is sending two helicopters to the Texas-Mexico border, an OH-58 Kiowa and a UH-72 Lakota. The exact locations of the choppers, however, will not be released for security purposes. Full Story 

    UH-72 Lakota helicopter
    Credit: Wikipedia