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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

  • Narco Terror

    By Brandi Grissom

    U.S. Border Patrol agents launched Operation Detour to shock kids away from Mexican drug cartel recruiters. Now they're expanding the program across the entire southwest border. Full Story 

  • TribBlog: Hunger Season

    By Brandi Grissom

    More than 2.5 million Texas students are enrolled in the School Lunch Program, but just a fraction of those participate in the federally funded Summer Food Program, according to a report the Center for Public Policy Priorities released toay. Full Story 

  • Shock Therapy

    By Brandi Grissom

    Border Patrol agents are combatting cartel recruitment with a graphic film designed to scare high school students straight. But some experts say the program misses the mark. Full Story 

    Students at McCamey High School watch a graphic U.S. Border Patrol presentation designed to discourage them from getting involved with narcotrafficking.
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • TribBlog: Forbes Says College Grads Making Bank in the 915

    By Brandi Grissom

    El Paso is in the national news today, and — for the first time in recent memory — it has nothing to do with its proximity to drug war-torn Juarez. Forbes actually has some good news about the border city: Incomes for college graduates in El Paso are rising faster than any other major metropolitan area of the nation. Full Story 

    Downtown El Paso
    Credit: http://jdlong.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/nighttime-downtown-el-paso.jpg

  • Slideshow: Border Bus

    By Brandi Grissom

    On both sides of the border, there are calls to end the U.S. Border Patrol's Alien Transfer and Exit Program. But Border Patrol officials say their plan to break the connection between smugglers and immigrants is working. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Road to Nowhere

    By Brandi Grissom

    The U.S. Border Patrol says its illegal immigration repatriation program is working to break the crossing cycle in Arizona, but officials in Texas and Mexico worry the program creates more problems than it solves. Full Story 

    Photo of undocumented immigrants getting off the bus in Presidio so they can be deported to Ojinaga, Mexico
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich

  • Caven's Quest, Part Two

    By Brandi Grissom

    In 2008, the file at DPS headquarters in Austin still said Scotty Caven III caused the August 2004 car crash that killed him and two others. Officials there had declined to reopen and investigate the case. But his father, UT System regent Scott Caven Jr., wouldn’t take no for an answer. Full Story 

    Article thumbnail
    Credit: Bob Daemmrich