Texas journalism veteran Evan Smith to step down as Texas Tribune CEO

Texas journalism veteran Evan Smith said Wednesday that he will step down as CEO of the Texas Tribune, the nonprofit news organization that he has run for 13 years.

Smith, 55, said he will depart the Tribune by the end of 2022 and will remain as a senior adviser to his replacement through the end of 2023.

He said he has no definite plans regarding what he will do after his exit: "It will be good to have the time and bandwidth to think hard about what’s next. What I know for sure is that there will be a next."

"Like so many during the crazy two years of the pandemic, I feel my battery slowly draining — in my favorite film analogy, the boulder is catching up to Indiana Jones — so I’ve encouraged our board to begin the process of identifying my successor," Smith said in a post on the Texas Tribune site. "After months of discussion, they’re ready to rev up a national search with the help of a respected recruiting firm they’ve selected."

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A native of New York, Smith began his career at Texas Monthly in 1991. He went on to become the magazine's top editor in 2000, and during his tenure the publication won two National Magazine Awards in the general excellence category.

Smith left Texas Monthly in 2009 to found the Tribune with Austin venture capitalist John Thornton and journalist and media entrepreneur Ross Ramsey.

The goal was to create a nonpartisan news outlet focused on covering policy, politics and social issues. The Tribune operates a free website and shares articles at no charge to other news outlets.

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It currently has more than 9,000 members and is backed by donations and corporate sponsorships from the Facebook Journalism Project, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Emerson Collective and additional donors.

"We invest our money primarily in people," Smith told the American-Statesman. "It allows us to pay for journalism. And in that case that means paying for people."

The Tribune also sponsors a number of events, including the annual Texas Tribune Festival. Smith said the Tribune has raised a $100 million since it was founded.

The Tribune has won multiple honors, including a Peabody Award, 23 national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association and three general excellence awards from the Online News Association.

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"I’ve concluded that the only way for us to change, evolve, grow is with someone in charge who isn’t a keeper of the flame," Smith wrote. "I may have built this thing, but I can’t and shouldn’t be an obstacle to the rebuilding of this thing. Nor should I be an obstacle to the new generation, a generation more representative of the Texas of today, getting a chance to lead."

In addition to helming the Tribune, Smith is the host of “Overheard with Evan Smith,” a weekly half-hour interview program that airs on PBS stations around the country. The show has been on hiatus while Austin public television station KLRU relocates, but is expected to relaunch in the future, Smith said.