T-Squared: The Trib-Times Collaboration

Today we're publishing the first part in a three-part series that is the result of a partnership between the El Paso Times and the Trib. It came to us through the generosity of the Times' editor, Chris Lopez, who approached us back in March about the possibility of his state government reporter, Zahira Torres, working in tandem with our own Matt Stiles on a project about the reality of the political map in Texas. The reporting, data collection, map-making, etc., took several months, and the byproduct reflects the care taken to produce what I think is truly an excellent package of stories. Kudos to Zahira and Matt, and to the Trib's managing editor, Ross Ramsey, who oversaw the thing from our end. But special thanks to Chris, who joins Jeff Cohen of the Houston Chronicle as a prime example of a big-city editor who gets the "hang together" spirit that is bolstering public service journalism in the 21st century. "We want to leverage the journalistic excellence of The Texas Tribune and find ways to collaborate for the betterment of our readership and audience on the border," Chris says. Couldn't have put it better ourselves.