Downey, who currently reports on Florida politics, covered the Texas Legislature’s 2019 session for the Austin American-Statesman.
Sewell Chan
Sewell Chan was The Texas Tribune’s editor in chief from October 2021 to September 2024.
During his three-year tenure the Tribune won a National Magazine Award and a Collier Prize for State Government Accountability and was a Pulitzer finalist — all for the first time. It also won five national Edward R. Murrow Awards, two for overall excellence.
During Chan’s tenure the Tribune was acclaimed for its coverage of the Uvalde mass shooting, the impeachment trial of the Texas attorney general, numerous elections and campaigns, natural disasters, and debates over abortion, transgender rights, public education and more.
Chan recruited award-winning journalists and diversified the Tribune’s staff; built out its photo team; rebooted the Tribune’s premium politics newsletter, The Blast; and forged new partnerships with the Associated Press and FRONTLINE. He launched the Tribune's regional reporting initiative, providing coverage of areas of Texas that are severely underserved. He helped to manage the transition from the Tribune’s founding CEO, Evan Smith, to its second CEO, Sonal Shah, and to put the Tribune on a more sustainable footing and cultivate the next generation of leadership.
Chan left the Tribune in September 2024 to return to his hometown of New York City and serve as executive editor of the Columbia Journalism Review.
Before joining the Tribune, Chan was previously a deputy managing editor and then the editorial page editor at the Los Angeles Times, where he oversaw coverage that was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 2021. Chan worked at the New York Times from 2004 to 2018, as a metro reporter, Washington correspondent, deputy Op-Ed editor and international news editor. He began his career as a local reporter at the Washington Post in 2000.
Posted in
Year in Photos
Texas 2022: Year in Photos
Texas Tribune photographers captured a historic year of challenges and resilience.
Posted in
T-Squared
T-Squared: Our latest newsroom hires
Emily Foxhall, Laura Garcia, Michele Gonzalez, Julia Guilbeau and Stephen Simpson are the latest additions to the Tribune’s news and events teams.
Posted in
Politics
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz confirms he will seek a third term in 2024
Speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, the Texas Republican said he would seek reelection, but he also did not rule out running for president.
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T-Squared
T-Squared: Three reporters are joining us to cover law, democracy and environment
Roxanna Asgarian will cover law and courts, Robert Downen will cover challenges to democracy and Alejandra Martinez will cover the environment.
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T-Squared
T-Squared: Alejandro Serrano joins us as a general assignment reporter
A graduate of Northeastern University, Serrano has reported for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Houston Chronicle. He’ll remain based in Houston.
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T-Squared
T-Squared: Yuriko Schumacher joins The Texas Tribune’s data visuals team
Yuriko will work as a designer-developer to report and create engaging interactive stories about Texas.
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T-Squared
T-Squared: The Texas Tribune wins national Edward R. Murrow Award for overall excellence
The Tribune also shared a national Edward R. Murrow Award with ProPublica and Mountain State Spotlight for a series of articles on cancer-causing air pollution.
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T-Squared
T-Squared: Allison Erickson joins The Texas Tribune as a 2022-23 military and veteran affairs reporting fellow
Allison, who served as a Medical Service Corps officer in the U.S. Army from 2011 to 2018, is joining the Tribune through a partnership with Military Veterans in Journalism.
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T-Squared
T-Squared: New roles for Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera and Brandon Formby
Alejandro will serve as education and urban affairs editor, and Brandon as news editor.
