Reporting Texas
News and features from UT-Austin's School of Journalism
Reporting Texas Archives
Oct 13, 2022

Thursday Night Social Ride Rolls Through Austin

AUSTIN, Texas – Hundreds of cyclists gather every Thursday evening underneath the I-35 bridge next to Chicano Park. Headlights and neon decorations attached to bicycles illuminate the park as the sun sets. At around 8:15 p.m., a shrill whistle pierces the air, announcing the start of a 10-mile ride through downtown.  This event is called […]

Oct 13, 2022

Ovarian Cancer Survivors Walk “Together in Teal”

SAN MARCOS, Texas – For the first time in three years, several Texas chapters of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition hosted the annual Together in Teal community walk in-person. Combining the Central Texas, Austin and San Antonio chapters of the coalition, this year’s event on Oct. 2 took place in San Marcos for the first […]

Oct 13, 2022

Dozens of Students Learn Latin Dances in Front of the UT Tower

AUSTIN, Texas – A Latin dancing student organization and an international student organization collaborated for a free salsa and bachata class at the Main Building Square. Texas Latin Dance and Planet Longhorn hosted the event Sept. 28 beneath the UT Tower. “We just like to dance, teach people to dance and have a fun time,” […]

Oct 13, 2022

Project Connect to Impact West Campus Buildings

AUSTIN, Texas – A project to add new rail lines will displace several West Campus businesses within the next few years, according to Austin Transit Partnership. In the most recent proposal for Project Connect, the Orange Line is set to run through Guadalupe Street between Stassney Lane and North Lamar Boulevard, stopping at UT West […]

May 06, 2022

Reporting Texas TV – May 5, 2022

Journalism students from Moody College at the University of Texas produced their sixth and final newscast of the semester on May 5, 2022. This week’s reports include a rally demanding increased pay and other benefits for many Austin Independent School District employees, efforts to unionize by workers at a campus-area Starbucks, and the announcement of […]

May 06, 2022

AISD Teachers Rally for Living Wage and More Planning Time

AUSTIN, Texas — Participants at the “At What Cost” rally on April 28 chanted “hey hey ho ho, [Superintendent Stephanie] Elizalde’s got to go!” and held signs with statements like “All classified workers deserve a $6.50 pay raise” as they expressed dissatisfaction and impatience with the Austin Independent School District. Organized by Education Austin, the […]

May 05, 2022

Professional Bull Riding is Coming to Austin

AUSTIN, Texas – College sports have thrived for decades in the city that bleeds orange and white. However, over the past two decades, the pride in green and black has grown with the arrival of professional hockey, soccer, and now bull riding wearing those colors.  The Austin Gamblers are a professional bull riding team that […]

May 05, 2022

West Campus Starbucks Employees Protest Union Busting

AUSTIN, Texas – Starbucks baristas gathered at the West Campus Starbucks at the intersection of 24th and Nueces Street on Saturday to hold a demonstration against union busting in their store. The baristas announced a petition to unionize in early March making them the first in Austin to do so.  Amanda Garcia, a UT student […]

Apr 29, 2022

Reporting Texas TV – April 28, 2022

Journalism students from Moody College at the University of Texas produced their fifth newscast of the semester on April 28, 2022. This week’s reports include efforts to save several gay bars from demolition, the Texas Community Music Festival‘s return after a lengthy COVID hiatus, and an Earth Day clean up hosted by kayak companies.

Apr 28, 2022

Texas Community Music Festival Returns After Two-Year Hiatus

AUSTIN, Texas — A few weeks prior to the 15th Texas Community Music Festival in 2020, organizers learned that they would have to cancel the annual event. “We kind of had to put the brakes on everything,” said festival organizer Kat Brotherton. “Nobody really had any idea, at that point, how long this break was going […]

Apr 28, 2022

Gay Bars Threatened By Downtown Development May Be Saved By Cultural-Historical Significance

AUSTIN, Texas — Nestled among skyscrapers in Austin’s booming downtown area is The Iron Bear, a beloved gay bar on West Sixth Street. Bengie Beshear, a co-owner of the venue, describes it as welcoming to all types of gay men. “The Iron Bear is place that catches the people that don’t really fit in the […]

Apr 28, 2022

Kayak Rental Businesses Hold Earth Day Clean Up

AUSTIN, Texas – Rowing Dock hosted an Earth Day Clean Up at Lady Bird Lake on Friday, where volunteers could clear the area on foot or by kayak.  The Earth Day Clean Up marked an expansion of Rowing Dock’s weekly Kayak Clean Up Crew, which launched last year.  Friday’s clean up was conducted in partnership with […]

Apr 25, 2022

Reporting Texas TV – April 21, 2022

Journalism students from Moody College at the University of Texas made their fourth newscast of the semester on April 21, 2022. This week student journalists report on efforts to prevent dating violence and assist victims, the opening of a much-needed new swimming facility, and a UT student’s fundraiser to repair a school in El Salvador.

Apr 25, 2022

Addressing Dating Violence in High School and College

AUSTIN, Texas — Finnley Willms, president of the Texas Advocacy Project’s Teen Ambassadors of Hope, had no idea teen dating violence was such a common issue until she volunteered. With a mission to end dating and domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in the state, Texas Advocacy Project (TAP) provides free legal services to survivors […]

Apr 21, 2022

New Pool Creates New Opportunity

AUSTIN – In his final months before becoming a collegiate swimmer, Dietrich Hagenau will train at the new Eanes Aquatic Center at Westlake High School. Ever since Hagenau moved to Austin from California, he has been fighting to get a new pool built for himself and his teammates. “It’s very rewarding to hear that we […]

Apr 21, 2022

UT Student Raises Money for a School in El Salvador

AUSTIN, Texas – Students at the University of Texas are joining together to raise money to repair a school in El Salvador Antony Efrain Rodriguez, a senior nutrition major, visited the Complejo Educativo De San Fernando in Morazan last summer. The United States built the school in the 1970s. He saw a need for new […]

Apr 15, 2022

Reporting Texas TV – April 14, 2022

Journalism students from Moody College at the University of Texas made their third newscast of the semester on April 14, 2022. This week student journalists report on Austin residents opening their homes to Ukrainian refugees, the Transgender Day of Visibility rally at the Texas State Capitol, and the new home for the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy’s annual […]

Apr 14, 2022

A New Home for Waterloo Greenway Conservancy’s Annual Pop-Up Picnic

AUSTIN, Texas — Waterloo Greenway Conservancy’s 10th Annual Pop-Up Picnic made a comeback on April 9 after a two year hiatus due to the pandemic. For the first time, the Pop-Up Picnic was held at Waterloo Park, which closed for flood-control construction in 2011. The newly designed park reopened last August, introducing Moody Amphitheater, a […]

Apr 14, 2022

Hundreds Rally to Celebrate the Texas Transgender Community

AUSTIN, Texas — Hundreds of transgender folks and allies went to the Texas State Capitol on April 2 to celebrate and rally for the annual Transgender Day of Visibility. Many in the crowd felt this celebration was exceedingly important due to Gov. Greg Abbott’s recent order to prosecute health care facilitators providing gender-affirming care for […]

Apr 14, 2022

Austinites Open Their Homes to Help Ukrainian Refugees

AUSTIN, Texas — When Kseniia Mykhailova returned home from a February vacation, she was greeted with blue and yellow flags, posters, and flowers on her doorstep. It was a reminder to the native Ukrainian that she and her family weren’t alone. “It definitely means a lot,” Mykhailova said. “I feel a lot of support from our […]