Yes, I am aware that the world today runs largely on TikTok, YouTube, some combination of X and Bluesky, Netflix, and surely some other internet concoctions that I’m not allowed to understand as I am past 30. I also understand that, while my nose is buried in a magazine, a successful revolution could very well be organized on a social media platform I’ve never even logged into.
Well, so be it. The Texas Observer is going to keep publishing longform journalism anyway.
I’m able to see in our web traffic data, our climbing print membership numbers, and our reader responses that there remains a hunger in the land for this sort of work—the type of reading experience that can change your opinion on an issue, that is actually interesting fodder for cocktail party conversations, that can even motivate you to take action. Reading stories like these does take more effort than scrolling, but there’s a payoff!
