Count Texas Monthly president and editor-in-chief Evan Smith among the leaders in publishing who advocate newspapers transitioning to a foundation or endowment-supported non-profit or non-taxable model.
Smith came to Argyle -- "the real Texas," he said, in which he's not often asked to speak -- to talk about the future of print journalism and to discuss Texas culture and politics through the lens of the decorated magazine he leads on Thursday night. But like his favorite guests on Texas Monthly Talks, the long-form interview TV show Smith hosts, he took the chance to riff on subjects on the fringe of the stated agenda, a strikingly thorough, spontaneous four-minute history of Sonny Rollins and Smith's personal subscription to "Boy Scout" ethics among them.
Fewer than 20 people were in the auditorium to hear Smith field questions asked by Dr. Mitch Land, interim dean of the new Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas, as part of the "Conversations" series benefiting the Argyle ISD Education Foundation.
Smith was relentlessly gracious to the small group, offering insight on the magazine's continued writer-driven operations and his own quest to adapt to the quickening pace of consumer demand. When asked about the future of print media, Smith candidly assessed the challenges the industry is facing.
“Short answer – well, the shorter answer -- is that magazines are better off than newspapers. Newspapers dug their own graves, by giving away their content to the point that the editor of Texas Monthly doesn’t read or buy newspapers," he said. "Now, I’m just one person. But if anybody should be starting the day with newsprint smudged on my clothes, it is I.”
A shrewd businessman as much as a seasoned storyteller, Smith said "the horse has left the barn" on some newspapers' new plan to charge for content.
"I’m a big advocate for the for-profit newspaper model potentially transitioning to a foundation or endowment-supported non-profit or non-taxable model. We wouldn’t leave clean air and clean water as public goods to the free market. We shouldn’t leave public interest journalism to the free market either," he said.
Dallas Morning News publisher and chief executive Jim Moroney testified recently at a senate hearing that the idea wouldn't be reasonable for many companies.
Smith was asked by Argyle ISF Foundation executive director Mike Permetti to speculate on the battle between Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to come in the March GOP primary. Texas Monthly's February cover featured a doctored photo of Hutchison in sweats with her dukes up, anticipating the war of words that has commenced.
“Do this. Every time you hear the governor give a speech, and he talks about ‘Washington’, substitute the words 'Kay Bailey Hutchison' for 'Washington,'" Smith said. "He’s fileting her like a whitefish ... I think she’d be a great goevernor, but unless she quits the senate tomorrow and comes home, and starts beatin’ the stuffing outta him, she’s gonna get beat in that primary.”
Smith said the largest percentage of the magazine's readers live in Dallas.
