The collapse of the Texas Observer

Inserted between the pages of the Texas Observer’s Nov./Dec. edition, mailed to readers two months late, was a letter explaining that delivery had been delayed to put together a special, higher-quality double issue. Signed by the interim publisher and interim editor-in-chief, it touted the issue’s thicker, matte paper and perfectly bound spine. The letter didn’t mention the original reason for the wait: Internal turmoil at the organization had led a wave of employees to quit. In September, the Observer’s editorial staff comprised 13 journalists. As of this month, after a rash of resignations — and one firing — only four of them remain. The five-person business team dwindled to zero in February. This mass exodus, former staffers said, can be traced to a series of board decisions — from the handling of a complaint by former Editor-in-Chief Tristan Ahtone, which led to his resignation; to promising Executive Editor Megan Kimble the top job in the interim, only to pass her over for an outside hire; to unilaterally halting publication of the magazine just days before it went to print.

“To have [the letter] just completely rewrite everything that happened … It just felt extra shitty seeing that letter, and then my name on the cover,” said Amal Ahmed, the Observer’s former environmental reporter whose story “The Export Boom” landed her on the magazine’s front for the first time. Spurred by that note — which misled ”the people that pay for this magazine and didn’t get one on time, the people that funded the magazine,” Ahmed told The Objective — she wrote publicly about her experience on Twitter. In the thread, she explained how the Observer had transformed from a place where she thrived to one “so toxic because all the good people were driven out.” “It’s just really ironic to me that we’re journalists, and other workplace stuff like this, that’s what we cover,” Ahmed said. “But in our own industry, it’s whispers and gossip. I’ve never understood that. I think that the folks in charge need to be held accountable, and the only way to do that is to talk about what happened.”