City: Austin, TX

Category: Media

Telephone: (512) 445-3500

Address: 305 South Congress Ave.

Description: As Austin’s only daily newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman is in the unenviable position of trying to satisfy all the news demands of a complex society. Although it hasn’t always succeeded, the paper has to be commended for its constant efforts to find a formula—both in print and online—that works. One big change is the Statesman’s weekly entertainment section. Formerly called XLent, the print section and its online version are now Austin360 (www.Austin360.com). This product, which appears Thurs, is designed to capture young-at-heart readers who want a viewpoint besides the Chronicle’s for arts and entertainment news, reviews, and features. The Statesman also is working to expand readership of what it calls “niche products,” including its online Spanish-language publication Ahora Si and its smaller regional publications such as the Cedar Park Citizen and others. The Statesman’s main section features the top stories of the day, editorials, letters to the editor, and international news. Other sections include Metro & State, Sports, and Life & Style. As with most online publications these days, the blogosphere is alive and well at the Statesman, so you’ll find a wide assortment of blogs by the paper’s reporters, columnists, and other staff, including the popular humor columnist John Kelso. The Statesman focuses on coverage of Austin and Central Texas, including local and state government, politics, business, breaking news, art and leisure, and, of course, UT and high school sports. Amid declining revenues for print newspapers across the country, Statesman owner Cox Enterprises shocked the media world in 2008 when it announced a plan to sell the paper, even though it turned a profit. Cox took the Statesman off the market a year later, reportedly because no one would meet the asking price. However, the industry in general, along with the Statesman, continues to face the double whammy of the economic recession and the era of New Media. In 2009 Managing Editor Debbie Hoitt published a column titled, “Survival of the Newspaper? We’re Working on it.”