The
Austin American-Statesman is the major daily
newspaperA newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
for
AustinAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, the capital city of
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. It is an award-winning publication owned by
Cox EnterprisesCox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...
. The
Newspaper places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region.
The Statesman endorsed George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, and Republican governor Rick Perry along with every other Republican incumbent in 2006. In the 2008 presidential election, however, the paper endorsed Barack Obama. The
Statesman also provides coverage of the
Libertarian PartyThe Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
and
Green PartyThe Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...
matters.
The
Austin American-Statesman competes with the
Austin ChronicleThe Austin Chronicle is an alternative weekly, tabloid-style newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demographic...
, an
alternative weeklyAn alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
. The paper tends to print
Associated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
,
New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
,
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
and
Los Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
international and national news, but has strong Central Texas coverage, especially in political reporting. The
Statesman benefits from the culture and writing heritage of Austin. It extensively covers the
music sceneThe music of Austin, Texas, USA has gone beyond 6th Street and now includes other areas such as Red River, the University of Texas, the Warehouse District and Downtown, South Lamar, South Austin, East Austin and the Market District where bars and clubs of every kind can be found. Every night over...
, especially the annual
South by Southwest Music FestivalSouth by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
. The newspaper co-sponsors various events around Austin such as the Capital 10K foot race and the Season for Caring charity campaign.
The
Statesman's news website is
Statesman.com and its entertainment site is
Austin360.com. In addition, the
Statesman partners with the
St. Petersburg TimesThe St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
with
PolitiFact Texas, a site that uncovers the truth in issues that are relevant to Texas and the Austin area.
Circulation
Though Austin is the 15th largest city (and the 36th largest
metropolitan areaThe term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
) in the U.S., the
American-Statesman does not rank in the top 25 U.S., it actually ranks only 60th in circulation. according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Figures from Scarborough Research show the
Statesman — in print and online — reaches 68% of Central Texans in an average week.
Coincident with the fact that Austin is also one of America's most
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
-connected cities, though not ranked in the 25 largest "connected" cities, the
Statesman's daily circulation trend ranks among those cities whose major newspaper is seeing drops of 5% or more. As compared to a U.S. national decline of 2.1%, the
Statesman's daily circulation in the most recent six-month reporting period fell 5.6% to 173,527. Its Sunday circulation fell 5.5% to 215,984.
Newsroom management
- Editor: Debbie Hiott
- Assistant managing editors: Drew Marcks, Sharon Roberts
- Ahora Si editor: Josefina Villicana-Casati
- Austin360.com editor: Kristi Kingston
- Business editor: Barry Harrell
- Editorial page editor: Arnold Garcia
- Features editor: Kathy Blackwell
- Graphics director: G.W. Babb
- Internet managing editor: Zach Ryall
- State editor: Debra Davis
- Statesman.com editor: Kristi Kingston
- Systems editor: Doug Miller
External links