INTRO. TO TEXAS MONTHLY

Texas Monthly is a monthly [you would be surprised at how many people I know from the Midwest that first asked if it was 'a newspaper, or something'--that's what inspired this post] magazine based in Austin. The magazine is published by Emmis Publishing, LP, which also owns Country Sampler, Los Angeles Magazine, Atlanta Magazine and others as well as approximately 30 radio and TV stations. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, Texas Monthly's current mission, according to the Web site, is as follows: 'For the natives, Texas Monthly functions as a reminder of what once was, a record of their proud heritage. For the transplants, Texas Monthly is part textbook and part guidebook, a journalistic road map of the state, its history, and its people.'

That's a rather broad and all-encompassing statement with a lot of fluff, I think. Personally, I see Texas Monthly as a fun magazine run by fun-loving people that is respected because of its incredible writing. It's one of few magazines that is impossible to break into as a freelancer because they keep nearly all articles in-house, assigning them out to well-established writers and editors. I'd like to look up their CPM; I can't imagine it being very high as the only requirement for a story is that it deal, in some way, with something related to Texas.

According to Wikipedia, the magazine currently has a paid circulation of around 300,000 and is read by more than 2.5 million people each month. Its audience is made up of an equal number of men and women, the majority of which are between the ages of 30 and 55. Generally, the readers are college educated, married, affluent and live in urban areas.

At left is the current cover of Texas Monthly--the January issue. Every year, the January issue is dedicated to the magazine's 'Bum Steer Awards,' which presents a satirical look at Texas politicians and policies, odd Texas-related news items and personalities from the previous year. Past Bum Steer 'Hall of Famers' include Ross Perot, Anna Nicole Smith, Jessica Simpson and Tom DeLay. Last year's Bum Steers issue was chosen as Time Magazine's #1 Magazine Cover of the Year. The cover, an homage to a classic National Lampoon's cover, depicts a photoshopped Dick Cheney grimacing while holding a smoking rifle. With the same logo and background color as the original cover, the Texas Monthly coverline reads: 'If you don't buy this magazine, Dick Cheney will shoot you in the face.' I want to work for people that will print a cover like that.

The current editor is Evan Smith, a Medill alum who not sits on the board for my school as well as several other boards. He was named th editor-in-chief in July of 2000 at the young age of 34 after having worked as a senior editor and deputy editor with the magazine since joining the staff in 1992. He previously held a position at The New Republic and his writing has appeared in GQ and other national magazines.

In its history, the magazine has won over 50 National Magazine Awards, including several for general excellence. Annually, Texas Monthly dominates at the City and Regional Magazine Awards, taking home 16 in 2006. A press release from the Poynter Institute details all of the individual awards here.

Today, the focus is largely on Texasmonthly.com. Currently averaging approximately 350,000 hits per week, the site is pretty successful. Pieces posted online go through the standard and excruciating editing and fact-checking process before they're handed over to readers and the site frequently runs complementary stories to those found in the hard copy of the magazine. Evan Smith announced in September that he hired Eileen Smith as the first editor of the Web site. She's known as the sharp-tongued editor of the political blog In The Pink Texas, which she will continue to run while working for TMonthly. My immediate supervisor, managing editor Patricia McConnico, has made it clear that my primary focu while on my JR in Austin will be working on the Web site; I'm excited to get to work with Eileen and see if my cynicism can match her own. Her presence at the magazine is having an effect already; only a few short weeks after her arrival, users were able to, once again, post anonymous comments on all of the texasmonthly.com blogs. Read the post by Evan Smith explaining this decision here.