The Star-Telegram’s Crossroads Lab has a record of making a difference. We need your support
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Crossroads Lab stands as a testament to the power of local journalism to make our community a better place.
For more than three years, the community-funded Lab has informed and engaged citizens about under-covered issues and helped drive change.
For instance, education reporter Silas Allen wrote a story last year about a disconnect between how parents think their kids are doing in school and how they are really doing. This year, the Fort Worth Independent School District began to shift its grading systems and improved its online portal to make it easier for parents to understand how their kids are doing in school.
The Lab’s five reporters fill coverage gaps that have developed due to stresses on the traditional model for local news in recent years. They cover topics such as education, early childhood development, health care, racial equity, economic development and more.
You may be familiar with other fully philanthropic news organizations in Fort Worth and around our state. Those organizations do good work. But the Star-Telegram’s Crossroads Lab has some distinct advantages in terms of the potential for impact — in terms of how donations are used, and the likelihood of the reporters’ work bringing change.
Donations to the Crossroads Lab go almost exclusively to fund the work of reporters, rather than the institutional structure and salaries of support staff around them. McClatchy, our parent company, provides editing support and unlimited services through its audience growth, human resources, information technology and legal departments.
And the Crossroads Lab has far more audience than that of a startup news organization. It taps into the already established readership of the Star-Telegram, bringing a greater opportunity for impact.
What do I mean by impact? Since the Lab’s inception, its work has driven policy changes in the Fort Worth school system regarding library expenses and the use of restraints in dealing with problematic student behavior. Crossroads Lab stories have prompted people to donate to worthy causes and to help fight for positive change. One organization even credited a Crossroads Lab story with saving a man’s life by connecting him with critical medical care.
In this past year, the Lab has impacted our community with work such as this:
A story about the needs of two largely Hispanic neighborhoods where people feel like they have been left behind by the city.
A story on new efforts to improve maternal and infant health.
Sponsorship, with other community partners, of a keynote address and panel discussion called “Is Reading a Civil Right?” exploring the challenges in Fort Worth related to literacy. More than 250 people attended, and thousands more viewed the event online. Following the event, a Fort Worth Independent School District board member submitted a column to the Star-Telegram committing to make literacy the No. 1 priority for the district moving forward.
Much of the Lab’s funding comes from prominent local philanthropic foundations. But we need your help, too. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution — gifts of any size make a difference — to the Crossroads Lab and its five reporters.
You can donate through star-telegram.com/donate. Or, if you prefer to send a check, please put “Fort Worth Star-Telegram” in the memo line and mail it to 1601 Alhambra Blvd., Suite 100, Sacramento, CA 95816. Please include your email address.
The Crossroads Lab’s mission is to inform and engage citizens about issues critical to the future of our community, ultimately making Fort Worth a better place. Thank you for being an essential part of that mission with your readership and your support of the Crossroads Lab.
Steve Coffman is the president and editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
