Chris Cobler

An in-depth and interactive look at how Victoria school district struggles to serve poor, minority students.

"A Father's Strength" was a multi-year project about ALS, featuring the struggles of Craig Fox and two other families.

The project was featured in print editions and also premiered a feature-length documentary, "Breadth of Hope," created by staffers Drew Stewart and Erica Rodriguez.

A special online page was created which featured the documentary and all associated articles, blog posts by family, and a timeline. This was a project I worked on with Drew, Erica, Robert Zavala and… Show more

"A Father's Strength" was a multi-year project about ALS, featuring the struggles of Craig Fox and two other families.

The project was featured in print editions and also premiered a feature-length documentary, "Breadth of Hope," created by staffers Drew Stewart and Erica Rodriguez.

A special online page was created which featured the documentary and all associated articles, blog posts by family, and a timeline. This was a project I worked on with Drew, Erica, Robert Zavala and Chris Cobler.

Awards received:
First place from Suburban Newspapers of America for online community service
Award from The Texas Medical Association for online/mixed media.
February of 2012 - Associate Press Media Editors "Innovator of the Month" contest.
National finalist - Associated Press Managing Editors association's Online Convergence award Show less

Poynter Newsu.org webinar: Do readers trust print more than online content? How much do they trust user-generated content such as comments and video? Does local content and local feedback matter? See what the readers of the Victoria (Texas) Advocate and www.victoriaadvocate.com said in an APME Online Journalism Credibility Project survey. You'll hear what readers say about the credibility of news sites, how one newsroom handled the results and how you can put those findings to work for your… Show more

Poynter Newsu.org webinar: Do readers trust print more than online content? How much do they trust user-generated content such as comments and video? Does local content and local feedback matter? See what the readers of the Victoria (Texas) Advocate and www.victoriaadvocate.com said in an APME Online Journalism Credibility Project survey. You'll hear what readers say about the credibility of news sites, how one newsroom handled the results and how you can put those findings to work for your site.
Report also is summarized here: http://www.apme.com/?CredibleContent
And here:
http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/news/special-reports/credibility-survey/ Show less

A 16-month special series examining human trafficking in South Texas. The series was prompted by the May 14, 2003, death of 19 illegal immigrants. They were found suffocated to death in the back of a tractor-trailer left parked near Victoria, Texas.

Article on Page 7 recaps various special projects we executed while I was Tribune editor.

Yet diversity at the Greeley Tribune is a reality. In the past 15 years, according to the Knight report and ASNE numbers, the percentage of nonwhite staff has fluctuated, with a low point of 3.6 percent in 1990. The Tribune's newsroom staff, at 22.9 percent nonwhite in 2004, is the closest it has been to parity with its 30.8 percent nonwhite circulation area. Latinos make up 27.8 percent of that population. (An indication of where this community is headed: The school system is 50 percent… Show more

Yet diversity at the Greeley Tribune is a reality. In the past 15 years, according to the Knight report and ASNE numbers, the percentage of nonwhite staff has fluctuated, with a low point of 3.6 percent in 1990. The Tribune's newsroom staff, at 22.9 percent nonwhite in 2004, is the closest it has been to parity with its 30.8 percent nonwhite circulation area. Latinos make up 27.8 percent of that population. (An indication of where this community is headed: The school system is 50 percent Latino.)

What is this paper doing that Burlington isn't? Plenty. Show less

In recent years, the news media have come to face an increasing number of social, political, technological, and economic pressures: the response of the media to the challenges and opportunities of the internet; the conduct of the media during war; the relationship between the media and government, especially in terms of national security; the evolving nature both of audience and advertisers both at the domestic and global levels. All of this affects the way news is reported and edited.
As… Show more

In recent years, the news media have come to face an increasing number of social, political, technological, and economic pressures: the response of the media to the challenges and opportunities of the internet; the conduct of the media during war; the relationship between the media and government, especially in terms of national security; the evolving nature both of audience and advertisers both at the domestic and global levels. All of this affects the way news is reported and edited.
As part of the Seminar's ongoing series on the professional and ethical responsibilities of print, television, and digital media, this session will explore these issues in light of recent developments, focusing on individual cases that highlight issues of general concern. The Faculty and Fellows will explore the implications of these developments both for the practice of their profession as well as the impact on their audiences. Some of the issues to be explored will include the relationship between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the British government; the emergence of the satellite broadcaster, Al Jazeera, and the impact of its editorial policies both at the regional and global level; and the role of national newspapers and magazines within the context of an increasingly globalized news media. Show less

A seven-week series by reporter Matt Schuman examining the struggle for independence by people with disabilities. Matt is the most inspirational and courageous journalist I have ever worked with in my career.

This is a special investigation into how and why Victoria County circumvented standard business practices in spending Hurricane Harvey recovery money. One step county commissioners took was to indefinitely exempt themselves from following the state law requiring bidding projects of more than $50,000. They did this even though their insurance company representative told them the emergency had ended within two weeks after the hurricane struck.

When disgraced former Congressman Blake Farenthold resurfaced as the Calhoun Port Authority's first full-time lobbyist at annual salary of $160,000, the public was outraged. Farenthold later said in a deposition that he and the port board thought they could weather this initial storm and continue to do business as they always had outside the public view. All other state and national media quickly moved on from the story, but the Victoria Advocate kept digging, learning that Farenthold's hiring… Show more

When disgraced former Congressman Blake Farenthold resurfaced as the Calhoun Port Authority's first full-time lobbyist at annual salary of $160,000, the public was outraged. Farenthold later said in a deposition that he and the port board thought they could weather this initial storm and continue to do business as they always had outside the public view. All other state and national media quickly moved on from the story, but the Victoria Advocate kept digging, learning that Farenthold's hiring was done during an illegal secret meeting. From there, the Advocate, although only a small, family-owned newspaper, filed a Texas Open Meetings Act lawsuit on behalf of the public. And kept reporting ... Show less

After Hurricane Harvey, obstacles to rebuilding are often hidden from those who aren't facing them: “The mentality is ‘I’m OK, so everybody else must be OK,’” said Kim Pickens, a case manager helping people recover. Hidden in Plain Sight will explore inequality – and how Harvey exposed the gap between the people who could afford to rebuild and everyone else.

Series of stories examining lessons learned after Category 4 hurricane hit Victoria and the Crossroads.

A yearlong examination of mental-health care in the Crossroads with a focus on solutions. Without treatment, the mentally ill become tangled in the criminal justice system. Almost half of the estimated 500 people booked in the Crossroads jails every month are mentally ill.

The abduction and murder of a 10-year-old girl shook a small Texas town to its case. The case also is one of a handful that brought back the death penalty to the United States after a 10-year moratorium. In a state that has executed more inmates than any other since 1977, this case is the grandfather of them all.

Newspaper re-creates a Victoria woman's little-known past as a POW during World War II.