Reporting Texas
News and features from UT-Austin's School of Journalism
byNatalia Rodriguez
Ronald Reagan went from actor to governor to president. Donald Trump went from real-estate developer to reality TV star to president. Now, two Texas celebrities, Bobby Pulido and Mark Texeira, hope to join that list as they run for U.S. Congress without holding any prior office.
“Name recognition is huge,” says University of Texas Rio Grande Valley professor Richard Longoria, whose research focuses on celebrity politics. “It’s one of the biggest predictors for people that study electoral politics. Getting a lot of media attention and being well known is a huge advantage, but by itself is not enough.”
byOISAKHOSE AGHOMO
As Tuesday’s primaries inch closer, you can’t turn on the TV without seeing ads from Republicans trumpeting their ties and devotion to President Donald Trump. Candidates are trying to brand themselves as the “most MAGA ever,” calling their constituents to “stand with President Trump” and taking digs at their opponents for not being MAGA enough. […]
byRachel N. Madison
Protesters at the Texas Capitol called for the Legislature to stop the rapid spread of data centers Monday, urging representatives to hold a special session to discuss the environmental impacts of the new technology. “My land is being threatened,” said Rena Schroeder, a Republican candidate for a state Senate seat in South Texas. “We […]
byOisakhose Aghomo
Experts say Gen Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012, is struggling to navigate real-life sex and dating culture in a digital age, and research points to this generation having less sex. Now, their teenage counterparts will have less access to information about sex after parents’ rights groups successfully lobbied for a new law that restricts Texas schools from teaching sex education or providing student health services unless parents have specifically authorized it.
