It’s believed that the Texas Observer went online in 1997. In those days, the Observer called the website the “Down Home Page”—presumably a play on the term “home page”—and offered visitors a guestbook to sign, a free copy of the magazine, and a survey that “could influence the future appearance and content of the Observer web page. Maybe.”
Subjects visitors could read online included Corporate Watch, Legislative Watch, Radical Right Watch, and a statement of intention: “We are not alone. At least, that’s what we tell ourselves. It’s not always easy being a hell-raising, muck-raking progressive journal—in fact, sometimes it’s downright lonely. That’s why we keep this collection of sites for Observer faithfuls.”
A lot has changed since then, but we still view our work as mission driven: we strive to make Texas a more equitable place by exposing injustice through investigative journalism, narrative storytelling, and cultural coverage.
