Thread by @sewellchan

On Tuesday afternoon, my @TexasTribune colleagues were covering the primary runoff. A few were recovering from COVID. Several young parents were excited about the end of the school year. Everyone looked forward to the holiday weekend. Then came news of Uvalde.

My colleagues scrambled. In just three days our nonprofit newsroom—a few dozen journalists who mostly cover politics and policy—has published 30 articles on the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.

We’ve dived heavily into policy, explaining why a state that’s been the site 8 mass shootings in 13 years has repeatedly loosened gun laws. texastribune.org/2022/05/24/tex…

We explored the numbing cycle of grief, outrage and inaction that numerous communities have moved through over the past two decades. texastribune.org/2022/05/24/tex…

We tried to reveal the dignity and resilience of a grieving, majority-Latino city of 16,000 known for its faith—and capacity to forgive. texastribune.org/2022/05/25/uva…

We noted that Texas leaders haven’t come forward with any real policy proposals, as they promised to do after mass shootings in Sutherland Springs (2017), Santa Fe (2018) and El Paso (2019).

texastribune.org/2022/05/25/uva…

We explained why an 18-year-old in Texas can buy an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, but not a handgun or a can of beer. texastribune.org/2022/05/26/gun…

We catalogued the ways people can help the victims and survivors of this tragedy, and their families.

texastribune.org/2022/05/25/uva…

We sought out small details about the 21 victims — most of them Latino schoolchildren, 9 or 10 years old — and their accomplishments, their interests and their aspirations. texastribune.org/2022/05/25/uva…

Several of my colleagues struggled to explain to their own children—grade-schoolers wrapping up a third school year disrupted by COVID—what had happened in Uvalde. More than a few wept as they worked.

texastribune.org/2022/05/25/Tex…

Hundreds of journalists have crowded Uvalde; they outnumber (by an order of magnitude) the number of Texas journalists on the ground. The @TexasTribune is not going to let up on this story—we will keep reporting after the camera crews have left.

My colleagues—most of them Texans, early in their journalism careers—inspire me every day. Wherever you live, please consider supporting local, independent, nonprofit journalism. America needs much more of it. findyournews.org/campaign/inn-n…