Summary: Evan Smith, CEO and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, joins Ben Domenech in studio to talk state politics, digital media, Ted Cruz, and Texas as a battleground state. The state of Texas has significant ties to issues like healthcare, immigration, gun control, oil, and the many of the most recent Supreme Court cases. Everything that is meaningful in this country from a public policy standpoint really starts in Texas and migrates out to the rest of the country, or starts somewhere but hits Texas with a particularly loud thud, Smith said. Smith discussed The Texas Tribunes approach to new media and how theyve navigated success and failure in todays journalism. The media has faulted on its responsibility to grab people by the collar and to tell them, This is important. Pay attention, he said. I think our success has been in part betting that if we did tell people to pay attention, that they would. Later in the hour, Smith shares stories from his interviews with Senator Ted Cruz, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, and how Texas politics have been impacted by Donald Trump.
