About Us

If you want to know what's happening in Dallas, keep your eye on the Observer. Since our founding in 1980, we’ve grown from a small weekly newspaper to a major force in this city, known for our hard-edged investigative stories about government, politics and business, as well as our pointed, provocative coverage of sports, music, restaurants and the arts.

Thanks to our early commitment to digital journalism, dallasobserver.com draws more than 1 million monthly active users, while, every Thursday, 25,000 print copies land on newsstands around the city. Our annual Best of Dallas issue is a must-read for residents and visitors alike, and our Top 100 Restaurants and Top 100 Bars lists have become the definitive source for exploring the city’s dynamic dining and drinking scene.

Embracing change

In the late 1990s, we were among the first alt-weeklies to commit to digital journalism, restructuring our workflow to publish stories web-first and creating the highly popular "Unfair Park" news blog. That decision turned us into something we'd never been: a daily newsroom. Another change occurred in 2013, when a group of longtime employees purchased the Observer's parent company, Voice Media Group, from its original owners, whose success in Phoenix had led them to build the nation's largest chain of alternative weekly publications.

One result of the Observer's forward-looking approach was a growing number of readers who didn't necessarily live in the Dallas area or Texas, but who appreciated what we were doing. Whereas in the early days of print our distribution was limited to DFW –– thanks to those signature red-and-yellow newsracks! –– our stories were now available to anyone with an internet connection.

Celebrating Dallas culture

From the beginning the Observer was about more than hard news. We also believe in celebrating Dallas culture, covering our city's music, arts and dining scenes with the same attention to detail that we devote to our news stories. We've given you concert reviews to save you from bro-country and celebrated homegrown talent with our Dallas Observer Music Awards Showcase.

We're the publication whose former editor-in-chief, Julie Lyons, wrote what may be the definitive story about the city's tragic 1990s crack wars; where Megan Feldman provided the nation's first account of immigrants traveling north on the dreaded 'El Tren de la Muerte'; where Jim Schutze made a sport of laying bare the pretensions of the local power elite, from boondoggles like the Trinity River Toll Road to the city's bizarre crusade against Jim's Car Wash.

Innovation stems from talent

Talent is one thing the Observer has always had in abundance. Our music and arts sections have long offered the city's sharpest perspective on Dallas culture thanks to writers like Eva Raggio and Paige Skinner. In 1994, our film critic Matt Zoller Seitz was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize (but of course we also covered the drive-in side of the world with Joe Bob Briggs). In 2013 our Alice Laussade won a James Beard Journalism Award for her "Cheap Bastard" columns; she's since been joined in the Beardian ranks by our former food editor Hanna Raskin, now at the Post & Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, where she remains a highly influential voice on the nation's restaurant scene.

Seven Observer writers have been finalists in the Livingston Awards, the country's most prestigious honor for young journalists; in 2007, Megan Feldman and Jesse Hyde both snagged the honor. And thanks to our stubbornly irreverent commitment to mocking the mighty, parody is still legal in the state of Texas.

Reader-Supported Journalism

We exist for the community. And since our membership program launched in 2020, we are supported by it. A growing community of Dallas Observer members support our newsroom by giving any amount, either through a one-time gift or recurring membership. These funds allow us to continue our mission of providing free journalism to Dallas and the surrounding communities. We are less reliant on advertisers to support us in a competitive industry and also less reliant on the uncontrollable, changing search and social algorithms to reach readers. If you value our work, support it by contributing any amount to become a member.

Helping business owners thrive

As part of Voice Media Group, V Digital Services serves as our in-house resource for business owners seeking success in the digital space. As a full-service media and marketing company, we make advertising simple for business owners by using practical thinking, effective strategies, and our wide portfolio of digital and traditional marketing options to help clients stand out in a competitive and changing environment. VDS is a Google Premier Partner, meaning it’s among the top 3 percent of Google Partners in the country. Its certified specialists excel in local and organic SEO, paid media, social media management, web development and pay-per-click advertising.

Also a part of the Voice Media group portfolio, V Audience Labs is our marketing technology solution that enables companies to better connect, control, and activate data to transform customer experiences and generate more valuable business outcomes.

Today we’re an integral part of the DFW Metroplex. And our sense of humor remains intact.