We are excited to announce that Melissa Barragán Taboada will be the inaugural editor-in-chief for our new, expanded local newsroom launching this fall.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to help launch this newsroom and to be part of building a community-centered publication from the ground up,” Melissa said about her new role. “Austin is home — it’s where we raised our sons, built lasting roots, and where my heart has always been. I want to live and serve in the city I love.”
Prior to joining the Globe in May 2021, Melissa spent more than two decades as a reporter and editor at the Austin American-Statesman, where she launched two local newspapers in nearby communities. She has also served as an adjunct journalism professor at her alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin.
For the past four years, Melissa has served as editor of The Boston Globe’s Great Divide team, investigating educational inequities throughout Massachusetts and leading coverage of Boston’s school desegregation and the state’s special-education system. Under her tenure, the team has won multiple national awards, including an Edward R. Murrow Award that recognized the newsroom for its overall excellence. She has been honored with National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ New England’s Impact Award and was recently recognized with an Amplify Latinx’s ALX100 award.
Starting Sept. 30, Melissa will develop and execute an expanded, ambitious editorial vision focused on closing information gaps, fostering strategic collaborations with other organizations and serving the needs of a growing Austin region. She’ll work with Joel Gross, general manager of the new Austin newsroom, and longtime news editor Liz Pagano to create a team that will deliver on that goal. Our new community-focused newsroom will combine the Monitor’s deep roots in local reporting with the Tribune’s award-winning journalism and reach, thanks to our recent acquisition.
In keeping with our dedication and unwavering commitment to serve the community, we invite you to add your voice to our reader survey and directly influence how the new newsroom will serve Austin.
Stay tuned for more upcoming announcements about our new newsroom. For now, please join us in welcoming Melissa back to Austin.
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