Sharon Grigsby on Journalism, Justice, and the Power of Paying Attention

What does it mean to report with compassion in a culture driven by clicks and controversy? George Mason sits down with veteran journalist Sharon Grigsby to talk about her newest venture—The Lab Report Dallas—a bold, nonprofit newsroom rooted in data, equity, and solutions for reducing child poverty in Dallas. They reflect on her decades of writing with kindness and accountability, the changing landscape of media, and how Sharon’s own evolving faith informs her work and voice.

Sharon Grigsby is a longtime Dallas journalist, former metro columnist for The Dallas Morning News, and co-founder of The Lab Report Dallas, a new publication powered by the Child Poverty Action Lab.

Watch the video, here.

George (00:00):

Welcome to Good God, conversations that matter about faith and public Life. I'm your host George Mason, and I'm delighted to welcome to our conversation today, Sharon Grigsby. Uh, Sharon is senior writer and co-founder of a new publication in Dallas. Uh, she is a career journalist and we have known each other for more than 30 years, so we have a lot to catch up on. And, uh, but let's just start, Sharon, first of all, thank you for joining us, but let's start with what's new in your life and what you're about to do.

Sharon (00:33):

So I appreciate you having me. Yes. I'm excited about the things we're gonna talk about this morning. I do find it crazy that we met when I was in the middle of helping create what was the religion section at the Dallas Morning News back in 1994. . And here we are talking about something else new. Uh, as most people who read the morning news are aware, I left at the end of last year. . I am now working on a new publication. It will launch in probably the middle of the summer. It's called the Lab Report Dallas. It is powered and the brainchild of the Child Poverty Action Lab. And for people who don't know, CPAL as it's called, was founded in 2018. It's leader is Alan Cohen, and it uses data-driven research to try to solve problems that affect create child poverty in Dallas. I mean, the goal is an audacious one to end child poverty

George (01:50):

In our region. And it has been declining. Yes, sir.

Sharon (01:53):

It has

George (01:53):

As a result of these efforts as well.

Sharon (01:55):

Yes. CPAL is, um, very humble and never takes credit for that, but yes, it, I believe that it was one in four children living in poverty. . And that number has decreased somewhat. . So what happened was Alan approached myself and Matt Goodman, who is one of the best journalists in the area. He's most recently spent 10 years as a reporter and editor at D Magazine, and he approached us about creating something different. And what we'd call it is a magazine approach to trying to find answers to the city's biggest challenges. We are not gonna be here to tell people these are the answers. . We're hoping to spark the conversations Okay. That get to the answers. And I think it's important, there's been some misunderstanding that we are somehow going to be in competition with other news media in town, and that's totally not what we're doing. We are a tiny newsroom. We are just now hiring our third person. . We will be digital only. We will have weekly newsletters and a new site. Great. I do wanna put a plug in because we have kept such a low profile. If people wanna sign up for our newsletter, which is close to launching, you can do that@labreportdallas.com.

George (03:31):

Okay. Lab report dallas.com, and

Sharon (03:34):

You can reach me to my email, sharon@labreportdallas.com. Great.

George (03:42):

Sharon. Great.

Sharon (03:44):

And I wanna let you ask me, what's Mo most intrigues you about the lab report? I do wanna just mention we are independent of CPA, but we are funded by them. And perhaps more importantly, our goals, our themes align with what, at the end of the day is trying to reduce child poverty. So we're working on stories, Involving housing shortages, affordable housing shortages. . Homelessness, maternal and children's health. . We're looking at strong neighborhoods, how to make stronger neighborhoods. . We also though I talk a lot about challenges and problems we wanna provide that type of enterprise reporting, which is missing a lot as the media is more driven by finances and cliques, which kind of goes back to the religion section. Yeah. That said, we also are gonna be writing the kinds of stories that, you know, you have enjoyed me writing. Which are the profiles of people doing great things And things Dallas is getting It's all kind of motivated by how can we do better?

George (05:06):

Well, and that's also what we're doing in this conversation is, uh, profiles of people who are doing great things and, uh, inspiring us. And, and that would be you, Sharon. So thank you for all the ways that you have. Uh, I think, um, put a spotlight on what's right in our community, what is good, uh, and also at times, uh, opening our eyes to things that we otherwise wouldn't have recognized. Uh, I, I remember very keenly a conversation we had in, in my study, um, before you took the role of columnists. Yes,

Sharon (05:45):

Sir.

George (05:46):

And, uh, we, we talked about the shift that you were making from being in the newsroom, per se, to being a columnist. And what do you remember about that conversation?

Sharon (05:57):

I've had half a dozen of, probably some of the most meaningful conversations in this city have been with you in that room. Um, your studies where we talked about Ebola. Yeah. Yeah. We talked about CVID, we talked about the reaction to George, the George Floyd murder. That conversation was really important to me because I wasn't sure my style was right to be a columnist . And that co that conversation helped build what I think has been my brand because you were helpful in how I could be sharing and also get people to read me in a world where people wanna read controversy and sort of what can all the way go into clickbait. And I took faith there that I could be both hold people accountable, but that I could all also do it with generosity and kindness. Nice. And I really, I hope my last role at the morning news was as city columnist. And that in my metro columnist days, that was about seven years. And I hope I, if I did that, I'm pretty satisfied with that chapter.

George (07:22):

Well, I think a lot of people in this city, uh, would frequently say, have you read your Sharon? You know, uh, because that's kind. Yeah. We, we, uh, we did, uh, appreciate what you did and, uh, the, you know, the journalism world is a, a challenging one today. Of course. Uh, and we could sort of get off target, uh, about this conversation and go on and on about that. I, I do wanna come back to, uh, the lab report though, and speak about this shift and how it is like, and unlike what you have been doing in the past, what is it we should expect and hope for from the lab report that is different from opening our Dallas Morning news or our D magazine or other sources in town?

Sharon (08:09):

That's a good question. Um, couple of things. First, we have the freedom to not be the news site TV station. . Radio show of record. Yes. We will not be, you know, burdened by being in the daily scrum of this or that happened. Okay. You will be able to expect us to be in the significant issues and probably providing a very different take on those issues. Enterprise reporting, which of course you've been a reader long enough to remember when we had a much richer, I mean, when I think about just the resources I had in the religion section, much less when I was Metro editor, those, those resources don't exist anywhere in the country, really outside of a couple of places. Therefore, our focus is to fill that enterprise niche, that taking a step back, we aren't interested in being first with a story. Yes. We, we probably will be first with this or that . But we're interested in helping explain it. Like what is the why behind it? What can we learn from it? I think we will be visiting other cities and bringing back stories of best practices. I think we'll uncover stories here that I hope in my greatest dream and is that these, this journalism we do gets to the tables of the people in Dallas who have the voice, the power, the clout, the passion for change.

George (10:02):

Well, I, I think this is really important because in the work that we do at Faith Commons, for example, uh, we are trying to do some of the same type things with a very small staff and with, uh, interests that are so wide that it's hard to even stay focused. . But an example of what you're talking about would be the, um, the food desert problem that we have in Southern Dallas, uh, and in South Dallas in particular. Uh, but we, we now have, after several years of convening all the parties and the groups, uh, we, we now have, uh, the, the prospect of a Food plan Yes. For Dallas. And, uh, we know that Austin, Phoenix, Atlanta, places like that around the country have created regional food plans, city or county food plans, uh, for accessing healthy food, um, for producing it, for making it, um, uh, equitable.

George (11:08):

. In, in, uh, in, in, in, in improving the health of a community. And, uh, so you, you don't have to do it all yourself. You can learn from other places. And that's, I think part of what you're talking about. But, uh, but it's very difficult when you are a city council person or working for the city and you're, you, you, you don't have the resources to do the research Yes. To yes. To, to, and, and so I feel like this lab report may be a resource for politicians, for city staffers, uh, for people in the community who want to get engaged in some way. Yes. Uh, and that's an encouraging thing.

Sharon (11:47):

It is. And I think that gets close to some of the work we're gonna be doing. It reminds me, this is a good concrete example of what we're doing versus say, what I did in my past life, one of the most popular columns I wrote in 2024 was about a massive amount of money that the state of Texas turned down for to feed children. You probably remember that. Yes. And when I wrote that, and it had quite the provocative headline, you know, why the state of Texas turned down X to that would've fed hungry kids. Everybody wants to read that. Yes. I mean, everybody clicks on it. They have all sorts of different agendas for clicking on it. The story goes semi viral. But when I would turn around and write about solutions like what Faith Commons would be doing, or other good groups, those stories don't get the clicks. I would argue those are the stories that matter if we're going to make Dallas a better place for all kids to grow up. But they, but it finances, I mean, it's not like, it's not a simple matter of, of talking about clickbait, it's about for-profit. . Publications have to have that financial base.

George (13:18):

And this is also what we're witnessing now in the decline of newspapers nationwide and even of networks. I mean, with the news that the 60 Minutes executive producer re resigned yesterday because of the pressure from the Trump administration, uh, on, uh, the editorial, uh, policies of 60 Minutes and CBS in the, in light of the fact that that CBS is being sold. Yes. And, uh, so there's all of these dynamics that are coming into play, but in, in doing so, uh, the business of, of, of media is, uh, eclipsing in some ways the, uh, actual mission of media. Yes. And, uh, I think people don't fully realize that with the atomization of news sources . Uh, the, the competition for interest and for attention is, is great. And, uh, the, the need, the need to find your niche, you know? Yes. And, and be able to be profitable is, uh, becoming even greater. So the idea that you can be funded in a way that gives you freedom to be able to speak and give us information without people having to worry about what the agenda is. Uh, is, is really a, an important step I think, in this process.

Sharon (14:57):

I agree with that. And I think that while I don't wanna speak for Alan Cohen . He, um, he is concerned about the very things you reference in terms of making sure that good data driven . Rigorous reporting isn't lost. In this sort of free fall that news has been in really for the last 15 years. Yeah. And I think that's part of why he has chosen to extend C Pal's mission Okay. To funding this. . I also believe that there is so much misinformation out there. I know Alan thinks this as well as does Matt . And while we are not going to be the fact checkers . Of other media, our hope is that just by putting really good quality journalism about significant issues . That aren't like what in the back in the day we called sexy issues, or that, you know, drove headlines, that doing that kind of journalism, getting that into the ecosystem at least takes up some of the space that misinformation and, and information with agendas is taking up now.

Sharon (16:29):

Because I would say our agenda, one thing we do not want to wade into politics. That's one thing we won't be doing, but our agenda is very much at the end of the day, how do our stories potentially affect child poverty in Dallas? Well, and I also just, excuse me, wanna also say, given the anxiety that nonprofit and other organizations have been in since the inauguration, right, That has changed. The environment has changed massively. Yes. Between the time that I took this job and the time we will launch. Yes. And we are still figuring out what that will mean for our publication in terms of what we tackle. I do want the nonprofits and the people who have been out there toiling forever. To know that we see them, we see those difficulties. That's

George (17:30):

Well, I do think that you're, you're So just to, to clarify for people what that means is nonprofits, uh, like for-profit businesses still depend upon resources, uh, in order to function. They may not, uh, be trying to turn a profit, but they are trying to meet a budget, and in doing so, they recognize that they are being scrutinized. Uh, and if they seem, uh, to be acting contrary to the political, uh, whims of the time, uh, then, you know, there are threats of removing tax exempt status, there are concerns about donors thinking that they have become too aggressive. Correct. And so the tendency is to tamp down your advocacy and play it safe, but that's actually not what nonprofits are supposed to be doing to function in our society. They're supposed to be in that space that is, uh, operating on a moral basis.

George (18:39):

Correct. Not necessarily on a, a partisan basis. . That's it. To, to remind everyone publicly of what's at stake for us in the common good. And, uh, so, uh, I, I think this is part of what you were doing for years in your, uh, in your journalism and your columnist work. Uh, so let, let me ask you this though, because a lot of nonprofits are faith-based . The work you're doing is not faith-based. It's, uh, you know, uh, it's, I I hate to use the word secular because people misunderstand that, but it's not, uh, a faith driven, uh, uh, a publication or, uh, organization. Uh, but at the same time, Sharon, you and I have talked through the years about how faith is an animating force . And an inspirational, uh, drive for you, uh, in the work that you do. And I wonder if you could articulate that, because part of the reason we have good God is, uh, to, to have this idea of the common good being, uh, aided by our sense of faith. And how those intersect. Can you tell us about that for you?

Sharon (19:51):

Yes. Um, from a more global standpoint, I'll say that as you well know, and I suspect many of the people listening or watching today, that some of the best work that happens in Dallas emanates from places of worship . And I learned that if not, if I didn't already know it, I learned it in spades when I was the religion editor. And I've never lost that passion for lifting up those types of stories. . Lots of bad happens, but one thing that concerns me is how we are so quick as a media industry to cover the bad that happens in places of worship. And, and because again, it drives headlines. It does. Yeah. As opposed to the good that is going on. I think that this goes off a little on a tangent, but that media has a role in sort of the demonizing of religion, but that's probably a topic for another day. Yeah. As far as my, how I commit this personally, you know, we've had part of this conversation so long ago, you wouldn't even remember, but I was raised in two different Protestant denominations growing up. Um, I taught Sunday school at a downtown Dallas church when my kids were young, but over the last 20 plus years, I laughingly, um, told you recently that, well, mine is sort of like funky faith <laugh>, which I appreciated you not saying. Oh, that sounds terrible. Yeah. But, um,

Sharon (21:38):

I sort of have a, my faith is a mashup . Of a number of faith traditions. I think a lot of that comes from my days as religion editor . Because we tried our best to be respectful, equally respectful, Of every valid faith tradition. And we had a large tent for what valid meant. And so it's a mashup of a lot of traditions. I think I would most closely identify with Buddhism. . I also identify a lot with the spirituality from what, from the recovery program that I've been in for more than 20 years. . That frankly saved my life in a way that, um, traditional religion maybe wasn't helping me at the time. . And, and so like I tell people my mantra is, is, you know, be mindful. Don't clinging this too shall pass. That's sort of in a nutshell, who I am,

George (22:49):

That that has a lot of Buddhists, uh, uh, teaching in it. That's But, but being mindful is about being aware of what's happening in your body. Yes. What's, what your desires are. What, uh, is influencing you, what you find yourself, uh, you, you mentioned clinging to, but that, that's, that has to do with attachments. Uh, and the, the ways that how do we experience freedom, uh, a a kind of spiritual centeredness that can accept the fact that we can order the world by our own intentions, just in every way we wish. It doesn't excuse us for not being engaged, but there is a certain acceptance, right?

Sharon (23:45):

Yes. . Absolutely. It, I pray and I meditate every day. . . And my personal God sometimes that the, that name is the universe, , A lot of times it's grace. Okay. It's just the grace . Of life. Sometimes it's God, lately it's been great, benevolent, unknown. Okay. Because that just seems to sort of be what I'm comfortable with. But here's what it, it doesn't really matter the name as much as like, I know something large is in charge . And that's not me. Yes. And I find that like, I mean, first of all, let me be real clear. I fail at this stuff every day and I have to just have a lot of humor around it. Okay. Yeah. Um, but I have found with equanimity, which of course is sort of when acceptance is really trucking along well . That, that allows me to really listen and be in the moment and respond rather than react. Yes. And all of those things I know make me a more open, compassionate vessel Wonderful. For doing work. Wonderful. So it's, you can hear lots of different things, um, in all of that, but it comes together to just, I try, I feel so inadequate, but I try to do my best. Whatever the story is I'm trying to tell, or the group I'm trying to lift up, I just try to do it, you know, with that accountability and yet with that kindness.

George (25:55):

Well, Sharon Grigsby, you, uh, have inspired a lot of us over the years, and I think one of the takeaways is to say to people, you don't have to have it all figured out in order to weigh in. Uh, do the best you can. Trust that God, by whatever name and understanding, uh, has your interest at heart as well as the goodness of the world. And then, uh, you know, do what you can. You've been a happy warrior, as I like to say, uh, for a long time. Yeah. In our community. And we're grateful for your service and for the way you've made us better. Thank you for being on. Good God.

Sharon (26:36):

Thanks so much. That's really too kind. Great.