Austin Chronicle

About Austin Chronicle

The Austin Chronicle is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1981 by Nick Barbaro and Louis Black, it is owned by the Austin Chronicle Corp. and published at austinchronicle.com. Distributed free through newsstands across the city, the paper covers local and state news alongside Austin's food, film, theater, art, and music communities.

With a progressive point of view and an irreverent voice, the Chronicle has become an institution of Austin culture. Its founders also co-founded the South by Southwest festival, linking the newspaper's history to one of the most influential cultural events in America.

Founding in 1981

The Chronicle was co-founded in 1981 by Nick Barbaro and Louis Black, with assistance from others who largely met through the graduate film studies program at the University of Texas at Austin. Barbaro served as publisher and Black as editor. The paper was initially published biweekly and later moved to a weekly schedule.

The first issue of the Chronicle was distributed on September 4, 1981. Its precursor in style and format was the Austin Sun, a biweekly alternative paper that had ceased operations in 1978 after four years of publication. The Chronicle inherited the Sun's countercultural spirit while building a more durable business.

University roots

The founders' connection through the University of Texas film studies program shaped the paper's early identity. Black was a music and movie enthusiast whose critical voice defined the paper's cultural coverage, while Barbaro provided the publishing and business leadership that kept the enterprise viable.

The paper emulates the typical publications of the 1960s counterculture movement, and it is part of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia. It operates as a profit-oriented business that receives its income from advertising, and its reporters check official sources in their reporting.

The South by Southwest connection

Barbaro and Black are also co-founders of the South by Southwest festival, although the festival operates as a separate company. In July 1986, organizers of the New York City music festival New Music Seminar contacted Roland Swenson, a staffer at the Chronicle, about extending their festival into Austin. When those plans did not materialize, Swenson organized a local music festival with the help of Black and Barbaro, along with booking agent Louis Meyers.

Black came up with the name South by Southwest as a play on the Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest. The first festival was held in March 1987 with about 700 attendees, far exceeding the organizers' expectations, and it grew into a global phenomenon spanning music, film, and interactive media.

Editorial voice and coverage

With a progressive point of view and irreverent voice, the Chronicle covers local and state news as well as Austin's cultural communities. The paper endorses candidates in local elections and has been known for its left-wing, pro-environmental viewpoint.

The paper's film critics, including Marjorie Baumgarten, Marc Savlov, and Kimberley Jones, are members of the Austin Film Critics Association. The Chronicle's music coverage has documented Austin's evolution as the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world.

Best of Austin

The paper's annual "Best of Austin" Awards, along with the "Best of Austin: Restaurants" Awards, are among its most popular features. Readers and staff vote on the city's best restaurants, bars, musicians, venues, and local personalities, producing a yearly snapshot of Austin culture.

Other annual features include cut-out masks for Halloween, the April Fools' edition, and a short story contest. These traditions have made the Chronicle a participatory institution in Austin's civic and cultural life, engaging readers well beyond news consumption.

Hot Sauce Festival

The Chronicle produces the annual Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival, normally held in early September. The festival celebrates hot sauce makers and spicy food culture, drawing thousands of attendees to sample sauces from commercial and amateur producers.

The Hot Sauce Festival reflects the paper's talent for creating community events that extend its brand beyond the printed page. Like the Best of Austin awards, it reinforces the Chronicle's role as a convener of Austin's cultural life.

Digital expansion

In 2006, the Chronicle launched two staff-written blogs: Chronic, irreverently covering local, state, and national news and politics, and The Score, providing sports coverage not found in the print edition. The paper's website, austinchronicle.com, serves as its digital home.

The newspaper reported a weekly readership of 545,500 in 2001. The paper is distributed through free newsstands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demographic. Its headquarters are at 4000 North IH-35 in Austin.

Leadership transition

In March 2025, Nick Barbaro, who had been publisher for 43 years, retired. Cassidy Frazier was named as the new publisher. Barbaro remained as president of the Austin Chronicle Corporation, ensuring continuity in the paper's ownership and mission.

The transition marked the end of an era for the paper, as Barbaro had guided it from its founding through more than four decades of Austin's transformation from a college town into a major technology and cultural center. Kimberley Jones serves as editor.

Role in Austin culture

For more than four decades, the Austin Chronicle has served as the alternative voice of Austin, chronicling the city's music scene, its political battles, its growth debates, and its cultural eccentricities. Its endurance as an independent, locally owned weekly distinguishes it in an era of newspaper consolidation.

The paper's ISSN is 1074-0740, and its circulation has been reported at approximately 65,000. Through its print edition, website, events, and festivals, the Chronicle remains woven into the daily life of Austin, the city whose creative culture it helped to define and document.

Endorsements and political influence

The Chronicle endorses candidates in local elections, a practice that gives it direct influence on Austin politics. Its endorsements in city council, mayoral, and county races are closely watched, and its progressive editorial stance has shaped the terms of debate in one of Texas's most liberal cities.

The paper's political coverage extends to state government, where its reporters cover the Texas Legislature and statewide offices from an Austin perspective. Its irreverent voice and willingness to challenge authority have made it essential reading for the city's political class.

The Chronicle has been known for a left-wing, pro-environmental, and growth-weary viewpoint, positioning it at the center of Austin's long-running debates over development. As the city transformed from a college town into a technology hub, the paper chronicled the tensions between growth and livability that defined modern Austin.

Its coverage of land use, transportation, affordability, and environmental protection has given voice to residents concerned about the pace and character of change. In a city where growth has been the dominant story for four decades, the Chronicle's skeptical perspective has served as a counterweight to boosterism.

The Chronicle's founders met in the basement of The Daily Texan, the University of Texas student newspaper, where their shared love of music and film took shape in Austin's punk clubs and independent venues. That student-journalism lineage helps explain the paper's enduring connection to young, culturally engaged readers.

The paper is published in tabloid format and distributed free, a model it has maintained since 1981. Its headquarters at 4000 North IH-35 in Austin houses the newsroom that produces the weekly print edition, the website, and the paper's events. The Chronicle's ISSN is 1074-0740, and its decades of bound volumes constitute an archive of Austin's cultural and political history.