TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION TEXAS PRESS ASSOCIATION. The Texas Press
Association is a statewide professional organization of weekly,
semi-weekly and daily newspapers published in the state of
Texas. It was founded by a group of seventy-seven journalists
who met on May 19, 1880, at the Hutchins House in Houston. The
purpose of the association is to provide members with a forum
for discussing the legal and economic problems that face
newspapers as businesses, to promote the welfare and rights of
the Texas press, and to speak out on issues of public concern
such as education and government. Following the resolution of a
dispute over voting rights between owners and editors, members
at the first meeting elected J. W. Fishburn of the Mexia Ledger
to be the first president and agreed to meet again in 1881.
Early conventions of the TPA reflected the hard times facing
many of Texas journalists, along with confrontations arising
from the political and moral climate of the state. Attendance
and membership varied greatly be