Austin Vida is a digital news and culture site that amplifies, informs, and celebrates the Latinidad of our local community with culturally-competent news that centers the voices of nuestra gente.
NANCY FLORES
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
An award-winning local journalist, Nancy Flores leads Austin Vida as its editor and publisher. She’s the founder of Cultura Media, Austin Vida’s umbrella organization, and was recently named one of “Austin’s Top Latina Entrepreneurs to Watch,” by the digital news outlet Austonia (now called ATXtoday).
Nancy grew up in the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, and is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. She has specialized in writing about underrepresented Central Texas communities, most recently reporting for the Austin American-Statesman and Austin360. Her contributions to Austin’s Latino community recently earned her the Award of Excellence in Media Arts from the city’s Mexican American Cultural Center. In 2019, Remezcla named her among the nation’s “Latino Columnists You Should Be Reading.”
Nancy revived and reimagined Austin Vida during the pandemic to amplify, inform and celebrate the Latinidad of our local community with culturally-competent news and culture that centers the voices of nuestra gente.
A graduate of St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, Nancy received a College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) scholarship, and earned a BA in Communication with a Minor in English Writing.
She’s also an alumna of the Hispanic Austin Leadership Program, the Google News Startup Bootcamp program, the Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media program presented by Poynter and The Washington Post, and was part of the inaugural cohort of the Tiny News Collective, which continues to serve as Austin Vida’s nonprofit fiscal sponsor.
Nancy served on the board of directors for the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and helped relaunch its local Central Texas chapter. She is the founding president of the St. Edward’s University College Assistance Migrant Program Alumni Association.
OUR MISSION:
Austin Vida empowers our community by amplifying our stories, events and cultura. Latinos make up about 33% of Austin’s population. We are a big part of the community’s rich history, present and future. Our historias should not be ignored.
Our journalism focuses on solutions and allows our comunidad, which is underserved and underrepresented in U.S. media, to see ourselves represented in the larger story of Austin.
By centering nuestras voces, we aim to not only raise awareness of our diverse experiences but offer a more accurate and holistic representation of our community. We believe our cultura should not be an afterthought. And through our stories, we strive to create a sense of belonging.
OUR VALUES:
Austin Vida stories uphold the dignity of bicultural Austinites. Among our values:
Community-centric: Our stories will be fundamentally informed by the comunidad. Austin Vida will also serve as a platform for our community to tell its own stories and shape its own narratives.
Nuance: We believe nuance is important to accurately convey the diverse experiences across our Latinidad.
Solutions-based: We value reporting that seeks possible solutions to some of the problems facing Austin.
OUR ORIGIN STORY:
In the midst of a global pandemic in 2020, award-winning local journalist Nancy Flores began reviving and reimagining Austin Vida. Today, the digital Latinx news and culture site aims to amplify, inform and celebrate the Latinidad of the Austin community with culturally-competent news that centers the voices of nuestra gente.
Originally formed in 2007, Austin Vida initially operated as a Latin music promotions company created by Brian Stubbs to highlight Austin’s live Latin music scene and boost cultural awareness in the Live Music Capital of the World.
In January 2009, Austin Vida evolved into a lifestyle and entertainment magazine under the ownership of Ian Morales. The online publication covered the local Latin music scene, touring Latin music acts, as well as art, film and community news. It ceased publication in 2015, and later stopped producing Latin music showcases throughout the city.
Now, Austin Vida has new life under news entrepreneur Nancy Flores, as the Latina-led and -owned publication evolves to serve the next generation of bicultural Austinites.
It aims to expand by bringing solutions-based journalism that centers the voces of Austin’s comunidad while continuing its legacy of music journalism.
Austin Vida was part of the inaugural cohort of the Tiny News Collective, which aims to support voices historically excluded from media and media ownership. Austin Vida was selected among six organizations across the country to bring needed local news and information to their communities. TNC, the Google News Initiative and the League of United American Citizens provided our initial funding, but have zero involvement in our editorial decisions. Neither will any of our funders in the future.
Austin Vida is also a proud member of Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers, the Tiny News Collective, and the Indiegraf network.
ADVISORY BOARD
Laura Donnelly: Co-Founder of Latinitas, Austin’s only bilingual STEM education nonprofit.
Travers Johnson: Founder of Queerency, a leading source of LGBTQ+ business news.
Denise Soler Cox: Co-Founder of Project Eñye, Speaker, Filmmaker, Author.
OUR EDITORIAL POLICY AND TRANSPARENCY:
While Austin Vida accepts donations and support from individuals and organizations, our editorial direction is defined internally. As such, there is a firewall between money accepted by Austin Vida and the specific stories and articles we publish. We may accept financial support for reporting on specific topics or coverage areas, but we determine what the coverage looks like and retain full rights to and editorial control of stories.
Quotes or paragraphs may be shared with sources for accuracy, but we never share full stories with anyone outside of our organization prior to publication.
Austin Vida created this policy in accordance with standards developed by the Institute for Nonprofit News. We also adhere to the code of ethics of the Society for Professional Journalists.
CORRECTIONS:
We acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly. We explain corrections and clarifications carefully and clearly.
WHAT OUR GENTE IS SAYING:
When we set out to launch a new chapter of Austin Vida, we first sought the input of various community members to learn more about the comunidad’s information needs. Here’s a sampling of what we’ve been hearing and why we are pushing forward with Austin Vida’s mission:
“I’ve always felt there was a huge gap in the media landscape that focuses on the Latino experience. I believe that’s how I was introduced to Austin Vida in the first place, as I sought out more community voices that aligned closer to mine.”
“It’s hard to find stories that celebrate me. If there are no stories that celebrate me, then it’s hard for the general public to do so.”
WE’RE MAKING HEADLINES:
The Daily Texan
Austonia (now called ATXToday)
Austonia (now called ATXToday)
“We asked Latina Entrepreneur Academy Winners Business Advice, Here’s What They Said”
Southwest Key
“Spotlight on Nancy Flores and Austin Vida for International Women’s Day”
Freestyle Languages
La Voz
Latinitas Magazine Podcast
Fronteriza Radio show on KOOP 91.7 FM
Axios Austin
