DallasNews Corporation, the parent company of The Dallas Morning News, appears to be committed to “social justice.”
The company changed its name from the A.H. Belo Corporation in 2021 because of “the social justice movement underway in America” and to distance itself from its founder due to his allegedly “racist” past, according to a 2021 report by DMN.
“We are keenly aware that the relationship of our company’s name to a person who figured prominently in the Confederate Army is the source of discomfort, even pain, for many of our fellow citizens. And that is intolerable to the leaders of this enterprise,” former Belo CEO Robert Decherd said at the time during a quarterly conference call.
Relatedly, DallasNews Corporation has a stated commitment to “diversity, equity, and inclusion” on its webpage.
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded in the hiring, promotion, and development of our employees, in reaching diverse audiences with our content, and in choosing the companies with which we do business,” the page reads.
Decherd praised his company’s commitment to DEI before he left his position.
“I am proud of the progress the company made during 2021 — and continues to make — with regard to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This is a major focus of Grant [Moise], Katy [Murray], and our entire management team. DEI creates positive outcomes day in and day out as part of DallasNews Corporation’s ethos,” he said in a statement to shareholders in 2022.
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, DMN has been publicly criticized for its left-wing bias, so much so that one of its editors openly acknowledged the situation in the publication.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, DMN published an op-ed by public editor Stephen Buckley, who admitted the paper’s coverage was biased against right-leaning views.
“Our Education Lab team, overseen by editor Eva-Marie Ayala, covers a host of hot-button political issues, from school choice (education savings accounts) to culture-war controversies. Readers complain that sometimes conservative voices do not show up in those stories. I would agree,” Buckley wrote.
DMN’s bias has also been criticized by local leaders.
“Rags like The Dallas Morning News seem only able to focus on seeing racism in everything or shoving the debunked notion that there is such thing as ‘trans’ down everyone’s throat. Just look at their subscription numbers. Go woke. Go broke,” Tarrant County Republican Chairman Bo French previously told DX.
DX reached out to DallasNews Corporation CEO Grant Moise, but he was not available for comment.