In November and December of 2024, the Dallas Morning News ran several editorials that admitted to a widening gap between residents’ wishes and city leaders’ priorities.
Dallas city elite Katy Murray, board chair of Downtown Dallas Inc. (DDI) and a top executive of DallasNews Corporation’s Dallas Morning News, is at the center of such a divide.
During her tenure at DDI, the nonprofit that runs Dallas’ public improvement district, downtown has suffered a historic spike in violent crime.
The organization’s own reporting shows that violent crime increased by a whopping 42% downtown, with both the victims of crime and downtown’s business reputation suffering. This increase is no fly-by-night statistic; it was a review of crime downtown over five years ending in 2024.
In recent meetings, reports indicate that Murray has defended the status quo approach despite reports of concern from downtown businesses and landowners.
That same report also indicates that “growth in crime and disorder downtown has coincided with loss of value downtown and slowed residential growth.”
Fears are peaked because of the public departure of prominent downtown tenants, many of whom are moving just a few blocks away, where the Uptown Dallas Public Improvement District has overseen a recent explosion of growth.
Meanwhile, the newspaper Murray’s company controls—The Dallas Morning News—attacked public safety reformers and pushed back against the citizen-backed Dallas HERO initiatives, two of the three of which were passed by voters this past November.
While Murray’s tenure over the DDI board continues the spiraling safety disaster, DallasNews Corporation faces NASDAQ delisting, financial instability, and controversy for allegedly abusing H-1B visas.