Rio Grande Guardian celebrates its 20th Anniversary!

I would like to personally thank everyone who has wished us a happy anniversary. There have been so many of you on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Thank you!

20 years! Who would have believed it? What a ride.

I remember when we launched, in the summer of 2005, another news media entrepreneur in the Rio Grande Valley said: “You’ll never make it. The Valley is not ready for online news.” He strongly believed in print.

The guy was right. The Valley was not ready. I remember when we launched, some cities did not even have a website. San Juan and Alamo spring to mind.

I owe a lot to my former partner, Melinda Barrera. She really believed we could make it, even without a safety net. We have no reserves. Just a belief that we could bring some of the folks that read my stories in Quorum Report’s Border Buzz with me. We brought about 100 with us and they paid $189 for a one-year subscription. Do the math. Our projected income was $18,900 per year!

Rio Grande Guardian co-founder Melinda Barrera is pictured with then-Congressman Solomon Ortiz of Corpus Christi.

The late, great, Treto Garza (left) had a popular and influential column in the Rio Grande Guardian’s early days: Veteran’s Voice.

We covered America’s Last Patrol a lot in the early days of the Rio Grande Guardian, including their famous march to San Antonio in the fight for a Veteran’s Hospital.

Melinda believed in the publication so much she sold her only vehicle, an Isuzu Rodeo, to pay for the creation of the website. The website was built by three programmers, one based in the Texas Hill Country, one in London, and one in Armenia. We have always had an international flavor. 

Melinda had no doubts we could make it. I did! She also came up with our name, Rio Grande Guardian. For two reasons, she knew I was a stringer for the U.K. Guardian during the 1997 general election and she thought our publication could be help be the guardian of the border region. (Our good friend Patricia Fogarty came up with the moniker International News Service on our 10th Anniversary.)

So, on a wing and a prayer we set off. I bumped into Valley broadcaster Ron Whitlock outside McAllen Post Office and told him what we were doing. He got out his checkbook and paid the Guardian’s very first subscription – $189! 

Soon thereafter we started getting calls asking if we would take ads. The first such inquiry was from the Corpus Christi Convention Center. We said no, we exist solely on subscriptions, with all of our content hidden behind a paywall.

Two years into this crazy project we took the paywall down and started taking ads. It was clearly a better business model. Apart from a wonderful infusion of funds from a benefactor that was about to emigrate to Italy, we have lived and died on advertising revenue ever since.

Veteran broadcaster Ron Whitlock is pictured interviewing Bill Summers, legendary leader of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership, outside the state Capitol in Austin.

Economic development leaders Keith Patridge of McAllen and Pat Townsend of Mission.

Bill and Melinda Gates are pictured on a visit to a school in Hidalgo, Texas.

As longtime readers will know, our news mix has evolved. Because I was based in Austin initially, our early coverage was focused largely on the Legislature. But in 2007 I got my wish to move to the Valley and a lot of our coverage became community-based. We were often the only English-language media outlet that would cover the colonia groups, though obviously not was well as the brilliant Spanish-language newspapers and televisions stations we had at the time.

It was only when I moved to Reynosa in 2011 that I realized how important international trade was to our economy. To see all the trucks going back and forth across the Pharr Bridge was a sight to behold. Increasingly fascinated by border business, I decided that would be the sector to cover most. So, I helped steer us in that direction from 2013 onwards.

La Unión del Pueblo Entero leaders protest the border wall.

Hurricane Dolly was a big story in 2008. Lots of areas were flooded, including San Carlos.

Texas Civil Rights Project founder James Harrington honors Sister Marian Strohmeyer.

By the way, all the photos attached to this story are from 2007 and 2008. The reason we have nothing from before that time is this: One, we did not take photos in the early days. What was the point of taking photos of committee hearings at the Capitol? Second, our first web development team deleted all the early editions of the e-paper. So, I do not think we have anything from before 2008. 

But enough about yesterday. I want to look forward. I firmly believe our best days are ahead of us. We have a great team. We have a great partnership with Non-Profit TV, which allows our news stories to go out in the public venue space all across Texas. Thank you, Anthony!!! We are doing more video stories – thank you, again, Anthony! And we are forming incredible partnerships in the tech sphere, which I know will pay dividends. 

Chad Foster, the former Eagle Pass Mayor and chairman of the Texas Border Coalition.

Manuel Benavidez, founding member of the South Texas College board of trustees.

Dolia Gonzalez, mother of U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Alfredo “Freddy” Gonzalez, is honored by local and state dignitaries.

So, I cannot wait for the next part of the voyage. 

I want to thank all the readers and viewers, the reporters that have played their part, all the administrative staff, the spectacularly talented Mayra Moreno of Elephant Trunk Design, and all the sponsors and supporters that have made this journey possible. There are obviously too many to mention but I think you know who you are.

Thank you!

Steve Taylor

Editor & Publisher

Rio Grande Guardian International News Service

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