February 22, 2005

Selby Shatters His Own Record
with New Statesman Assignment

Gardner Selby is leaving his job with the San Antonio Express-News. The good news for his readers in San Antonio is that the newspaper isn't folding any time soon.

Gardner Selby

Those are pretty tall words considering that the new hire will be replacing a Pulitzer Prize winner in Ken Herman, a former Selby teammate who moved to the Austin paper's Washington bureau last year. Not counting a stint at the long-defunct Third Coast magazine, Selby has reported on state politics and government for at least four daily newspapers in Texas. One of those - the Dallas Times-Herald - bit the dust about a year after he left. Another - the Houston Post - closed suddenly one day without warning while he was still laboring alongside Herman in the Austin bureau.

Born in London, England, Selby moved to Austin with his family in 1966 - and his first tour of duty at the Texas Capitol came when he went to work for the Beaumont Enterprise in 1983. By the time Selby took his first job with a San Antonio-based newspaper four years ago, the Light had already gone under. So there would be no strike three in that regard. No Gardner jinx.

Unless you count John Sharp. In the wake of the Post's instant demise, Selby went to work for Sharp in the Comptroller's office. But Sharp didn't fare much better than the two previous newspaper employers, losing to Rick Perry in the lieutenant governor's race in 1998.

The number two papers in Dallas and Houston didn't die, of course, because of Selby. They were more likely to win awards with Selby on the political beat, thanks to his tenacious, sometimes abrasive style, natural instincts and a better-than-average ability to see the more interesting stories between the lines of the news that every one else was chasing on any given day. Before the Post went under, Selby had teamed for several years with then-Bureau Chief Herman in the Austin office. In addition to his experience and talent, Selby had a longtime connection with the Statesman. His mother was the research director there and helped start the Capitol 10K race. She died last year.

The Express-News' Austin Bureau, which is led by Bureau Chief Peggy Fikac, has recalled Guillermo X. Garcia to help with the regular session coverage this year. Garcia had transferred recently to the main office in San Antonio to become an assistant editor but hadn't actually started the new post when duty called at the Capitol. Lisa Sandberg, a former city desk reporter, has moved up from the home office and Lomi Kriel has been busy writing stories recently as an intern for the SAEN Austin shop. Fikac and Garcia have several decades of experience on major reporting beats between them.

Selby will be joining a state political reporting crew that includes veteran Capitol reporters Laylan Copelin, Mike Ward and Ben Wear along with Jason Embry and several new faces. Ward had vanished from the Capitol for several years while working on projects out of the main office south of the river. But he's been stirring things up again recently with reports on issues ranging from Governor Rick Perry's Enterprise Fund to state prison woes. Copelin is the point man on the grand jury investigation into the 2002 elections while Wear takes care of the transportation beat.

While other members of the Texas Capitol press corps have worked for more than one newspaper while covering that beat, Selby's record raises a bar that will be tough to beat.