April Brumley Hinkle, chief revenue officer of The Texas Tribune, was named the Revenue Innovator of the Year by Local Media Association for raising $20 million in corporate sponsorships and adding $20 million from live events to the bottom line.
Each year, this award recognizes innovation, resilience and significant achievements in sales or advertising — with the numbers to back it up. Here’s what Brumley Hinkle had to say about her work and what gets her excited about local media:
Tell us how you got into the industry
After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin, I didn’t want to work for an advertising agency. My dad, a business owner, suggested I start at Southwestern Bell/AT&T in directory sales. There I learned to sell, master the one-call close, and listen for buyers’ needs. I then transitioned to magazine publishing and thrived. When Evan Smith launched The Texas Tribune and offered me the chance to build a public service journalism enterprise for Texans, I never looked back.
What makes you excited about the local media industry?
The news industry is changing. For some, change means uncertainty, and for others, it is exciting. This is the moment to reconnect with people who need reliable information to lead better lives and contribute to build better communities.
Where do you see your company in the next five years? Ten years?
In The Texas Tribune’s next chapter, I see a thriving operation, with a newsroom much like the one we have today, that provides free news and information on statewide politics, public policy and government, and see a network of thriving community newsrooms prospering from The Texas Tribune’s business success. As a result, more Texans will have more reliable information, context and insights into the things that matter most to them, and we’ll see a restored focus on solutions and community. What could be better than that?
What makes you most proud about your work or your company?
In general, I’m proud of The Texas Tribune and our public service journalism that offers Texans information to live better lives. Personally, I’m proud of the curriculum licensing partnership I created with Pearson for a postsecondary Texas Government course required by the state to graduate from a public college or university in Texas. We started with an evergreen textbook and over the years created a digital opportunity, The Texas Experience powered by The Texas Tribune. Part of the Tribune mission is to embrace the youth of our state as we know our future belongs to them. This opportunity creates a connection in the classroom to a lifelong relationship with The Texas Tribune. We know that smarter Texans create a better Texas.