Myles Martin, who was also incarcerated due to a false charge, poses with former co-defendants Cyrus Gray and Devonte Amerson, along with Devonte’s mom and Caldwell-Hays Examiner reporter Amy Kamp.
In the last days of 2024, staff from the Caldwell/Hays Examiner sat down with New Left Accelerator to talk about their groundbreaking journalism work in Caldwell and Hays Counties in Texas. They were demonstrably preoccupied with the case of Devonte Amerson, which the paper had been reporting on since 2022. Caldwell/Hays Examiner Founding Board Member and Managing Editor Sam Benavides had just learned that after spending nearly six years in jail awaiting trial after being accused of committing a 2015 robbery and murder, Devonte’s case had been delayed again. The news rippled through the group, led by Examiner Co-founder and Publisher Jordan Buckley. Even before diving into a conversation about their work, it was clear that Devonte wasn’t just a news subject for this team; he was community.
The Examiner has been diligently keeping its readers aware of the many injustices Devonte endured as a result of being tangled up in the Hays County justice system. In fact, the cover of the December 2024 issue features a smiling Amerson, dressed in a white t-shirt and jeans. Almost as if to make sure readers didn’t forget about him amid the excitement of the holidays, January’s cover also featured Devonte, this time in a closely cropped shot of the same unassuming smile. “Our back-to-back cover stories heaped pressure on the D.A. to stop postponing Devonte’s day in court, again revealing the injustice for our several thousand readers,” Jordan explained.
Caldwell/Hays Examiner’s dedication to covering Devonte’s case is a tangible example of what happens when media infrastructure and assets are created and controlled by the community. Without The Examiner’s coverage of his case, larger papers in metro areas like the Austin Chronicle might never have picked up the story.
Devonte’s journey through the legal system was intricately detailed in writing thanks to the dedication of Examiner reporter Amy Kamp, who followed the case from the very beginning. She attended the trial of Devonte’s former co-defendant, Cyrus Gray, and got to know both him and Devonte through regular visits to the jail where they were held. (Cyrus’s case was dismissed without prejudice in 2023.) In addition to studying public records related to the case, Amy also spoke with their family and friends, eventually launching a public advocacy campaign to increase awareness of the case.
This kind of reporting embodies the ethos that the Examiner was founded on in late 2021. The publication was born out of necessity when Buckley was working as the communications director at regional advocacy organization, Mano Amiga, which he co-founded. He described trying to get more eyes on newsworthy stories in Caldwell and Hays Counties. “We were trying to convince the papers in San Antonio and Austin to cover us and to do justice to the corruption we were uncovering. A lot of us were like, ‘Man, maybe we should just become the media ourselves,’” he explained. “I loved the vision of creating a corridor of resistance and focusing on the rural area between San Antonio and Austin."
With a mission carved out, he and Sam studied the work of movement writers and publications. Name-checking historical figures like the Black Panthers, Ida B. Wells, and José Martí, Buckley recalls being inspired by local alternative papers from previous decades, like La Otra Voz and Hays County Guardian. “We went to the library and read every edition of those two publications that we could, especially seeing the ways in which both publications featured writing for people engrossed in the movement.”
Shortly after, The Examiner was born as a nonprofit alt monthly media outlet, spotlighting hometown heroes and documenting the local culture of resistance. Jordan shared, “It’s imperative to have an alternative voice for the community to rely on. It's about teaching the community what’s possible when we organize.”
They do this by amplifying important and impactful yet little known advocacy work in Caldwell and Hay Counties, holding elected officials engaged in wrongdoing accountable, and—maybe most importantly—providing a platform for the people who have been most impacted by injustice to tell their own story. For example, earlier last year, the paper published firsthand commentary and transcripts from Cyrus’s trial. And after Cyrus’s release, he penned an essay for the Examiner that criticized local jailing and policing. This June, the publication will run an excerpt from his forthcoming book. This is part of the powerful formula that the outlet uses to break down notions of journalistic objectivity that often provide cover for influential wrongdoers. Like Jordan said, “We want people who have skin in the game to be reporting and not being ‘unbiased.’”
“I loved the vision of creating a corridor of resistance and focusing on the rural area between San Antonio and Austin.”
This illuminates why the staff is so invested in telling Devonte’s and Cyrus’s stories. It’s not just about this one case. They are connecting the dots for readers and demonstrating how the justice system steals what would be the most formative and productive time in young Black men’s lives for crimes they didn’t commit.
The paper doesn’t only focus on the front end of the justice system. Last year, the Examiner broke stories on two candidates running for local judgeships who lost their races by slightly more than a hair, each garnering 48% of the vote. During our conversation, Jordan recounts an incredible story of Robert Elwood Updegrove, a candidate who appealed to voters using the name, reputation, website, and even old campaign signs of former Hays County Judge Robert Earl Updegrove—who also happens to be his father. He also talked about Judge Tanner Neidhart, who allowed the livestreaming of a sexual assault trail on Youtube, resulting in the charges against the defendant being dropped. In both cases, the Examiner was the first outlet to signal to voters to take a closer look at these candidates before the stories were picked up by broader media and possibly swayed close races.
There’s also the time a police officer was fired for misconduct (that was the Examiner’s first cover story), or the time the outlet filed an open records request to determine if a university was only arresting students of color for possession of cannabis.
At just four years old, the Examiner’s archives are full of stories like these. The small but determined team of journalists have shed daylight on injustices that are then picked up by Hays Free Press or Austin Chronicle or other metro papers.
One of the most notable aspects of the Caldwell/Hays Examiner’s strategy is that it recently became one of the first publications in the country to operate as a non-profit social welfare organization exempt under section 501(c)(4) of the tax code.
Although there are numerous media outlets operating as nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, operating as a (c)(4) affords the ability to disseminate content that may be considered partisan. Sam explained, “One reason that we decided to start a (c)(4) was because of the impact that the police union was making on local races. We were seeing how straightforward they could be (with their communication), so we decided that we needed our own (c)(4) and our own publication working on the side of people experiencing these injustices.” Though the paper has yet to tap into this capability, the staff and board are strategically exploring how it could increase the Examiner’s impact in elections to come.
This is where the paper’s relationship with NLA has been beneficial. By working with NLA’s advisors, the Examiner has been able to navigate the lengthy process of establishing a (c)(4) entity. “The IRS fought us. It took months and months, and it was stressful to have money from (c)(4) funders and not know if we would have our status,” Jordan said. “I don’t know anyone who knows anything about (c)(4) stuff, so it was nice to have the experts come in and hold our hands through it in a caring way.”
Even before helping the Examiner attain (c)(4) status, Jordan says that advice from NLA has helped to inform the paper’s strategy. For example, NLA’s legal counsel helped the publication navigate campaign finance law by advising on what the paper could publish to qualify as a media outlet exempt from the application of Texas campaign finance laws.
Though it might feel far from the on-the-ground grind of reporting on the legal system and elections, this kind of compliance work is essential for the Examiner. Jordan opined, “I think the 2024 election just showed how important this information is to people who vote and revealed the lack of reliable channels in so many parts of the country.”
Back home in Texas, a few months after our initial conversation, the Examiner got good news about Devonte’s case: after six years of incarceration, and after more than a year of working with the Examiner to elevate his case, Hays County dropped the charges against him. Devonte is finally home.
But his was never just a cover story for The Examiner. As they celebrate Devonte’s freedom, they are still focused on the big picture–wielding their journalism to make sure the officials responsible for his ordeal don’t enjoy the comfort of obscurity. Jordan shared, “Amy is working with Devonte to see about a story attuned to next steps: holding the bad actors at San Marcos P.D. accountable for many years of life needlessly lost to jail.”
That story will be in the June 2025 issue of The Examiner. Devonte will grace the cover again, this time as a free man.
