Dallas Morning News business editor Paul O’Donnell sent out the following on Monday:
All,
We knew this day would eventually come.
The Steve Brown era at The Dallas Morning News will officially come to a close on March 1.
It’s hard to put into words what Steve’s departure will mean to our newsroom and The News as a locally-trusted brand.
For 47 years, Steve’s byline has graced The News. He’s as well known locally as anyone on our staff, with a reverence that’s only surpassed by the widespread respect Steve receives from his real estate peers across the country.
He’s the quintessential old-school meets new-age journalist. Steve’s urgency and competitiveness were instilled in The News’ legendary newspaper war with the defunct Times-Herald. He fondly tells his colleagues of the days when editors would cut out stories from the competition and leave them on writers’ desks with tersely worded notes.
In Steve’s case, the lessons learned in our industry’s ink-stained glory days translated exceptionally well to the digital world we live in now. He routinely breaks more news than anyone on staff (think Universal’s new Frisco theme park or Goldman Sachs’ big new downtown campus). He treats every story with an overriding desire to be first.
And, of course, his conversions and page views are legendary internally. (He personally accounted for nearly 10% of all of our digital conversions last year). He’s also one of our most prolific writers — averaging more than a dozen stories a week in 2023.
Yet he’s also one of the most down-to-earth people we’ve ever worked with. A couple years ago, when the National Association of Real Estate Editors honored him with a lifetime achievement award, the group’s leaders spent weeks surreptitiously gathering tributes to surprise him — fearing he wouldn’t show up if he knew what they were planning.
Though he thoroughly disdains fanfare and fuss, he has reluctantly agreed to let us toast his career in a newsroom celebration later this month. (Save the date is coming soon.)
In his recent self-evaluation, Steve modestly wrote the following.
“I’m leaving The News after 47 years in the business. It’s been an incredible job and I’m sure I will miss it.”
It’s an understatement to say we’ll miss him, too.
It truly is the end of an era.
