About In Fact Daily
Austin's civic life is easier to follow when someone explains it plainly. That is what we are here to do.
In Fact Daily is an independent publication about Austin city hall and local politics. The name has a history in Austin: In Fact Daily first published as a daily newswire covering city hall and local government for readers who needed to keep up — five days a week, focused on the decisions being made at city hall.
We are relaunching it here in a new form. Rather than a subscription newswire, the site today is a clear, factual explainer: plain-English guides to how Austin governs itself, who decides what, where the money comes from and goes, and how any resident can follow along and be heard. The aim is to make local government legible — to take the parts of civic life that feel opaque and lay them out simply.
What we stand for
- Independent. We answer to readers, not to a party or a faction.
- Nonpartisan. We owe allegiance to none but the facts. Opinion, when we offer it, is clearly labeled as such.
- Factual. We stick to what can be shown. When we get something wrong, we correct it promptly.
- Useful. Our test for any page is simple: does it help a resident understand or participate in their own city government?
A note on the relaunch
This is a rebuilt, independently operated site. It carries forward the In Fact Daily focus on Austin city hall and local politics, but it is a fresh effort — the explainers here are newly written. We are starting with the fundamentals of how the city works and will keep adding to them.
Start with how Austin works, dig into the City Council and the budget, or learn how to follow city hall yourself.