By Amy Hollyfield
Managing Editor
Dallas Morning News Executive Editor Katrice Hardy is leaving the company to become CEO of The Marshall Project, a national nonprofit news organization focused on criminal justice.
Since 2022, Hardy has served on the board of The Marshall Project, which launched 10 years ago with a mission to produce impactful journalism that “exposes wrongs, bringing them to the attention of officials who can take action.” She said the organization’s mission, reputation and singular focus on criminal justice drew her interest, along with the chance to “build a sustainable business model for our industry.”
Hardy, 51, has led several newsrooms in her career, but this will be her first time leading a company. She and her family have made a home in Dallas, where she will stay and work remotely.
“Our newsroom’s ambition, passion and commitment to local journalism has made this decision so difficult,” Hardy said of The News. “There are not many places where you walk into work every day with the ‘Rock of Truth’ in the lobby, where we have independence because of the family that has owned this news organization for 140 years. This community values the work we do, and there are so many devoted and talented journalists and other staffers in every department who support this work. I learned from our team every day.”
In nearly four years leading The News’ journalism, Hardy oversaw an increase in journalists in the newsroom, adding more reporters to cover development, food and restaurants, high school sports and local government. She also focused on strengthening the company’s connections with the community, joining the Dallas Assembly and the International Women’s Forum as well as spending time visiting other organizations.
She helped expand The News’ community-funded journalism program, launching Arts Access in partnership with KERA to cover arts in Dallas-Fort Worth through the lens of access and equity, as well as adding journalists to cover transportation, faith, science and southern Dallas.
“Katrice raised the level of excellence of our journalism through her high standards, creativity, and commitment to fair and balanced reporting,” said Grant Moise, CEO of DallasNews Corporation and publisher of The Dallas Morning News. “I am proud of Katrice for earning the opportunity to become the CEO of one of our nation’s leading nonprofit journalism organizations. I have no doubt she will impact The Marshall Project just as she did The News, and leave their institution better than she found it.”
The Marshall Project, which has staff in 26 states, has won two Pulitzer Prizes, several National Magazine Awards for General Excellence, and other top recognition. Beyond their New York City home office, they have local news teams in Cleveland, Ohio, Jackson, Miss., and St. Louis, Mo. The primarily online outlet publishes a magazine that is distributed to more than 1,000 prisons and jails nationwide and produces a video series for incarcerated audiences.
The organization is named after Thurgood Marshall, the first Black justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and a trailblazer for civil rights.
Hardy will stay in her role as executive editor of The News through February, then start at The Marshall Project in March.
When Hardy thinks about her tenure at The News, she is especially proud of a series the newsroom published in September 2023, “Deadly Fake: 30 days inside fentanyl’s grip on North Texas.” The series, which was Hardy’s idea after the overdose deaths of three Carrollton-Farmers Branch students, was a newsroom-wide effort, producing nearly 50 stories covering “the data, the science, the heartache and hope.”
Moise said, “This creative approach to storytelling helped North Texans understand the crisis our community is facing from this lethal drug.”
Hardy remembers the impact the series had.
“To end the series, we held an event where families shared with us how much this work had meant to them but also how the series had helped them find a new community of fentanyl survivors,” she said. “This work and event will always be one of the highlights of my career thanks to our special newsroom and our company’s commitment to local journalism.”
