The @thebarbedwire.com is a phenomenal publication. Any editor or newsroom leader would be a fool not to hire or commission pieces from Olivia and her team. Can't wait to see what's next for them.

I said this on X because there aren’t a ton of Texas lawmakers on here but: To the #txlege, now that @carakelly.bsky.social and I no longer have budget meetings or a team to manage, good luck. We’ll see y’all when we finish our next exposé. [email protected]

I’m excited to have the space to turn back to investigations that have been on the back burner, particularly sexual harassment investigations that brought @oliviamesser.bsky.social and I together in the first place. Send tips and anything else to [email protected]

It’s easier not to talk about myself so I’ll praise @oliviamesser.bsky.social for being my dream work partner and trusting me as managing editor. We published stories I’m beyond proud of. And got to work with incredibly dear colleagues and fellow journalists. www.chron.com/news/houston...

A few weeks ago I stepped away from @thebarbedwire.com It feels fitting to have edited this last guest essay on Texas’ abortion bans — my first stories for TBW were on the same topic, and so were some of the best I got the privilege to edit. thebarbedwire.com/2026/05/29/k...

Officially my last guest essay edit as editor-in-chief. It’s an important one.

“We were the lucky ones. We had the money, the time, and the childcare to make the trip […]. […] Two of our co-plaintiffs […] were not so lucky: they went septic waiting to find out whether they were dead enough for an abortion, after their water broke far too early for their daughters to survive.”

Women are never dead enough for the Texas GOP.

“We asked the state a simple question: How dead did we have to be to receive healthcare that could save our viable babies and our own lives? Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton called us ‘woke.’” thebarbedwire.com/2026/05/29/k...

Lots of folks asking me about this today ... My LGBTQ+ vertical, Big & Bright, will continue at least a little bit longer so please keep reading my newsletter. In the meantime, let me know if you want to collaborate on anything, and send me story tips and job openings.

y’all have made me so emotional. don’t unfollow just yet -- we’re finishing one last guest essay from two mothers who almost lost their lives, and the lives of their babies, due to Texas’ abortion ban

This is gutting.

This is a gd shame. This business is trash and that The Barbed Wire won’t be around to cover the hottest Senate race in Texas in 40 years is a shame.

As a native Texan, this is such a devastating loss. As the founder of a nonprofit news outlet, I know this struggle intimately. I can only imagine how difficult this decision was, but I hope Olivia and her team know their work was good and valuable and important.

Learned a lot editing this one — including that “a small, isolated group of countries willing to carry out executions at all costs” have caused a global spike in executions @amnesty.org has deemed “alarming.” Those countries? The U.S., China, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Kuwait, Singapore

Read this one.

A good read and a good reminder to support Black-owned businesses.

Sad to see another excellent independent newsroom shutting down. @thebarbedwire.com has been on my indie media feed since I created it. If you're hiring or have freelance work, reach out to these folks.

For the past two years, I’ve contributed to @thebarbedwire.com and it breaks my heart to read the news of its closure. Texas needs and deserves independent media, like TBW. It deserves to have an editorial staff who is brave enough to go against the grain. As a Texan and writer, I am heartbroken.

Same feeling for a great online outlet: “Every time a newspaper dies, even a bad one, the country moves a little closer to authoritarianism; when a great one goes … history itself is denied a devoted witness.” — Richard Kluger, The Paper: The Life and Death of the New York Herald Tribune, 1986

I just published a piece today that links to an excellent @thebarbedwire.com roundup of Ken Paxton’s misbehavior This is a loss for media and for Texas

Also, I am the 2nd largest equity holder in @thebarbedwire.com. And although the revenue runway came to an end, the company does have value! Paying members, advertising contracts, a ridiculously high newsletter open rate, amazing editorial archive. Somebody make us an acquisition offer!

Highly recommend buying one of our many, many valuable assets!!! Everyone on staff at @thebarbedwire.com holds equity.

if you wanna see Olivia’s memes and memories ♥️ of TBW

The Barbed Wire was great and Olivia is the best. This is sad news!

Oh this is such sad news, The Barbed Wire did such good work!!

Y'all did such spectacular work! Thank you for being such a beacon for Texas journalism.

Olivia and her colleagues created something so special in The Barbed Wire! I’m sad to hear that the funding ran out, but they have so much to be proud of.

I'm always in awe of @oliviamesser.bsky.social's work and I love the amazing work The Barbed Wire did. I hope someone gives any outstanding projects a home and hires all the brilliant people who worked on this:

INBOX: @oliviamesser.bsky.social announces on Instagram that @thebarbedwire.com will cease full-time operations after the independent newsroom ran out of funding. What an immense loss for those who love Texas. www.instagram.com/p/DY6vFM5lpB...

♥️🗞️goodbye for now to @thebarbedwire.com — it’s been an honor, and any newsroom would be stupid not to hire @carakelly.bsky.social @briangaar.bsky.social @iamleslierangel.bsky.social and @candibolden.bsky.social

This is a Friday morning punch to the gut. @oliviamesser.bsky.social is a brilliant, amazing journalist, and she put together such an incredible team of journalists over at @thebarbedwire.com.

🧵After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, at least 11 Black-owned bookstores opened in Texas — and customers who wanted to learn about race in America poured in. But keeping them open is a challenge. And it’s not just financial. By @candibolden.bsky.social — thebarbedwire.com/2026/05/28/b...

When NYC had ACT-UP, Dallas had GUTS, the Gay Urban Truth Squad, who demanded AIDS treatment funding through direct action! In my latest @thebarbedwire.com, I examine a new book about Dallas LGBTQ history that also highlights the vital importance of telling our own stories in queer media ...

The Barbed Wire interviews M. Rhys Dotson on his forthcoming book, "The Dallas Way: Gay Rights in a Conservative City." Inspired by his findings in The Portal to Texas History, Dotson Uncovers the untold story of LGBT activists in the American South as they navigated faith and politics.

We love @thebarbedwire.com! 🤠

As @kitoconnell.com writes, “The Dallas Way” not only paints a “fascinating and engaging portrait of an understudied period in Texas history, it also highlights the vital importance of media that centers LGBTQ+ reporters and queer and trans voices.”

“We're not radical people out here trying to upturn the entire system,” said M. Rhys Dotson, whose book “The Dallas Way” chronicles the history of LGBTQ+ civil rights in North Texas. “We're just wanting to be treated as fair and equal citizens.” thebarbedwire.com/2026/05/27/b...

The best line any journalist can hear: "I’m really, really happy you knocked on the door." Listen to this week's episode of the ProPublica podcast Paper Trail!

🧵 92% of the death sentences sought by Tarrant County prosecutors since 2012 have been against racial and ethnic minorities, even though 40% of Tarrant County’s population is white, according to a new report. thebarbedwire.com/2026/05/21/t...

so weird that the no. 1 trending story on @thebarbedwire.com is this totally random one from february thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/17/k...

Edited the Paxton endorsement story from my phone in a ballroom in Kyle, Texas, where I was speaking to a group of businesswomen about visibility, the importance of media literacy, and @thebarbedwire.com 💖 www.instagram.com/p/DYh5uM7sAR...

Trump endorses messy-ass Ken Paxton over Republican donor favorite John Cornyn in their cage match for the Senate. Read more at @thebarbedwire.com : thebarbedwire.com/2026/05/19/t...

This was a fun story to edit, but also the photos 🤌

“You get to see future legends get their start, and other people just flourish and find their niche.” In a city overflowing with drag, one unique showcase highlights the creativity of the newest artists: Big Tits, Bigger Dreams! Visit this fabulous event with me. My latest @thebarbedwire.com:

Join @kitoconnell.com inside the world of ghoulish goblins with fang-filled snouts, impeccably coiffed vampire femme fatales, and studly cowboys in sparkly boots and fringe. thebarbedwire.com/2026/05/13/n...

If anyone has watched a documentary on Love Canal and the origin of EPA Superfund Sites....yeah, we're doing it again.

EXCLUSIVE: Parents told us their children’s headaches and dizziness appeared during the school year and cleared up during breaks. One mother said she suspected her daughter was making things up — until she read @saulelbein.bsky.social’s story in @thebarbedwire.com thebarbedwire.com/2026/05/05/h...

This is such a horrible situation and as someone w/chronic diseases that took years to develop, I really want to assure parents that the stakes to kids faking sickness, especially pain, are high enough that you should err on the side of believing your kid.