Lauren McGaughy
Investigative Reporter and EditorLauren McGaughy is an investigative reporter and editor for The Texas Newsroom, a collaboration of NPR stations in Texas. Got a tip? Email her at lmcgaughy@kut.org or tips@kut.org. Find her on X @lmcgaughy and Instagram @laurenmcgaughy.
Lauren's specialty areas include criminal justice, transparency and ethics and LGBTQ issues. She is a leading reporter in the area of government accountability, consistently breaking stories about alleged misconduct by elected and appointed officials.
In 2020, Lauren and reporting partner Dave Boucher published a two-part series revealing how police in Texas used hypnosis to investigate crimes for decades, sending dozens to prison — and some to their deaths. After their series published, the state police shuttered their decades-old hypnosis program and Texas lawmakers gutted the practice.
The series won the Headliners Foundation Showcase Silver Award.
Lauren won a Texas Associated Press Managing Editors award for her coverage of the 2017 mass shooting at a rural church in Sutherland Springs. Lauren's personal essay about covering Sutherland Springs spurred a national conversation about media treatment of communities in the wake of tragedies.
As a survivor of the 2013 Mother's Day Second Line mass shooting in New Orleans, Lauren was awarded a breaking news photography award by the Louisiana Associated Press Managing Editors for a picture she took at the event using her iPhone. She was also part of the team that received IRE (Investigative Reporters & Editors) and other honors for a series on Louisiana campaign finance violations.
In 2024, the national LGBTQ Journalists Association awarded her the Randy Shilts Award, which honors the body of work of journalists who consistently bring stories of the LGBTQ+ community to life in mainstream media outlets.
Before joining public radio in late 2023, Lauren spent 15 years working for newspapers. She covered state politics and policy for The Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle and New Orleans Times-Picayune. She got her start in news as a foreign affairs reporter for The Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper.
Lauren loves cats, cemeteries and comic books. Ask about her wig collection!
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A year after the state blocked transgender Texans from updating their state IDs, it has collected information on more than 100 people who have tried. Officials won’t say what they’re using the list for. -
Ken Paxton argues divorce records should remain private, accuses press of invading his personal lifeThe attorney general’s wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce this summer, alleging adultery. -
Abbott fought for months to keep secret emails between his office and Elon Musk. Now, hundreds of pages have been released. -
The Trump administration has aggressively investigated the president’s adversaries for mortgage fraud. But it’s unclear whether the federal housing agency will probe allegations against the Texas attorney general. -
The deal for Pride Holdings Group to take over the struggling LGBTQ+ club was canceled Tuesday, according to one of Cheer Up Charlies’ owners. -
Cards Against Humanity sued SpaceX alleging Musk’s employees trespassed on a piece of land in South Texas and dumped trash. -
Officials in the city of Bastrop have asked Musk’s tunneling firm, The Boring Company, to build several tunnels to connect the area’s trails. If approved, the city manager anticipates the million-dollar project could be finished within a year. -
A group of eight state and national media organizations want the records in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s divorce case released to the public. -
For years, experts in Houston have been studying the idea of building massive tunnels under the area to divert floodwaters and save lives and property. Now, Elon Musk wants a piece of the project. -
Police records reveal Ethan Nieneker, the suspect of the Target store shooting in Austin, was accused of violently attacking at least two girlfriends and one roommate, but that he spent little time behind bars.
