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 university-commissioned report finds the ceiling collapsed due to “structurally deficient fasteners” that were also used in a loading dock on the north side of the campus building. -
Officials said Jabbar, dressed in full military gear, drove a truck into a crowd early Wednesday. At least 15 people were killed and 35 others were injured. Jabbar was shot and killed while exchanging gunfire with police. -
The Texas Supreme Court sided with First Deputy Attorney General Brent Webster in a legal ethics case that foreshadows a similar win for Paxton. -
The video, which KUT News obtained through a public records request, shows the ceiling suddenly collapse over an outdoor patio area. No one appeared to be seated there at the time. -
The state ethics commission passed new transparency rules after The Texas Newsroom reported that Attorney General Ken Paxton had not disclosed information about several properties he or his blind trust owns. -
Gilberto Hinojosa, de 72 años, fue presidente del partido durante más de una década. Dimitió después de decir a The Texas Newsroom que la inmigración y las cuestiones transgénero contribuyeron a que los demócratas perdieran las elecciones de 2024. -
Gilberto Hinojosa, 72, served as the party’s chairman for more than a decade. He resigned after telling The Texas Newsroom that immigration and transgender issues contributed to Democrats’ 2024 election losses.
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Gilberto Hinojosa, the longtime chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, apologized for saying immigration and transgender rights hurt Democrats at the polls. -
With the hopes of a blue or purple Texas dashed, what might Texas look like under a second Trump administration? -
Julie Johnson’s win came as Sarah McBride of Delaware was elected the first openly transgender congressperson.
