Natalie A. Brooks never planned to become a journalist. She was studying urban planning at the University of Texas at Arlington when a summer internship at the Fort Worth Weekly changed everything. Assigned to cover a neighborhood meeting about a proposed highway expansion through Stop Six, she watched residents challenge city officials with maps, historical records, and decades of lived experience. That night, she switched her major to journalism.

Career & Coverage

Twelve years later, Natalie covers housing, development, and neighborhood change for News of Fort Worth. Her beat takes her from city planning commission meetings to living rooms in Como, Polytechnic Heights, and the Near Southside, where longtime residents are navigating the pressures of a rapidly growing metro area.

Before joining News of Fort Worth in 2021, she spent six years at the Dallas Morning News, where she was part of a team that examined displacement patterns in North Texas neighborhoods facing redevelopment. That series earned a Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Award for public service reporting. She also worked at Denton Record-Chronicle covering county government and municipal courts.

What Drives Her Work

Natalie believes the best local reporting happens when journalists stay long enough to understand how one zoning decision connects to a school closure connects to a family leaving a neighborhood they’ve lived in for generations. She completed an Investigative Reporters and Editors data bootcamp in 2019 and increasingly incorporates public records analysis into her coverage. When she’s not chasing permits and plat maps, she’s usually at a Fort Worth Cats game or hunting for the city’s best barbacoa.

Stay Connected:
Natalie@newsoffortworth.com