Ryan J. Thompson first realized he wanted to cover local news while stuck in traffic on I-35W during his junior year at the University of North Texas. The radio was reporting on a highway expansion project that would reshape his commute for years—and he found himself wanting to know more than any broadcast could tell him. Who decided where the lanes would go? Which neighborhoods got bypassed? Who paid for it all? That traffic jam, ironically, set his career in motion.

Career Path

After graduating with a degree in journalism in 2014, Ryan spent three years at the Denton Record-Chronicle covering city government before joining the Dallas Morning News transportation desk. There, he developed expertise in the complex web of regional transit authorities, highway funding mechanisms, and urban planning debates that shape how North Texans get around. His 2021 investigation into delayed maintenance on aging bridges across Tarrant County earned a Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Award for public service reporting.

Current Focus

Ryan joined newsoffortworth.com in 2022 to focus exclusively on the transportation and infrastructure issues affecting Fort Worth’s rapid growth—from TEXRail expansion to the contentious Panther Island/Central City project to neighborhood fights over proposed toll roads. He’s particularly interested in how infrastructure decisions made today will shape the city decades from now, and who gets a seat at the table when those decisions are made.
A lifelong North Texan who grew up in Arlington and now lives near the Near Southside, Ryan bikes to work when the weather cooperates—which gives him a ground-level view of the streets he writes about.

Stay Connected Reach Ryan at:
Rthompson@newsoffortworth.com