'Doonesbury' on Twitter: A sweet tweet

"It actually started, as much as my life does, out of greed," Thornton says. He was considering buying distressed newspapers, concluded it was "a terrible business" and decided to join forces with Smith instead. An "unreformed limousine liberal," as Thornton describes himself, he decided a nonprofit news venture was "a more compelling way to spend my time than beating the partisan tom-toms." While Thornton is the Tribune's chairman, "they don't let me within a mile of the product."

Smith, whose own salary is $315,000, makes no apology for the staff's ample compensation. To get top talent, he says, "we didn't ask people to take pay cuts."

Smith had run Texas Monthly for nearly a decade when he felt the need for a new challenge. "We're not looking to replace the newspapers," he says. "But some people in the newspaper business are outraged by our very existence."

What makes that odd, in his view, is that he is offering his content, free of charge, to any newspaper or television station that wants it. Smith's message to the media establishment: "I come in peace."

Robert Mong, editor of the Dallas Morning News, says he has "a lot of respect for Evan" and would be open to using Tribune stories -- though he's ticked that one of his top reporters was picked off. "I think it's good competition," Mong says. "Having a formidable nonprofit there just makes everybody better." The News has maintained the size of its Austin bureau, but its newsroom staff has been cut by half in five years.

Nonprofit news sites are springing up everywhere, often founded by laid-off journalists, but most are shoestring operations. The Texas Tribune, which won't accept advertising, is being underwritten with tax-deductible donations from the likes of former lieutenant governors Ben Barnes ($100,000) and Bill Hobby ($50,000), and oilman T. Boone Pickens ($150,000). There are 50 corporate sponsors, including AT&T, JP Morgan Chase and the Texas Association of Business. Also on tap are such revenue-generating moves as staging conferences with corporate backing.

Smith says corporate backers were limited to $2,500 to avoid the appearance of undue influence. He likens the big individual donors to newspaper advertisers and says he will refund their money if they object to the staff's reporting. "You have to take my word for that, of course," Smith says.

Could this become a model for non-commercial journalism? Will Texas media outlets use the Tribune's stories? "There is a certain wait-and-see attitude that I don't blame them for," Thornton says. "What if we suck?"

Whatever the site's quality, the question is whether its narrow focus can attract a sizable audience. "We're going to stay in the realm of public policy and politics," Smith says, "and not do college football and the best tacos."

Limbaugh lets loose

Fox News may be unable to get White House guests as the two sides remain in verbal combat, but Rush Limbaugh was more than happy to fill the gap.

On "Fox News Sunday," the conservative radio host said President Obama has "got an out-of-this-world ego. He's very narcissistic. . . . He's immature, inexperienced, in over his head." For good measure, Limbaugh also told Chris Wallace that Obama is "a child." And he called the president's visit to Dover Air Force Base to honor deceased soldiers returning home a "photo op," amplified by a "sycophantic media."

Wallace, who has called administration officials "a bunch of crybabies," may be waiting awhile for his next White House guest.

Presidential adviser David Axelrod responded on CBS's "Face the Nation": "I think it's a surreal day when you're getting lectures on humility from Rush Limbaugh. . . . He's marketing the outrageous. . . . He's an entertainer."

Missing in action

The Washington Times announced in March that it had named veteran conservative writer Richard Miniter as editorial page editor and vice president of opinion, "the latest of a series of dramatic moves to boost the newspaper's global impact."

But the only drama has involved Miniter's whereabouts. The former Wall Street Journal editorialist hasn't been in the office for months. His lawyer, Larry Klayman, says Miniter is in negotiations with the Times "over salary and compensation. We're hopeful we can come to terms so Rich can remain at the newspaper. We assume this may be related to financial problems at the Washington Times."

The Times says in a statement that Miniter "has helped us reinvent many aspects of our opinion products" with his "insights and innovation" and that the two sides "are discussing his compensation."