By Steve Jefferson
Special Contributor to
Texas Metro News
In Dallas-Fort Worth, family, friends, and media colleagues are mourning the loss of a longtime community voice that helped shape how stories are told and shared across North Texas’ Black community.
According to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner, Jill Darden passed away at her Fort Worth residence on April 24th, just after 5:00 pm. The cause of death is still pending.
Darden, 52, was the founder and publisher of Fort Worth Black News, a newspaper she launched in 1997 at just 23 years old, with her mother, Chris Lott. She would have celebrated her birthday, on Saturday, May 2, 2026.
Since its founding, the publication has focused on highlighting positive stories, community achievements, and issues often overlooked by larger mainstream outlets. Through consistent coverage of local businesses, cultural events, and neighborhood concerns, Fort Worth Black News has become a trusted source of information for many residents.
Darden, a respected and well-known, long-time journalist and media entrepreneur, spent decades building the paper into a platform that highlights Black voices in North Texas. Her work earned recognition from community organizations and leaders across the region, underscoring the publication’s impact and longevity.
“Jill was a founder and longtime publisher who held down Black press efforts and coverage of our communities in Fort Worth for many years,” said Eva D. Coleman, “Her impact will be sorely missed.”
Coleman serves as Vice President-Print, National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and is the Immediate Past President, Dallas-Fort Worth Association of Black Journalists (DFW/ABJ).
For years, Fort Worth Black News operated as part of a broader network of Black-owned media outlets serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area, including The Dallas Examiner, Dallas Post Tribune, and Dallas Weekly. Together, these publications have played a critical role in documenting stories, amplifying voices, and preserving the cultural and historical record of Black communities across the metroplex.
“This is a tremendous loss to our industry and the millions who look to the Black Press for authentic coverage,” said fellow publisher Cheryl Smith, “Jill’s contributions to journalism are well documented and respected. She understood her assignment and carried it out with professionalism, integrity, and commitment.”
“Smith owns and operates Texas Metro News, Garland Journal, and I Messenger News. She believes Darden’s impact will be long lasting in North Texas and beyond.
“As the Black Press prepares for its bicentennial next year, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) is saddened by not only the loss of our 4th publisher this year, and the closing of two newspapers, but current efforts to silence our voices and discourage financial gain by attacking those who support DEI,” said Smith.
Other DFW leaders are also responding to Darden’s unexpected passing.
“Jill Darden was a highly respected community leader and journalist. Jill used her voice and her platform to inform, uplift, and represent our community with intention. I saw Jill last month during early voting; she was still engaged and present. My heart is with her son, Jiles, and all who loved her,” said Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa L. Simmons.
Fort Worth community leader Cory Session said, “Jill Darden was committed to telling the stories of people in the black community. She would follow in the footsteps of her mother, Chris Lott, publisher of the Wichita Falls Black News, as the founder, owner, and publicist of the Fort Worth Black News.
“She was committed to elevating local, national, and under-told stories about people and things that affected the Black community. She would once do an interview with Oprah. Winfrey. Her contributions to journalism and storytelling are to be emulated. Jill Darden will be sorely missed.”A graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, with a degree in journalism; Darden was a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
Nearly three decades after its launch, Darden’s work remains rooted in the same mission she started with: ensuring that the stories of her community are told, seen, and remembered.
Steve Jefferson is an award-winning broadcast journalist, based in Fort Worth.
