Morris Roberts

Victoria Advocate
M. Roberts Media

Hall of Fame Class of 2021

M. Roberts Media is a family-owned company that traces its roots back to 1942, when Morris Roberts joined a conglomerate to acquire the Victoria Advocate.

Earlier, a 26-year-old Morris Roberts was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from Bee County in 1932. He was re-elected in 1934 and two years later moved to the Texas Senate where he served until 1941.

An interest in oil refining enticed Roberts to move to Victoria. In October 1942, 10 local businessmen, including Roberts, bought the Victoria Advocate from George French. The Advocate had begun publication in May 1846, barely six months after Texas had become a state, making it one of the oldest newspapers in Texas.

In college, Roberts had been editor and manager of the Baylor Lariat.

He later worked for the Brownsville Herald and Pampa News, and briefly owned radio station KVIC in Victoria.

With his investment in the newspaper, Roberts became editor and manager of the Advocate.

In 1948-49 he served as president of the South Texas Press Association, a role his son John would also fill in 1978-79.

When Roberts first became involved with the Advocate, it had a circulation of 2,200, averaged six to eight pages for each edition, was published six days a week and had 20 employees on the staff. In April 1961, Roberts purchased all of the stock and became sole owner. He built and expanded buildings for the newspaper and installed a new offset press (the largest in Texas at the time). At the time of his death, Roberts had established the newspaper as a major influence for progress throughout the South Texas region.

Morris Roberts passed away Jan. 13, 1991, after laying a foundation for a newspaper ownership that would continue for three generations.