Vico Puentes, owner of Tomo Mags, launched the club after noticing a pattern among customers at the shop.

"I started asking customers and people, 'Hey, where are you reading your news?'" Puentes says. The answers kept repeating. "'Honestly, [news] stresses me out,' or 'It makes me feel very negative about the world'," Puentes recalls hearing. Younger customers in particular told Puentes they'd skip the news altogether, opting for scrolling on social media instead.

Puentes decided to create a monthly club that would bring people back to reliable, print-based journalism, and give them a structured, supportive space to discuss it together.

The club operates in partnership with the Trust Project, a journalism nonprofit whose founder, Sally Luhrmann, met Puentes at a salon by Noema Magazine, a publication that explores deep questions about current events and the future in longform pieces. The Trust Project will supply the vetting standards behind each News Reading Club session.

"The articles are going to follow the standards of the Trust Project; the Trust Indicators," Puentes says.

According to the Trust Project's website, these eight indicators are the "first global transparency standard that helps people know who and what is behind a news story." They're policies that ensure honest, accurate, and fair reporting.

Each monthly News Reading Club meeting will center on a single theme rather than open-ended discussion to keep things simple. Ahead of the meeting, attendees will receive five to seven vetted articles on the topic.

Meetings will open with a shared commitment to respectful conversation, then break into small groups of two or three participants to discuss the readings, with facilitators offering discussion prompts throughout. Organizers end each session with a resource list connecting attendees to relevant civic actions, such as upcoming city meetings.

Puentes emphasizes that the goal isn't to police opinions, but to sharpen how people evaluate information and hold discussions.

"We're not out to attack anybody or criticize," Puentes says. "We want to help the community in general raise [their] standards so that they can find the good journalism."

Attendance is free, though a companion workbook is available for purchase for those who want to work through the material independently or use the book at meetings. Sessions are capped at 90 confirmed RSVPs, but organizers expect an actual attendance of around 50. Readers can find out more about upcoming meetings on a dedicated Instagram page.

Tomo Mags is new in Austin, having previously operated from a decommissioned school bus in Houston. It moved into a brick-and-mortar space in Austin at 411 Brazos St., #101, in January of 2026, along with local coffee shop Cielito Lindo. Soon after opening, it took part in the Austin Texas Book Trail, a self-guided tour of more than 30 independent bookstores, wasting no time in getting connected with the community. Tomo sells many kinds of magazines, with an emphasis on art. It also sells some high-end stationery and writing or marking tools.