kut 90.5 progress report 2008-2011 Front cover (Left to Right): 1. GM Stewart Vanderwilt with KUT Volunteers of the Year Shelley Nathan May and Nan Hampton 2. KUT’s Mike Lee David Alvarez (2011) 3. Microphone in KUT Studio 1A 4. KUT Twine Time Host Paul Ray (2005) 5. North-facing view of the alleyway between CMB building (home of KUT) and CMA building (1970s) 6. The Flatlanders’ Butch Hancock performs at a KUT Live event (2011) 7. KUT’s Erika Aguilar leads a news meeting (2006) 8. The KUT news team (2005) 9. Horizontes Host John Wheat (1970s) 10. Drummer in KUT Studio 1A 11. KUT’s Jay Tweed (1970s) 12. Former KUT Folkways Host Pat Crumhorn (1970s) 13. KUT Operations Manager Fred Bourque (1970s) 14. Texas Music Matters Host David Brown (2011) 15. Spoon performs at a KUT Live event (2010) 16. KUT Eklektikos host John Aielli in the control room (1972) 17. LA-based Cambodian pop and psychedelic rock band Dengue Fever performs in KUT Studio 1A 18. Musician Freddie Fender (1970s) 19. KUT News’ Ben Philpott and Nathan Bernier in a news meeting (2009) OUR MISSION KUT creates experiences that deepen understanding and connect people. We are committed to authenticity, craft, context and the unique power of the human voice in all its forms. OUR VISION KUT is a leading source for knowledge and ideas that enrich and sustain greater Austin’s unique sense of place, cultural identity and position as a center of leadership. KUT will inform, inspire and engage while becoming the most trusted source for news, information and the Austin, Texas, music experience. OUR OPERATING PRINCIPLES Public Service Committed: We strive for excellence in the quality and credibility of the programs we acquire and produce, as well as the reliability of our broadcast service. We organize work processes, procedures, resources and priorities around audience service. Outcome Driven: We approach every task with a clear goal in mind and always ask, “What is the outcome we are looking for?” We recognize that every action, activity, and communication produces a result, and we gear our efforts toward the outcome we seek. Performance Focused: We focus on quality performance and optimal efficiency by setting clear expectations, providing needed resources, establishing goals, structuring our work habits and prioritizing our tasks. Each person is held accountable for their outcomes and is recognized for their achievements. Collaboration and Respect: We accomplish tasks while respecting differences in approach, style, workloads and assignments. We are mindful of individual differences. We promote the importance of collaboration, and we seek out opportunities to contribute to public service. dear friend of kut We are profoundly grateful for the time, interest and support KUT 2011 ADVISORY BOARD that our listeners, visitors and donors give to KUT each day. Our strength and independence come from your support and Ray Farabee, chair Chris Mattsson, vice chair our inspiration comes from the importance and confidence you Jim George, secretary place in our services. Lidia Agraz The past few years have been a tumultuous period in our Rabbi Neil Blumofe Patrick Cantilo country and community. Public media organizations have seen Jim Cousar their share of upheaval and challenges — and through it all, Sandy Dochen listeners and donors have stepped up to help make KUT more Rodney Gibbs relevant today than ever before. As KUT celebrated 50 years of Lynn Meredith Photo credit: Sherre Paris broadcasting we also set our sights on the next 50 years. In this Scott O’Hare report we review some of the accomplishments made possible by community support. John Scanlan Pete Schenkkan Thanks to your support, we have much to celebrate as a public service organization, but David Talbot we do not take that for granted. You have our pledge to work hard every day to continue to Tyson Tuttle earn your confidence and support. Dr. Roderick P. Hart Finally, we are thrilled to share that KUT News was honored with two National Edward Dean, College of Communication R. Murrow Awards for journalistic excellence for stories aired in 2010. These are the first Stewart Vanderwilt national Murrow Awards for the station and our team was recognized alongside such Director & General Manager venerable news organizations as CBS’s 60 Minutes and NPR. Thanks for listening. Sincerely, Stewart Vanderwilt Director & General Manager Spring 2012 kut 90.5 progress report 2008-2011 | 3 More than 50 Years... THE KUT you KNOW today CAN BE attributED Today, KUT broadcasts at 90.5FM with a 100,000-watt signal to Robert Schenkkan (known to his friends and colleagues and is one of the top public media institutions in the country, as Bob), who led the effort to establish a full-power FM producing original content and reaching 500,000 people each station at the University of Texas that would become KUT. week through traditional radio, HD Radio channels, online He believed in the potential of radio — with its ability to content, podcasts and mobile devices. More than 50 years bring together a few distinct voices, committed to speaking later, Bob’s vision remains relevant — and possibly even the truth in an articulate and civil manner — to make the more critical. world a better place. We recognized our first half-century with a year-long In August, 1958, after three years of hard work on Bob’s part, celebration, which included a gala, special KUT Live the FCC assigned the call letters “KUT” to the 90.7 spot on the performances by Patty Griffin and Joe Ely; a live-from-Austin FM dial. On November 10, the station launched its first 400- broadcast of BBC — World Have Your Say; and an Austin-based watt broadcast with The Eyes of Texas. live taping of NPR’s wildly popular current events program Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me, with special guest Robert Earl Keen. KUT Music staff marked our anniversary with a 50 Years/50 Songs series of broadcasts reflecting the sounds of KUT and Central Texas. Each song, many of which were nominated by KUT listeners, represented one of the 50 years since KUT hit the airwaves. The series of five one-hour programs hosted by Jeff McCord, Larry Monroe, Paul Ray, Matt Reilly and Jay Trachtenberg explored 10 of the most important songs of each decade. For a station with one of the most diverse playlists in the country it was an enormous undertaking, yet an opportunity to consider why music is so important to Central Texans. Longtime KUT supporters Mary Margaret Farabee and Lowell Lebermann, who has since passed away, co-chaired our 50th Anniversary Gala Celebration, a black-tie event that brought together many of the individuals and organizations that have John L. Hanson Jr. (Photographer unknown) 4 | kut 90.5 progress report 2008-2011 of serving Central texas supported KUT during the first 50 years and have helped make KUT an integral part of Central Texas life. NPR correspondent John Burnett served as honorary co- chair of the gala, which included a special performance by singer-songwriter Eliza Gilkyson with accompaniment by the harmonica-wielding Burnett himself. NPR foreign correspondent Anne Garrels delivered the keynote address about her work in Iraq and All Things Considered host Robert Siegel emceed the memorable evening. The gala raised nearly $200,000 to help kick off the campaign to build the KUT Public Media Studios, which will open to the public this fall and will serve the community for decades to come. Patti Smith broadcast release. (Photo credit: Patrick Dentler) John Aielli in the studio, 1972. (Photo credit: Frank Armstrong) kut 90.5 progress report 2008-2011 | 5 KUT NEWs AUS A FO NDING MEMBER OF NPR, WE arE During the 2009 mayoral election, KUT News, in collaboration committed to deepening our listeners’ understanding of with the Austin American-Statesman and KLRU-TV, Austin Austin, Texas, the nation and the world. Since launching in PBS, hosted a citywide forum. The two-hour forum, the 2002, KUT News has been producing stories, features and first not specific to a neighborhood or organization, featured documentaries that have been recognized and honored with questions from KUT Morning Edition Host Jennifer Stayton more than 100 state, regional, national and international and Statesman editorial writer David Lowery, and was followed awards. by a candidate Q&A with the audience. Since establishing a full-time bureau at the Texas Capitol in In late 2009, KUT News created a content partnership with 2005, our legislative reports have been picked up by nearly the Texas Tribune to share Texas political coverage. Through every public radio station in the state, as well as NPR. In this partnership, KUT political reporter Ben Philpott shares addition to regular radio reports, we produced Letters from the content with the Tribune in the form of audio postings, online Lege, a special series in which we posed questions from Central reports, blog posts and podcasts, while Texas Tribune stories Texans to legislators during and after the legislative session. augment political coverage on KUT.org. Some of the major KUT News documentaries and features over the past three years have included: • Where I’m From, a one-hour special produced in partnership with Texas Monthly, featured famous and not-so-famous Texans sharing their thoughts on how where you come from defines who you are. Some of the Texans interviewed included former first lady Laura Bush, musician David Lee Garza, and writers Roger Hodge, Bryan Burrough, Shelby Hearon and John Phillip Santos. • NASA the End of the Space Shuttle, a four-part series and 30-minute documentary on the NASA Space Shuttle program and what it meant to Texas, featured archival audio clips from nearly every decade of the space program, highlighted the shuttle program’s Skip Cameron and George Innis of Bull Creek Foundation assess damage to the trails and the creek in the Bull Creek Greenbelt.