Debbie Hiott had led KUT, Austin’s NPR station, as the general manager since 2019. In her time there, she brought internal cultural changes, connected the business and content sides of the station and pushed a focus on local, community journalism, she said.

“We really worked on creating a more inclusive culture,” Hiott said. “A culture where people could be heard and could have ideas from all corners of the organization.”

Hiott expanded the size of KUT’s newsroom. She helped create The Texas Newsroom, a collaboration with journalism and radio organizations around the state. While leading KUTX, the music station, she said she encouraged the team to “loosen the reins,” follow less of a formula for the music they played and diversify in music genre by letting staff explore their interests more.

On June 15, the University fired Hiott. Anita Vangelisti, interim dean of the Moody College of Communication, sent an email to KUT staff that day announcing Hiott’s dismissal. According to her termination notice, University officials told Hiott she was fired due to planning issues with the news organization’s inaugural festival in May.

Hiott’s career started out at the Austin American-Statesman, where she began as a reporter in 1992 and eventually became the Statesman’s main editor in 2011, according to her LinkedIn. She also served on NPR’s board of directors from November 2024 up to the date of her firing.

Hiott said previous friendships she made as a reporter with the Statesman helped her later in her role as an editor, as staffers felt comfortable discussing any disagreements with her.

From this, she said she learned the importance of relying on others, even in higher positions. Hiott said she took this knowledge to KUT and KUTX. There, she told her staff that they should educate her about radio, music and balancing different forms of journalism.

“The biggest thing I want people to know is that these weren’t all things that I did; these were things that we did together,” Hiott said. “Everybody was willing to embrace the right ideas and get on board with the right direction, and it’s because they care so much about what goes on there. It’s very hard to leave that.”

KUT Arts Editor Stephanie Federico described Hiott’s leadership as “refreshing.” Hiott listened to her employees’ grievances and feelings without complaint and helped work toward solutions with them, Federico said.

“People really rallied around her,” Federico said. “(Hiott’s) tough — she was super respected as both a journalist and a leader. She was a role model to a lot of folks … kind of a no-bullshit type of person. She would come down into the newsroom and just talk to you like a human, and people just really respected her.”

One day after she was fired, Hiott was replaced by Gerald Johnson, the current interim general manager of KUT Public Media. Johnson previously served as the Moody College of Communication’s executive director for innovation and partnerships. Additionally, he served as director of Texas Student Media, The Daily Texan’s parent organization, from 2014 to 2023. He also spent 16 years working at the Houston Chronicle in advertising.

“I know they’re in good hands right now with (Johnson), but I want whoever follows him to recognize that these people know a ton,” Hiott said. “What they don’t need from their leadership is someone who’s picking over everything they do and trying to micromanage them.”

Hiott said she protected her staff from “reputationally false information.”

“I want them to remember me as someone who would go to bat for them,” Hiott said. “I also want them to remember me as someone who had very high expectations for the work that they did. I still have those high expectations that they’ll continue to do great work.”

Hiott emphasized that none of the funding for KUT comes directly from UT. The University owns KUT’s license to operate and KUT employees are employed by the University, according to the station’s website.

Although Hiott was fired, she still wants people to show support and continue donating to KUT.

“There’s a lot of discussion in the community right now, on social media and everything, about people threatening to pull their support from KUT over this, and I really don’t want people to do that,” Hiott said. “I’m really urging people to continue to support the stations, because they’re going to continue to do great work.”