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The firing this week of KUT general manager Debbie Hiott exposed a growing conflict between a university shaped by politics and a newsroom dedicated to public accountability, the Editorial Board writes.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of KUT\/ Gabriel C. P\u00e9rez<\/p>\n
KUT, the public radio station serving Texas\u2019 capital city, is a public trust.<\/p>\n
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So is the University of Texas, the flagship institution that has housed\u00a0KUT on campus for decades.<\/p>\n
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But they have different missions that appear increasingly at odds after the termination this week<\/a> of\u00a0KUT general manager Debbie Hiott, who was fired after a dustup with UT over the radio station\u2019s first community festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hiott\u2019s departure highlights the tension between two public-facing institutions \u2014 and underscores one important conclusion. It is time for UT to untangle itself from the licensing and operations of\u00a0KUT, a media outlet that needs independence to serve the community.<\/p>\n It is deeply troubling that UT would dismiss a leader<\/a> with\u00a0Hiott\u2019s well-earned reputation for candor, integrity and dedication to serious-minded journalism, the very qualities that drive KUT\u2019s coverage (and, we should note, Hiott\u2019s long career at the Statesman before that).<\/p>\n UT\u2019s dispute with\u00a0Hiott over special event planning \u2014 an 11th hour spat that prompted the radio station to move last month\u2019s KUT Festival off-campus \u2014 sparked concerns about whether<\/a>\u00a0the political pressures clearly being exerted on UT might now be reaching KUT as well.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n ALSO READ: UT didn\u2019t sign Trump\u2019s higher ed compact. But it\u2019s acting like it did<\/a><\/p>\n While UT isn\u2019t commenting on\u00a0Hiott\u2019s departure, the university has claimed its festival concerns were driven by safety and logistics, not politics. Yet emails obtained by the Statesman<\/a> show UT Provost William Inboden \u2014 university\u2019s chief academic officer, who does not oversee public safety or communications \u2014 was involved in drafting the language explaining the changes to the KUT Festival, raising questions about the true scope of the university\u2019s\u00a0objections to the event.<\/p>\n The political pressures shaping UT are undeniable, with the Legislature banning diversity initiatives<\/a> and sidelining faculty councils<\/a> \u2014 diminishing the opportunities for different voices to be heard. Over the past year, UT has limited how controversial topics can be taught<\/a>, consolidated its gender and ethnic\u00a0studies departments<\/a>, and handed greater power to the\u00a0university president to eliminate faculty or academic programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n All of which creates a conflict for UT and KUT: The university\u00a0takes its directives from a state Legislature and political appointees of the governor who are significantly reshaping higher education \u2014 in our view, for the worse<\/a> \u2014 while\u00a0KUT is committed to independent journalism that unearths information and asks difficult questions.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The friction between those missions is becoming harder to ignore. UT and KUT are driven by different priorities, and neither benefits from being intertwined with the other.<\/p>\n Spinning off\u00a0KUT (and sister music station KUTX) from UT would require a new community owner for the broadcasting license that UT has held since 1958. That new owner would need to pick up about $1 million worth of in-kind services currently provided by UT, including facilities, IT support and payroll, according to financial statements.<\/p>\n But the bulk of\u00a0KUT\u2019s funding \u2014 about 86% \u2014 is already independent of the university<\/a>, coming from listener contributions and sponsorships. Ensuring KUT\u2019s financing and operations are 100% independent would protect the radio station\u2019s work from political pressures, perceived or otherwise.<\/p>\n The university would also benefit from being\u00a0untethered to a media organization, eliminating speculation about whether UT is influencing decisions at the radio station. (UT did not respond to our questions about whether it is reassessing its relationship with KUT.)<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n SIGN UP FOR THE AUSTIN ANGLE<\/a> and get Statesman commentaries in your inbox<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n