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Matt Largey

Projects Editor

What I do at KUT
My job means I do a little bit of everything: editing reporters, producing podcasts, reporting my own stories, training, producing live events and always being on the lookout for things that make my ears perk up. I’ve been leading KUT’s ATXplained project since 2016 — where we answer audience questions about Austin’s people, places and culture. In addition to radio stories and the podcast, we also produce two ATXplained Live shows every year. I love stories that help us understand the people in our community and the city we live in — stories that are surprising and untold.

My experience
When I was in high school in Maine, I took one of those “What Should Your Job Be?” tests. It said I should be a broadcaster. I thought that was stupid. A couple years later, I realized it was actually the perfect job for me. I took the only radio class at the college I went to in Maine and was instantly hooked. I transferred to a school in Boston to learn radio production and journalism. When I graduated in 2003, I was lucky to get a job at a public radio station in Boston. I started out as an engineer, doing technical production. Then I moved into the newsroom to produce newscasts.

About two years later, I went to the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine to study radio documentaries.

I went back to public radio after that, eventually landing in Austin in 2006. After freelancing at KUT for several months, I got a full-time reporting job here. I went back to Boston for a little while, but that’s a long story.

KUT — and public radio — have changed a lot in 20 years, but the commitment to factual reporting and storytelling are the same. I still feel lucky to be here.

Journalistic ethics
To be honest, I have a problem with the way a lot of journalism operates. Too little care is taken for the people we as an industry represent in stories. I believe that people have a right to be represented fairly and accurately. If I wouldn’t want to sit down and listen to my story with a person who’s in it, I’m doing something wrong. That doesn’t mean that they’re always presented in the best light, but it does mean the story should be accurate and fair.