KUT among four public media stations partnering to enhance statewide news coverage
WASHINGTON, D.C., and AUSTIN, Texas — Aug. 6, 2015 — The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) today announced it has awarded the Texas Station Collaborative (TSC) a two-year grant totaling $750,000. Led by KERA (Dallas-Fort Worth), the statewide collaboration includes KUT (Austin), Texas Public Radio (San Antonio) and Houston Public Media as partners.
The collaboration will knit together reporting of the four major Texas public radio stations and other public radio stations around the state. Working with NPR’s Collaborative Coverage team, the TSC will edit Texas stories for national news programs, including Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Marketplace, and produce several statewide newscasts.
The TSC will coordinate and edit multi-station and statewide reporting projects and establish the infrastructure to organize editorial resources from public broadcasting newsrooms across Texas. By building a digital system for content sharing and communication among the participating public stations, the Collaborative will maximize the local journalism and production resources of public radio newsrooms. The TSC will serve as a model for future statewide collaborations throughout the public media system.
“CPB is pleased to support this historic collaboration of four major Texas public media stations,” said Bruce Theriault, senior vice president journalism and radio, CPB. “The Texas Station Collaborative is an example of increased media integration and a pathway for stations to work together to maximize resources while expanding their high-quality journalism that audiences value.”
The TSC will hire a full-time coordinating editor, based out of KERA, who will direct content collaboration and planning between Texas public radio stations and national news outlets. In addition, the editor will work with Texas Standard — the new statewide daily newsmagazine created by KUT and co-produced with KERA, Houston Public Media and Texas Public Radio — on the planning, production and placement of content from newsrooms statewide.
KUT will employ a full-time statewide newscast producer responsible for coordinating with newsrooms across the state to curate, produce and distribute newscasts three times per day. The newscasts also will be used by Texas Standard and will be available for use by Texas stations as well as national public media networks.
“We believe strongly in collaboration as a pathway to greater capacity and public service. As we have developed 'Texas Standard,' KERA, Houston Public Media and Texas Public Radio have proved this to be true every step of the way," said Stewart Vanderwilt, director and general manager of KUT Public Radio. "Marshalling the resources of all our newsrooms through the Texas Station Collaborative is a Texas-sized step.”
About CPB
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,400 locally-owned and -operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org.
About KUT
KUT 90.5, Austin's NPR station, delivers in-depth stories by and about people in Austin, for Austin, with the highest journalistic standards from a variety of thoughtful perspectives. A founding member of NPR, KUT News has won more than 100 state, national and international awards for journalistic excellence. “Texas Standard,” KUT’s one-hour daily news program heard on 23 public radio stations across the state, offers crisp, up-to-the-moment coverage of politics, lifestyle, the environment, technology, innovation and business — from a Texas perspective.
About KERA
KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization serving the fourth-largest population area in the United States through KERA-TV, KERA WORLD, KERA 90.1 and the Triple-A music station KXT 91.7 FM. For over 50 years, North Texans have turned to KERA as a vibrant destination for community engagement and lifelong learning. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org.
About Texas Public Radio
Texas Public Radio (TPR) is a listener-supported, nonprofit broadcaster serving communities in San Antonio, South Central Texas, the Texas Hill Country, the Highland Lakes area and the Texas Big Country. Its stations include KPAC 88.3 FM, broadcasting a 24-hour classical music format to San Antonio and surrounding communities and KSTX 89.1 FM, San Antonio's NPR affiliate and a premier source for in-depth news. In the Texas Hill Country, KTXI 90.1 FM, broadcasts the best of Texas Public Radio’s news and classical music formats, while KVHL 91.7 covers the Highland Lakes area, featuring news and information programs. KTPR 89.9 FM delivers public radio to the Texas Big Country, covering much of Scurry County, including Snyder and Colorado City. More information is available at www.tpr.org.
About Houston Public Media
Houston Public Media is home to TV 8 and radio stations News 88.7 and Classical 91.7. Its broadcast and digital resources bring the residents of Southeast Texas a specially curated mix of trusted local news and entertainment along with exceptional national programming from NPR and PBS. Houston Public Media is a public service from the University of Houston, its license holder, and is supported with financial gifts to the Houston Public Media Foundation. With a combined weekly audience of more than 1.5 million, Houston Public Media is committed to delivering content that expands minds and possibilities with trusted information. Connect on Facebook at facebook.com/houstonpublicmedia and Twitter at twitter.com/HoustonPubMedia.
Media Contacts
Erin Geisler, KUT
(512) 475-8071
Kelly Broadway, CPB
(202) 879-9641
Christopher Wagley, KERA
(214) 740-9377
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