The KUT and KUTX audience and membership are overwhelmingly white. As a community service, it is imperative that we commit to outreach and engagement to bring in an audience that reflects the diversity of our Central Texas community*.
You can find information here about our content efforts in KUT news coverage, and on KUTX. Below is our commitment to outreach and engagement of diverse audiences.
- Define specific audience targets and create a communication plan for those audiences that emphasizes our role in the community as a “public utility” that is not only available to everyone, but is actually FOR everyone. The plan should help donors and listeners understand the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in empowering democracy and society. (In conjunction with fall market research)
- Develop culturally sensitive, audience-centered strategies for engagement (from listening to giving) for target communities. (Plan by Feb. 1 or sooner; ongoing)
- Create methodology for tracking and reporting membership and listener demographics. (Plan by Jan. 1 or sooner; ongoing)
- Actively recruit and engage more Black, Latino, Asian, Indigenous, LGBTQ and people with disabilities volunteers. (Plan, with goals, by Jan. 1; ongoing)
- Recruit artists of color to create thank you gift designs/imagery. (Immediate; ongoing)
- Make it a priority to have a presence at and to sponsor events that serve Black, Latino, Asian, Indigenous, LGBTQ and people with disabilities populations, and explore opportunities to reach underserved communities. (Identify 2021 events by Jan. 1; ongoing)
- When holding events, consider accessibility, including physical access and potential accessibility aides such as interpreters, captioning or audio communication of visual material. (Ongoing)
- Ensure that makeup of the KUT Advisory Board reflects that of the community; engage board members in KUT’s DEI efforts. (Ongoing)
*According to the census, the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical area is 52 percent white, 33 percent non-white Hispanic, 7 percent Black, 6 percent Asian and 3 percent ‘Other,’ including residents who selected two or more races/ethnicities on the census.
