Linked is an article from the Austin Chronicle by Richard Whittaker (who is sadly not on the fediverse) that does a good job of chronicling the impact of the US legislature's (and #Trump's) recent public broadcasting cuts --- the Chronicle rightly uses the more appropriate term "rescission" --- to both #Austin and #Texas broadly. Austin #PBS, as well as #NPR television and radio stations #KUT and #KUTX, will all be impacted. KUTX was my favourite radio station when I lived in Austin. Its willingness to eschew the top-40 algorithm and branch out is refreshing; the rescission might impact available licensing arrangements for their music.

Here in #FortWorth #Dallas #dfw, the closest analog to KUTX that I've found is #KNTU, better known as 88.1 Indie. It is entirely (well, mostly) commercial free. I say mostly, because I still consider "sponsored by X, offering service/product Y" to be an advertisement (formally referred to as "underwriting"); albeit a more palatable one than the traditional fare of the medium. KNTU is definitely more pop-heavy (and repeat-heavy) than KUTX, but it also caters/panders heavily to a more #millennial audience (guilty).

All that being said...

>The greatest concern is that this economic assault isn’t the end, but simply the latest attack on editorially independent media. The CPB defunding came after the dismantling of Voice of America Radio, and now the question is, what’s next? If the end game is to destroy public radio and television, how long before broadcast licenses become a target?

The irony of putting editorial independence in the same paragraph as Voice of America is painful and invites a comparison that i suspect most folks working in public broadcasting would not appreciate.

>Even if Republican lawmakers have turned their backs on public media, the hope is that donors, including charitable foundations, will continue to see the value of its uniquely community-minded programming. For example, Austin PBS is already strategizing about filling that $400,000 cut to Ready to Learn’s budget. Patiño said, “Our hypothesis is that, once we go out to the marketplace and say, 'Hey, these are the needs that will go unmet, these are the communities that will no longer receive the educational services that we provide and have for years and years and years,’ we hope that people that fund and support educational services in other nonprofits will support us in some way to fill that gap.”

Cutting out the legislative middlemen between the public and their servants, by pivoting to a direct-donor-centered model, might prove to be a silver lining to this rain cloud (and perhaps an unintended and unwelcome threat to that legislative body's hard and soft power).

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-08-01/texas-public-media-grapples-with-funding-loss-from-gop-bill/

#PublicBroadcasting #CPB #AustinChronicle #atx #VOA #VoiceOfAmerica #InventingReality

https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2025-04-25/is-austins-new-arts-umbrella-organization-just-in-time-or-too-little-too-late/

On the one hand, as the article's body mentions: "better late than never." On the other, as the article's title insinuates: the horse has left the barn. Decades of trading on Austin's "weird" reputation, whilst pandering near-exclusively to capital, has left Austin's cultural core genuinely penurious, hallowed out, and fleeing for higher ground. Same as it ever was.

#austin #atx #AustinChronicle #KeepAustinWeird #AustinTX

An excellent interview conducted between Maggie Quinlan Thompson of the Austin Chronicle and Texas state senator Sarah Eckhardt, who represents the Austin area:

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-04-11/sitting-down-with-your-senator/

The entire interview does an *excellent* job of interjecting important bits of context when needed. That is a breath of fresh air compared to raw dumps of dialog that assume every reader/listener is just as wired in to said context as the writers/speakers.

As well, one point in particular makes a very concise and convincing case against bad political theatre, likening it, across several important political axes, to nutritionally barren candy:

>**Chronicle**: *You were talking about political pragmatism, which could be thought of as political performance. Before you were an attorney, you studied arts and performed in theatre productions. We have this phrase “political theatre,” which implies something nefarious, but in a pure sense of what theatre is, is there artistry in the work of being a lawmaker?*
>
>*Eckhardt*: As a public servant you have to tell the story outside the building, so I don’t consider political theatre a bad thing. I think you need to be sufficiently theatrical, a sufficient storyteller, so that your community knows what their government is up to.
>
>There are also posturing bills. These are examples of really bad theatre. It’s candy politics. It has no nutritional value. It doesn’t increase your public safety. It doesn’t increase your prosperity. It doesn’t improve your health care. It doesn’t reduce the price of groceries. It’s purely about looking good and doesn’t do any good.

Finally, another salient piece of advice regarding the intersection of ego and politics:

>**Chronicle**: *Do you feel genuine partnership and teamwork with many or any of your Republican colleagues?*
>
>**Eckhardt**: One way I can get policy passed is by quietly talking to my Republican colleagues and acting like a superstaffer saying, “Hey, I read your bill. I think it’s really, really good. I can’t vote for it yet. Here are a couple of things that would improve it, that would make it possible for me to vote for it.”
>
>Another way I can influence policy is I can propose a bill and file it and then float it to see how many Republicans I can get to co-author, and if I can’t get any to co-author, but one of them says, “I really like this bill, but politically, I can’t be seen on a bill with you.” I’ll say: “file the identical bill, and I’ll co-author yours. Take my bill. Cool.” You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

#atx #txpol #txlege #AustinChronicle #austin #AustinTX

Good article from Brant Bingamon at the Austin Chronicle on the political #enshittification of higher education in texas.

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2024-11-22/the-right-wingification-of-ut/

#tx #texas #ut #academia #HigherEd #txpol #austin #atx #AustinTX #AustinChronicle

"The U.S. Army is a super sponsor of SXSW 2024 and hosts several events at the festival, including a presentation on technology innovation featuring Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth and an official “This Is Our House” activation in collaboration with the U.S. Navy and SPIN magazine. (Editor’s note: SXSW co-founder and part-owner Nick Barbaro also co-founded and owns The Austin Chronicle.)

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2024-03-05/artists-drop-out-of-official-sxsw-shows-due-to-army-sponsorship/

#AustinChronicle #SXSW #Gaza

#AustinChronicle
#Texas #Abortion Advocates on What Happens Next

Texans once again have an unfortunate head start in having their rights stripped away

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2022-05-06/texas-abortion-advocates-on-what-happens-next/