The University of Texas at Austin has announced Gerald Johnson as the interim general manager of KUT Public Media, a day after firing former General Manager Debbie Hiott following a major dispute over the KUT Festival.
Johnson is the executive director for innovation and partnerships at the Moody College of Communication. He is also the former director of Texas Student Media, which includes The Daily Texan, and has worked with KUT and Hiott on revenue operations for the stations. He previously managed advertising and revenue at the Houston Chronicle.
"His depth of understanding of media operations, sales and marketing will ensure the continued success of the organization during this transition," said Anita L. Vangelisti, the interim dean of the Moody College of Communication, in an email announcing the appointment on Tuesday.
The Moody College houses KUT and KUTX, and staff are university employees. The newsroom is editorially independent from UT.
Vangelisti and Johnson spoke to KUT staff at an in-person meeting Tuesday about the transition. Vangelisti said firing Hiott was her decision, and that officials plan to launch a search for a new general manager as soon as possible. Johnson said he only plans to serve as interim general manager for three months, but may stay longer if needed to lead the hiring of a permanent leader.
Johnson said he wasn't involved in firing Hiott and declined to comment on whether he agreed with the decision. He said he's close friends with Hiott and spoke with her Monday.
When asked for comment on the hire, Hiott called Johnson a "smart leader and an ethical person."
"As long as no one interferes with him, he should be a good steward for the stations," she said in a text message.
Johnson said he doesn't see KUT's work changing as a result of the transition.
"I am not a hatchet man," he said in the meeting. "I am here to take care of you, to make sure that the work continues."
UT Austin has made major changes in recent years, including the consolidation of academic departments. When asked by staff at the meeting if something similar could happen to KUT, Johnson said that he had no indication that was the case but also wouldn't be involved in that type of decision.
Interim manager has a background with KUT
Johnson started working at UT Austin as the director of Texas Student Media from 2014 to 2023; in that role, he was supervised by KUT's general manager. He also served on the committee to hire Hiott.
Will Parchman, Johnson's successor as Texas Student Media's director, said Johnson "really helped resurrect" the program.
"Financially, it was in a really rough spot, and he really helped TSM become profitable, which we've been every year since 2014," Parchman said.
Parchman said Johnson was supportive of students and staff and found new revenue streams for the organization. Johnson has been Parchman's supervisor at Moody College.
In 2023, Johnson took on an expanded leadership role at KUT when he became the executive director for innovation and partnerships at Moody College.
Matt Reilly, the associate general manager for programming at KUT and KUTX, said in an interview with Austin Signal that he has known Johnson for more than 10 years.
"He has helped us in numerous ways around fundraising and revenue," Reilly said. "He is not an unknown entity to us. So we like Gerald, we know Gerald."
Johnson worked with KUT on bolstering the organization's underwriting, or sponsored announcements on KUT's platforms, and events like ATXplained Live, KUT's live storytelling show.
Matt Largey, KUT's newsroom projects editor and the organizer for ATXplained Live, said Johnson helped increase profits for the event by working to move it to a bigger venue and bringing in businesses as sponsors and participants.
Largey said that before these changes, the show netted around $40,000 in profit. Now each show nets around $100,000.
Largey said it was a relief to find out that Johnson would be interim general manager.
"Having had a relationship with him, and knowing that he was not someone who was coming in from the outside, knowing he was someone who has worked with and cares about our organization, I think was really important," he said.
Johnson wants to bring stability, calm to KUT during tumultuous period
In an interview with KUT News after the Tuesday staff meeting, Johnson said he views his role as "a source of stability for this difficult transition."
"I know, based on the meeting today, the staff is upset, and I see my role as the caretaker of the people who work here, so that the great work that's been happening for decades can continue," he said.
Austinites have reacted negatively to Hiott's firing online, with some characterizing the decision as a conservative attack, a suppression of free speech or an overreach by the university. Others have commented that they are ending their financial support to KUT, just days before the start of the organization's summer fundraising drive.
Johnson stressed that he would not play an editorial role at KUT, and said he doesn't see UT interfering with newsroom coverage. He said he hopes people who have canceled donations will reconsider.
"I think that only hurts KUT and KUTX, the stations that they love," he said. "They're doing that out of a suspicion that the circumstances yesterday were from the Tower or from wherever, and canceling their membership is only going to make things more challenging here."
Johnson, who moved to Washington state in August 2025, said he plans to rotate working in person and remotely every two weeks. He said he doesn't have concerns about the schedule, and that KUT leaders he has met with also didn't foresee any challenges.
Former general manager fired over community festival planning
Former General Manager Hiott's departure was announced via an email Monday afternoon from Vangelisti. The email didn't provide a reason for the decision. In the Tuesday staff meeting, Vangelisti was asked multiple times for more details on the firing and declined to comment.
Hiott told KUT News she was called into an unscheduled meeting on Monday with Vangelisti, an official with UT's legal affairs department and UT's human resources director. Hiott said she was shown a resignation letter and a termination letter, and was encouraged to resign. After she declined, she was told to leave immediately.
Hiott shared a copy of the termination letter with KUT News.
"Based on my review and assessment, I find your recent oversight and management of planning for the KUT festival, as well as your related approach once I directed cancellation and relocation of some of the events because of safety concerns, demonstrated a lack of responsible leadership and poor management of personnel," Vangelisti said in the letter. "At this time, I have lost confidence in your ability to effectively serve in this position in a manner that meets my expectations."
The inaugural KUT Festival, which took place last month, was thrown into disarray days before kickoff due to a last-minute venue change. UT Austin, the festival's original venue, ordered KUT to move large parts of the event off campus, among other changes, citing insufficient safety planning by festival organizers. Hiott publicly disputed the university's account.
Democratic Congressman Greg Casar, who was a speaker at the KUT Festival, called Hiott a hero for speaking out and cast her firing in a political light.
"The White House, and now UT, are trying to crack down on those they think are disobedient," Casar wrote in a post on social media on Tuesday. "I demand full transparency about what led to Debbie's firing."
Editor's note: This story was not reviewed or edited by the station's executive leadership or any university official before publication.
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