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It’s been a busy year, and KUT’s multimedia team has been capturing the moments that defined Austin in 2025. So which ones stood out most? Visuals Editor Deborah Cannon takes us through the year in photos.
The Paramount Theatre is known for hosting unforgettable events — but have you ever wondered how audiences find their seats in the rush before showtime? What it’s like to work as an usher.
The year is winding down, but we still have songs for ya! Technical director Rayna Sevilla shares her top song of the year.
Plus: More local news coverage is headed to Austin with the launch of the Austin Current.
The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Miles Bloxson [00:00:08] It’s been a busy year, and KUT’s multimedia team has been capturing the moments that defined Austin in 2025, so which one stood out most? KUTs visuals editor Deborah Cannon takes us through the year in photos. And the Paramount Theater is known for hosting unforgettable events, but have you ever wondered how audiences find their seats in the rush before showtime? Well, Austin High School student Rivers Newsome shares what it’s like to work behind the scenes as an usher.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:38] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Miles Bloxson.
Miles Bloxson [00:00:44] The year is winding down, but we still have songs for you. This time around, our technical director, Rayna Sevilla, shares her top song of the year. We’ll hear more coming up right here on The Austin Signal. Hey, hey, Austin, it’s Friday, December 26th. Hope y’all are having an amazing day and that you enjoyed the holiday. This is Austin Signal. I’m Miles Bloxin. Well, it has been another busy year for the KUT Newsroom and our multimedia team has spent 2025 documenting Austin to help bring our reporters’ stories to life and to tell some of their own. KUT’s Jennifer Stayton sat down with visuals editor, Deborah Cannon, to talk about some of those photos.
Jennifer Stayton [00:01:38] So before we get into specifics about your pictures of the year, I kind of want to take a step back and if you could just describe for us what makes a good photo for news coverage.
Deborah Cannon [00:01:52] Well, ideally our news photos will help connect the reader in a different way to the story that is published on our website. A great photo, you’re gonna have an emotional connection to it. It’s going to help inform the story in a difference way than just words can, and so it just brings a deeper meaning to the pieces overall. Great photos have three things. They have great moments, good light, and good composition. And ideally you get all three, but most of the time you hit around two, and that’s a good place to be. But to make a good news photo, what you wanna do is inform your viewer. You want to add depth to it in a way that they’re not getting by just reading the story. You want them to have an emotional connection with the moment, and our photographers really do that and they knock it out of the park a lot of the times. Photos.
Jennifer Stayton [00:02:39] Actually have a pretty heavy lift, like they do a lot of work in the web posts that KUT reads. See when they go to the website.
Deborah Cannon [00:02:47] They do and we take it really seriously here. We have three visual journalists full-time on staff and we have some interns as well who go out and make photos and videos and we love what we do. I’m the editor and so I don’t get out that much but I love seeing the work come in and I love seen how our visual journalists connect with the subjects and how they tell these stories in a way that just words can’t do. You It really is true, and there’s a reason why people say that. New sort of innovative.
Jennifer Stayton [00:03:18] Itself is it’s unpredictable, you may not know what’s happening, but there sometimes can be an element of planning as far as location. So how do you figure out how you’re actually going to cover a news occurrence or event? Visually?
Deborah Cannon [00:03:33] Well, there’s a lot of thought that goes into that. Sometimes it’s breaking news and you don’t have a lot time, but we do have experienced visual journalists on staff. So if there is a wildfire, if there’s is a protest that suddenly broke out that we weren’t expecting, if there something else happening like that where you didn’t know you were going to that when you woke up in the morning, our team is prepared. We’ve done the work beforehand. We know how to approach these situations. It’s hard, but it’s important. The other kind of news that we cover is stuff that we work in tandem with with reporters. So editors, the visual journalists, we all get together. We talk about what the story is going to be like. We do some ideation. We find out what are the important points of the story and we have really good long discussions about that before we ever step foot out and go into the wild. That said, as soon as you show up, everything changes. So that’s where our photojournalists and their experience really comes in handy because even though you may have discussed something, and you think you know what the story’s about. A lot of times you show up and it’s something totally different. We’re really good at like pivoting and making those meaningful images in whatever situation there is.
Jennifer Stayton [00:04:40] Well, and that sounds like life in general, right? It is, it is. You show up to something and things can change and you sometimes don’t know what’s gonna happen. I’m curious when the person or their scene is important to tell the story, how do you work with people so that they feel comfortable and feel like they can participate in helping to tell that story?
Deborah Cannon [00:04:57] Well, you know, there are a lot of different situations. I always tell people, if you don’t look good, we don’t look good. And that isn’t about making people pretty, but that’s about making true images that are a slice of life that tell their stories. And we are very, very serious about making connection with our subjects, about honoring who they are, where they’re at in that moment of their life. You know, we take pictures of people sometimes on the worst day of their lives. That is really hard. We respect where people are, and we want to make sure to meet them where they are, and to be mindful of whatever they’re going through. And it’s a very serious thing what we do, and we take it seriously, and you know, we have compassion for our subjects, and we make the important images that we need to make, but we also want to be sympathetic and empathetic to the situation that people are in.
Jennifer Stayton [00:05:46] So let’s get to some of those images then, Deborah. Tell us about maybe three of your favorite pictures from 2025 and why they landed in that category for you. What did you think was so compelling about them?
Deborah Cannon [00:06:00] One of the first images I wanna talk about is one from our multimedia journalist, Patricia Lim. And it’s just a wonderful slice of life moment from Sunset Valley Elementary. You know, Sunset valley’s been in the news a lot lately because it’s one of the schools that slated to close. The story was reported, it’s about their cheer squad, and it was reported earlier in the year before all of that came out. And it just, it just this wonderful image of a girl doing a tumble. Her face is towards the camera and it just captures this moment that I just feel like. When I see it, it just feels like childhood, right? And I hope that our readers connect with it in that way, where they see their children doing things like that, or they remember doing that and being happy about it. And it’s just this really cheerful thing. And now the fact that the school’s closing, it feels like it’ll be wonderful to have these special memories in a way of a school that’s no longer gonna be there. Okay, what about some other photos? Other photos. So we do a lot at ACL Fest. A lot. We take photos, we make videos for KUTX. You can go to our KUTx Instagram website and see some of those videos.
Jennifer Stayton [00:07:03] Our sister music station, KUTX, yes.
Deborah Cannon [00:07:06] Yes, exactly. We made some great photos this year. We put out a couple of photo pages. And one of my favorites was from Lorianne Willett, who’s one of our new multimedia journalists. She just perfectly captured what it’s like to be in the audience and you’re just in the moment and you are feeling the music. She is a woman who’s up on someone’s shoulders and all you can see from everybody else, they have their hands up, they’ve got their There’s smoke in the air, you can see. A little bit of some city lights in the background and you just feel the moment. And as you really captured the feeling of being in the crowd and just loving where you are and what you’re listening to. The last photo I wanna discuss is one from our senior multimedia journalist, Michael Manassi. And it’s from a reporting trip he did with Texas standards, Michael Marks. They did a story on Mason Brick-Ledoux. He was working in the music world and he was working with Post Malone. He discovered that he really wanted to work on a ranch. And so Michael and Michael went out to the ranch. So the photo I really love from this reporting trip is one that Michael made that is, it’s a closeup shot. And it really shows the old world and the new world of the subject in a way that came together in this wonderful moment. And what you see is you don’t even see the face. You see this cowboy hat and it’s turned down. And then you have these hands that are completely covered in tattoos. Right, so it’s speaking to the old, but he’s got a rope and he’s like working on his roping and you have a closeup of that. And it’s just this sweet moment that I think just shows the old world and the new world all in one image. And that’s what a great photojournalist can do, right? You look at that picture and you spend a few minutes with it. You see the history, you see the future, you see it all kind of encapsulated in this one image and It’s just a really, really nice one and I really like it.
Jennifer Stayton [00:08:58] We look forward to many more images from the KUT multimedia team in 2026. Deborah Cannon is KUT’s visuals editor. Deborah, thank you so much for walking us through some of your favorites from 2025. Thank you for having me. You can keep up with much more work from Deborah and the KUT visuals crew at KUT.org.
Miles Bloxson [00:09:27] If you’ve ever been to the Paramount Theater in downtown Austin, you probably remember the artists on stage, the historic paint work, the plaster molding and the chandeliers of our downtown gym. But do you remember how you got to your seats? That’s where the volunteer ushers come in. During a summer journalism workshop at the Austin Public Library, Austin High School student Rivers Newsome wanted to know what it’s like to usher at the Paramount. So she went straight to the source, and here’s what she found out.
Felicia Williams [00:09:58] My name is Felicia Williams.
Thomas Minor [00:10:00] I am Thomas Minor.
Lois Goodman [00:10:02] My name Lois Goodman and I’m an usher at the Paramount. When I moved here in 81, I bought a season ticket package at Zach Scott Theater. And it was $20 for five shows, and I just thought it was outrageously expensive. When I was there, somebody said, you could usher here. And then when I was ushering, someone said you could also usher at the Paramount. Then I don’t have to pay for the shows.
Thomas Minor [00:10:35] My girlfriend. She was an usher here. I had retired, so she suggested to me that if I wanted to, I could usher her. Then you’re allowed to sit down if there’s seats available or go in and watch the show, which is part of the perk of ushering. You get to see the show.
Felicia Williams [00:10:54] We get to ensure that the patrons are having a great time, and we also get to have that same experience, and that’s one of the hardest parts of being an usher, is that we have to not get caught up in our own fun and make sure that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing.
Felicia Williams [00:11:15] The Paramount has a community engagement and education program and I’ve been lucky enough to partner with them to provide and expose youth and others that don’t normally come to the theater with opportunities to come to the theater and sometimes it’s their first time ever to the Theater. You see their eyes light up and they’re just looking all around, I say we’re changing lives one ticket at a time.
Thomas Minor [00:11:46] What was my favorite show? Recently, I was ushering The Water Boys. And I gotta say, that was one of the most fabulous shows that I ever ushered, that people were really great. When you’re an usher, seating people and being polite, no matter what the situation might be or circumstance that happens there, is to make sure that you kind of wow the customer and make sure they’re happy and they come back.
Lois Goodman [00:12:12] The best story ever was that the Coen brothers were in here being interviewed, and there was nobody here yet. Joel Coen walked into the theater and started asking questions about the theater, and how old it was, and I got a little personal tour with him.
Felicia Williams [00:12:39] I think the atmosphere here has stayed the same and that people come here to kind of get away from everything. It’s a peaceful, relaxing place and where people can be on one accord despite what’s going on, despite the differences in the world back from 1915 to now.
Lois Goodman [00:13:00] I’ve been here for over 40 years, and every time I come in, I still pinch myself that I get to work in such an incredible place.
Thomas Minor [00:13:08] There’s nothing changed in this grand old lady. I mean, she’s been around for 110 years and it is the same, the original. If you look around, it even has some say, the hauntings of past shows that are floating around here. And the pictures on the wall tell the story of everybody that’s been here, so. Down here on Congress and Sixth Street, the venues and the places that you can view music have changed constantly, but there’s only one constant And that’s all for this video. At the Paramount Theater.
Miles Bloxson [00:13:48] This story was produced with help from the Texas Standards, Sarah Asch. There’s more Austin Signal coming up right after this. Stay with us.
Rayna Sevilla [00:14:04] You’re listening to the Austin Signal. My name is Rayna Sevilla, and I’m an audio engineer for KU-TX. I’m also the technical director for the Austin signal. One of my favorite songs out of Austin this year is Dog in the Street by Stab. I found out about this band when I was working at my college radio station not too long ago and they were the first local awesome band I would follow wherever they played around town. They have this amazing live presence and every show I’ve gone to always feels so intimate and DIY.
STAB [00:15:06] It is my destiny
Rayna Sevilla [00:15:09] Whether it’s on a random bridge or in a tunnel somewhere in Austin, or just a small dive bar, I always find myself having so much fun in the crowd at their performances. They’ve got a really cool heavy Midwest emo thing budding right here in Austin alongside a lot of other Texas rock bands and I’m so here for it.
STAB [00:15:43] All I am is
Rayna Sevilla [00:15:48] They’ve been building a community and picking up a lot of fans on tour in and outside of Texas as well. One word I would use to describe their vibe is lit. I am Rayna Sevilla and I’m an audio engineer for KUTX. You can find more of our favorite songs from 2025 at KUTx.org. This is the Austin Signal.
Miles Bloxson [00:16:37] This is The Austin Signal. Thank you so much for tuning in. Great news for Austin. There is more local news coverage coming to the city with the launch of Austin Current, a new local newsroom connected to the Texas Tribune. KUT News is going to be in partnership with Austin Current. Host Jerry Quijano sat down with the managing editor of KUT news, Ben Philpott, and Austin Current’s editor-in-chief, Melissa Taboada. To learn more about what this new collaboration means for local news coverage right here in Austin.
Jerry Quijano [00:17:12] Melissa I want to start with you. You’re coming to the Austin Current from the Boston Globe having spent a few years there But you have a deep connection to the austin journalism scene for our listeners who might not be familiar Can you just tell us a little bit about your background and your connection to this idea?
Melissa Taboada [00:17:26] Right. I was at the Globe for four and a half years, but spent most of my journalism career in Austin. I was the Austin American Statesman for over 21 years and covered everything from county government, city government, education, and then eventually became an editor there.
Jerry Quijano [00:17:47] Okay, now you are the editor in chief of Austin Current. What is the Austin Current?
Melissa Taboada [00:17:52] Austin Current is a new non-partisan, non-profit news organization. We are really going to be focusing on collaboration with other news organizations, including KUT, to bring the best news, the best information to our audience, to readers, to listeners, just to try to reach as many people as we can.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:15] And with your decades of experience here in Austin, what are some of the needs you’re hoping to fill with Austin Current? How do you think this outlet could be better serving the community?
Melissa Taboada [00:18:24] Well, I think maybe what’s missing in some news landscape is the explanations as to why things happen, not just that news is happening, but the reasons behind it. And we’re hoping to bring some light to that, some long-form stories, short-form stories, explainers, just everything that we can to, you know, give our audience a understanding of what’s happening. In Austin and what they can do about it to let them have some agency in the world that they live in, in the city that they live.
Jerry Quijano [00:19:02] We’re in the last week right now of 2025, when is Austin current? When do you go live?
Melissa Taboada [00:19:07] We have started our newsletter that started in November, but our first stories will start rolling out January 12th.
Jerry Quijano [00:19:15] Okay and some of those stories are going to be in partnership with the KUT newsroom. For that I’m going to bring in Ben Philpott, again the managing editor of KUT News. Ben, so let me ask you simply enough, how did this partnership come about?
Ben Philpott [00:19:27] Well, you know, KUT and the Texas Tribune have had a long partnership. I mean, from day one, really, I was brought on as a kind of joint reporter with KUT and the TeXas Tribune when they first launched years ago. And, you, we have a lot of similar goals, right? We are both two nonprofit news organizations in the city wanting to do the work that sometimes is getting lost in commercial journalism. Do those explainers, you know, let people know exactly why they should care, how things are affecting them. And so when the Tribune decided they were going to go into local newsrooms, they’ve got one in Waco, we also have one here in Austin, we just knew we wanted to be a part of that.
Jerry Quijano [00:20:10] That’s a really good point about the long-standing relationship between the two newsrooms. I feel like if you read the website, you know about that a lot. You see a lot of Texas Tribune articles. Should we expect more radio stories possibly in connection with the Tribune as well? Some of the stories that they’re working on, perhaps?
Ben Philpott [00:20:26] Well, we don’t want to scare off the Austin Current staff. I mean, they are coming on as mostly print journalists. But yes, we very specifically want to be able to have their stories reach our audience, whether that’s on our website or on Austin Signal. Obviously, they can come on and do exactly what Melissa and I are doing today, talk through those stories with you.
Jerry Quijano [00:20:48] And I’ll turn it back to you, Melissa. How do you think this partnership, I kind of asked you this already, but how do you the partnership between KUT, between Austin Curran is gonna benefit Austin and its citizens? Helping them, sounds like what you’re saying, helping them to figure out how to do something about what’s happening, not just to take in what is going on around them.
Melissa Taboada [00:21:06] Yeah, absolutely. You know, we will be pulling our resources, we will be sharing our story budgets. This allows both KUT News and Austin Current to broaden our reach, deliver more comprehensive coverage than we could as standing alone.
Ben Philpott [00:21:25] And, you know, just jumping into that real quickly, you know, KUT has one education reporter, Austin Current has one education report. Well, that’s even those two together aren’t really enough to cover K through 12 and higher education in Austin. But we are going to be very specifically working together with those two reporters, you know, to… Work on the basics, not duplicating efforts, digging into bigger stories. We’re actually gonna be meeting together, having those two reporters come together and have a little meet and greet soon on that.
Jerry Quijano [00:21:56] Well, I think two reporters might be enough, Ben. I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to the news, but it’s been a quiet year for education here in Austin. So I think to reporters should do the job. We’ve been speaking with Ben Philpotti as the managing editor of KUT News and Melissa Taboada. She is the editor in chief of Austin Current. Thank you both for your time. Thank you. Thank you
Miles Bloxson [00:22:24] That’s it for us here on Austin Signal. Thanks so much for hanging out with us on this beautiful Friday. Special thank you to KUT’s Deborah Cannon, Melissa Taboada from Austin Current, and Rivers Newsome. Rayna Sevilla is our technical director, Kristen Cabrera is our managing producer, and we’ve got more about the show in our podcast notes at kut.org. I’m Miles Bloxson and for my friend Jerry Quijano, I hope you have a wonderful weekend and be safe out there. This is Austin Signal.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
