Longhorns Put New Media Outlet On Austin's Map

Traditional media put Kevin Benz, BS '83, and Caitlin Ryan, BS '06, BA '06, on the journalistic map. The Longhorns took different paths post-UT: Benz applied his Radio-TV-Film degree to broadcasting at multiple Austin TV stations, while Ryan took her communication studies degree into print at Italian Vogue and Austin’s Rare magazine.
Trading convention for innovation, the pair is going off the grid with CultureMap, Austin’s new online-only lifestyle magazine. The first CultureMap Houston has made itself a huge deal in that city. Benz and Ryan (as editor-in-chief and managing editor, respectively) will head up this new Austin offshoot. With sections on music and film, food and drink, arts and design, outdoors and fitness, plus more, they promise their version will be distinctly and emphatically Austin.
Benz and Ryan share more about the philosophy behind CultureMap, which went live just yesterday, and how their magazine will distinguish itself from the city's multiple media outlets.
The Alcalde: What will we get from CultureMap, and why does a city that already has lifestyle websites, magazines, and even an alternative weekly need it?
Kevin Benz: The idea is to present important information about what makes the community tick. We won’t be the place to go to find out if there was a wreck on I-35. That’s not our deal. The purpose of CultureMap is to enlighten people about the issues that are affecting their quality of life.
It’s very much an Austin-centric story here. We’ve lived here a long time; we graduated from the University. We are looking at what things make up the fabric of a community we all know and love.

The Alcalde: What makes CultureMap unique?
Caitlin Ryan: Something that differentiates us from the media landscape here is that we’re trying to make the online platform appealing to artists as well as readers and writers. There hasn’t yet been a platform that really showcases art and photography in a way that people are really excited about in Austin. We’re hoping to fill that void.
Benz: Another important thing: while the website is obviously the core, at CultureMap we believe you can’t just be a website. We have to be part of the fabric of the community if we’re going to report on it. We will be high-touch; we will be face-to-face with people. You will see CultureMap around Austin a lot, and you won’t just see the logo slapped somewhere. You will see us out there working to help. Part of our job is to bring people together.
The Alcalde: How has the field of journalism changed since you began your career?
Benz: I guess the old guy will answer that question. I graduated in ’83, and traditional journalism at the time was confined to a very limited number of organizations. Today journalism has completely reinvented itself.
There is no journalism silo anymore. It doesn’t exist. Yes, there are people publishing magazines and there are people publishing newspapers and there are people practicing television broadcast. But they’re all doing stuff online, all using social media. There aren’t mediums anymore; it is all multimedia. Everyone is trying to do them all.
The Alcalde: Why did you make the move to working with a digital medium?
Ryan: This was exactly what I was working towards. I wanted to find this fusion of a digital business basis with cultural, editorial, lifestyle content. When people would ask me what my perfect job was, because I wasn’t totally happy at any of the places I’ve worked, I would describe CultureMap. I would describe a cultural magazine online.
Benz: For me, it really happened at an interesting time in my career. I was becoming more and more aware that traditional ways of doing things were being eroded by people who didn’t care. And I had started speaking a lot about the need to refocus on where the audience is. The audience isn’t checking in at 6:00 in the evening anymore; they’re checking in on their phones every minute of every day.
So this opportunity popped up for me, and it combined all of the things that need to happen in a modern journalistic atmosphere: a very nimble, online organization that has high journalistic principles and standards in delivering a credible product with great integrity that exists on a platform that is available anytime, anywhere.
The Alcalde: Will digital publications like CultureMap eventually replace print media?
Benz: The landscape is changing. Let’s be pragmatic: I’m carrying around a $1,000 iPad. I could also carry a $6 magazine. Just because I have the expensive technology doesn’t necessarily mean I want to use it all the time. There will always be a place for newspapers. There will always be a place for great storytelling on television. I do believe, that from the standpoint of timely, importantly, relevant information on a daily basis, online is going to own that space.
The Alcalde: What significance does CultureMap have for you on a personal level?
Benz: I’m going to be 50 years old this year, and I’ve never learned more in the course of three months since I graduated from college, because the online world is so full and rich and interesting to me. It’s a world I’ve been living outside of—in almost a parallel universe to—traditional journalism. I haven’t had more fun in my entire journalism career.
And where better to do this than Austin? It’s the cool capital of the world right now. We’re putting this together right next door to our alma mater, and I think I speak for both of us when I say we have a strong connection to this University. To be here, to be doing this in this place. I could not have written a more exciting chapter of my life.
Photos by Kae Wang