Decibel Hosts First 2026 Sounding Board Meeting

The Decibel team reconvened the Rundberg Sounding Board for their first meeting of 2026. Attendees discussed future projects, community outreach, and better ways to inform and educate viewers in Rundberg and beyond.

2026 marks the first time that Decibel has extended its reporting project in a community. Since starting the community journalism model in 2020, the team has spent roughly one year in each neighborhood. But after discussing the project with the Sounding Board in the fall of 2025, our team felt that there were many more stories left to cover in Rundberg. The Austin PBS Community Advisory Board agreed. They voted 18 to 1 to extend our reporting project in Rundberg by 12 months.

We kicked off the first meeting of the new year by discussing community meetups. A board member had suggested last year that informal meetups where people could meet their neighbors might be well received. We decided to move forward on that suggestion, and discussed local restaurants to host meetings. Board members suggested local hotspots like Ken’s Tacos and Peace Bakery, as well as creating digital flyers to get the word out. Our team will share updates when locations and times are confirmed.

Next our team delved into upcoming projects. The Decibel team is continuing to look at concerns around immigration enforcement in the community, and its impact on residents. We're also pursuing a story that Sounding Board members told us about: a project using acoustics as a means for gun safety. Members suggested additional stories on healthcare access, voting guides and resource recovery changes.

Finally we screened our latest video breaking down the state laws that require local police to coordinate with ICE. We received strong feedback for the video, with all attendees saying it was 'excellent' storytelling, and that it accurately represented part of the community. All attendees also said this was a topic important to Rundberg. They provided additional suggestions, like including a resource guide and seeing what neighborhood associations are doing to assist residents.

The Decibel team will host the next Sounding Board meeting on April 18.

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