Confronted by an uncertain economy and a sharp decline in current and projected revenues from corporate underwriting, NPR today announced that it will reduce its workforce by 7 percent and cut expenses. The difficult moves come despite NPR reaching near-record audience levels on-air and online, with 26.4 million people listening to NPR programs each week and 8 million people visiting NPR.org each month. A significant number of the personnel cuts result from the upcoming cancellation of two NPR produced programs — Day to Day and News & Notes. Both programs, broadcast on NPR Member stations nationwide, will remain on the air through March 20, 2009. Staff and expense reductions will be made in reporting, editorial and production areas; station services; digital media; research; communications and administrative support. A total of 64 filled positions have been eliminated against NPR’s current staff of 889, 21 open positions will not be filled and travel and discretionary expenses have been cut across the organization. “It’s crucial to realize that these programming changes are being driven by a loss in revenue, not relevance,” said Ellen Weiss, NPR’s Senior Vice President for News. “With near-record audience levels, now more than ever people are relying on NPR to better understand the extraordinary events occurring in the world.”
original source: Daily Fishbowl DC
