NPR’s chief executive announced that NPR would lay off roughly 10% of its current workforce – at least 100 people – and eliminate most vacant positions. CEO John Lansing cited the decline in ad dollars, particularly for NPR podcasts.
“When we say we are eliminating filled positions, we are talking about our colleagues – people whose skills, spirit and talents help make NPR what it is today,” Lansing wrote in a memo to staff today. “This will be a major loss.”
On an annual budget of roughly $300 million, Lansing says, revenues are likely to fall short by close to $30 million, although that gap could reach $32 million.
“We’re not seeing signs of a recovery in the advertising market,” Lansing says in an interview. “Nothing is nailed down yet except the principles and what we know we have to reach.”
