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Revenue Decline Forces Cuts At NPR

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

And public radio is being hit by the recession. Yesterday NPR News announced that it is canceling two shows and laying off seven percent of the workforce. This is due, in part, to a sharp drop in corporate underwriting. NPR's David Folkenflik has more.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK: Top NPR officials said they had to make the cutbacks, dropping 64 employees from a staff of 889 in order to help close a budget gap of $23 million. The daily programs News & Notes and Day to Day will end in March. Twenty-one other empty positions will be eliminated. Pointed questions flew at a staff meeting in Washington. Victoria O'Hara, a 26-year veteran who has held a variety of senior editing and reporting jobs, was among those laid off Wednesday.

VICTORIA O'HARA: There were lots of indicators that the economy was in trouble. This is a donor-funded organization. So how can you sit here and tell us that the people who run the company are not at all culpable for what's happened?

FOLKENFLIK: Back in summer, the company predicted a deficit of just $2 million for this fiscal year. Interim CEO and President Dennis Haarsager said that was before the economy and the financial markets collapsed.

Mr. DENNIS HAARSAGER (Interim CEO and President, NPR News): I wish I had a better view of what it was that we ended up with, but both us and virtually every other company in the media have gone through similar experiences in the last year.

FOLKENFLIK: Other news organizations have actually gone through far worse cuts, and a core of roughly 300 NPR journalists will remain. But a dozen prominent figures were among those who lost their jobs, including Farai Chideya, Ketzel Levine [and] Kim Masters. David Folkenflik, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

David Folkenflik was described by Geraldo Rivera of Fox News as "a really weak-kneed, backstabbing, sweaty-palmed reporter." Others have been kinder. The Columbia Journalism Review, for example, once gave him a "laurel" for reporting that immediately led the U.S. military to institute safety measures for journalists in Baghdad.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.