Industry News

NPR to Stop Using Twitter Feeds

NPR’s David Folkenflik reports that the public media organization will cease putting up fresh content on its 52 official Twitter feeds after the social media platform labeled NPR as “state-affiliated media” which it also uses to label propaganda from places like China and Russia, before changing the label to “government-funded media.” NPR has responded to the new label saying it is “inaccurate and misleading, given that NPR is a private, nonprofit company with editorial independence. It receives less than 1 percent of its $300 million annual budget from the federally funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.” NPR CEO John Lansing is quoted saying the company is “protecting its credibility and its ability to produce journalism without a shadow of negativity. The downside, whatever the downside, doesn’t change that fact. I would never have our content go anywhere that would risk our credibility.” Read the full story here.

Industry News

NPR Cancels Four Podcasts Amid Staff Cuts

As reported by NPR’s David Folkenflik and Mary Yang, the public media giant has dropped four podcasts as part of a companywide move to cut costs. The podcasts “Invisibilia,” “Louder Than a Riot” “Rough Translation” and “Everyone & Their Mom” are being dropped in order to close what’s being reported as a budget gap of $30 million. NPR CEO John Lansing says, “We literally are fighting to secure the future of NPR at this very moment by restructuring our cost structure. It’s that important. It’s existential.” The report notes that “NPR intends to cut back its workforce from approximately 1,200 to about 1,050 employees. The nonprofit network’s layoffs represent its largest reduction in staff since the 2008 recession.” In other moves, NPR is bringing its newsroom and programming divisions together as Lansing notes the “current separation artificially cleaved NPR’s journalism and editorial creations.” At this time, none of the NPR radio programs have been canceled. Read the full story here.

Industry News

NPR Announces Workforce Cuts

As reported by NPR’s own David Folkenflik, the public radio corporation is announcing it will trim its workforce by about 10%. NPR CEO John Lansing revealed the plans to staffers in a memo. Folkenflik reports that the laying off of at least 100 staffers is due to “the erosion of advertising dollars, particularly for NPR podcasts, and the tough financial outlook for the media industry more generally.” Lansing writes, “When we say we areNational Public Radio - Logo eliminating filled positions, we are talking about our colleagues – people whose skills, spirit and talents help make NPR what it is today. This will be a major loss.” The story goes on to state, “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.” Folkenflik notes, “The layoffs are in keeping with an increasingly grim landscape for media companies over recent months. Vox Media cut jobs by 7%; Gannett and Spotify by 6%. The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, eliminated its Sunday magazine and a handful of other jobs. After becoming part of Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN cut hundreds of jobs and killed off its brand-new streaming service, CNN+.” Read Folkenflik’s piece here.