NPR is cutting newsroom jobs for the second time in three years, offering voluntary buyouts—with potential layoffs to follow—as President and CEO Katherine Maher works to close an $8 million budget gap left by the elimination of federal subsidies for public media.
In March, a US District Judge permanently blocked a Trump administration executive order directing federal agencies to cease funding for NPR and PBS, ruling it violated the First Amendment by targeting the broadcasters for their editorial choices. That ruling, however, didn’t restore the roughly $1.1 billion in advance CPB appropriations Congress rescinded last July, which had funded member stations and, indirectly, NPR’s programming fees.
As first reported by NPR itself, buyouts are being offered to roughly 300 employees, mostly on newsgathering desks, with the network prepared to accept up to 30. Staff who haven’t taken the offer by May 26 could face targeted cuts.
Two record-breaking private gifts totaling $113 million arrived just before the restructuring announcement, but most of that money is restricted to technological innovation. Maher said, “The extraordinary generosity of [individual] donors across the nation has really mitigated some of the hardest impacts of the loss of federal funding. Now it is our responsibility to ensure that we take that gift that they have given us and use this time to get to a place where we are sustainable for the future.”
Alongside the job reductions, NPR is restructuring its newsroom desk configuration. The National and General Assignments desks will merge next month, with a focus on deep dives, natural disasters, and news deserts. Culture, education, religion, addiction, and sports coverage will fold into a new society-and-culture desk. Science and climate will be unified, and the global health team will move from the Science desk to International.
On the leadership side, Executive Editor Eva Rodriguez is transitioning to a consulting role, with Chief Washington Editor Krishnadev Calamur stepping in. Deputy Dana Farrington will take over the new politics and policy desk. Eric Marrapodi, who currently oversees news programming, will temporarily shift to lead NPR’s video expansion. Sami Yenigun, executive producer of All Things Considered, will oversee broadcast shows and newscasts, with Courtney Dorning filling his role on the program.
NPR also continues its search for a Chief Content Officer to oversee both newsroom and programming divisions, after the departure of Edith Chapin last year.
