The Next Wave of Trouble for NPR: Local Layoffs

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When I write posts like this one, I feel no joy whatsoever. People I have worked with in the past will be losing their jobs. Their families will be newly vulnerable to forces that are sweeping through our entire economy now, much as Hurricane Katrina did, when she devastated the Gulf Coast over three years ago.

Last month, I reported about the unprecedented layoffs at NPR, one of our very best news sources in the country. Tonight, based on multiple sources, it is my sad duty to report that the damage did not end at the national level.

Our largest local NPR station here in Northern California, KQED, will be implementing the “largest cuts in its history,” according to my sources, within a week. Having lived through the previous worst-ever down-sizing, back in 1995, I can easily imagine how painful this will be.

Unlike inside private sector media companies, public broadcasting is an extremely low-paying place to work. Those accustomed to private sector salaries would be shocked to learn how little those familiar voices and faces from your local radio and TV outlets get paid for their work.

So, as they lose their jobs, they are even less likely than others to have the resources to sustain themselves going forward. This is a national tragedy. As our current media industry disappears, many of our most selfless practitioners will be going silent.

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Tags: Layoff, NPR, Workforce Management, Recruitment & Selection, Human Resources, David Weir

In addition to serving as a BNET Media analyst/blogger, David Weir is a veteran journalist and the author of several books. Weir is a co-founder and vice-president of the Center for Investigative Reporting, as well as an editorial board member of The Nation.

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1

macnamband

01/10/09 | Report as spam

RE: The Next Wave of Trouble for NPR: Local Layoffs

Yes, a sad day at KQED. On the other hand, what were they thinking when they built their new building some years ago? They lived far beyond their means and you would have thought might have seen this coming, since their reporters have been talking to the people in the middle of the action for years... But the reporters didn't see it and management didn't see it and now the station is going to pay the price like so many other, well meaning companies. One can only hope that private radio stations, like KSFO, which offers absolutely nothing, and is not well meaning will suffer the same
2

hotweir

01/11/09 | Report as spam

RE: The Next Wave of Trouble for NPR: Local Layoffs

One thing I neglected to mention in the post is that KQED is not our only public broadcasting company in the Bay Area. We also have an excellent NPR affiliate, KALW, where Holly Kernan has built a strong local news operation.
3

annihilatrix

01/12/09 | Report as spam

RE: The Next Wave of Trouble for NPR: Local Layoffs

This isn't simply a question of old media giving way to new media, or NPR versus streaming video, is it? This is about how to keep a free and disinterested press supported. NPR is about as directly public as media can get.

I wonder what the long-term implications of the general news services meltdown are for the future of a free and objective professional press. (An example of what I mean by "professional" would be Brittanica as opposed to Wikipedia.)

Someone is sure to start pushing hard for a big gov. bailout for our press, which could seriously compromise its objectivity and believability. On the other hand, a working free press is one of the most important components of a free society (and please don't start yapping about how we're not "free" over here until you've spent a year in [fill in your fave totalitarian dictatorship here], okay? Thanks). Therefore, it's in the interest of a free state to support one. But once that support is there, can the press really stay disinterested?

And then there's the very scary implication that the public doesn't really want and will not support a free press. We're seeing now that Adam Smith was wrong, at least in the context of a non-agricultural 21st-century society, and we *won't* necessarily use our resources in the best way. We might support a free press if it's fun (bring on the movie stars and comics), but otherwise...

Condolences to NPR.
4

hotweir

01/12/09 | Report as spam

RE: The Next Wave of Trouble for NPR: Local Layoffs

Annihilatrix: First, thanks for your comment. You are dead on that a vigorously free press is necessary for democracy to thrive. And, also that a government-supported press is far less than optimal. In fact, I'll use your comment as the base for what I write today, as a followup about troubles in public broadcasting.