NPR To Reduce Staff By 10 Percent, Interim CEO Named

Paul Haaga

The Board of Directors of NPR announced Friday that Paul G. Haaga, Jr. will serve as Acting President & CEO of NPR effective September 30.

Haaga has served on the Board since 2011, most recently as Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of its Finance Committee.

"Paul has made many valuable contributions to NPR during his tenure on the Board," said Kit Jensen, Chair of the NPR Board and CEO of WVIZ/PBS & 90.3 WCPN Ideastream.

"His intimate knowledge of our organization, his unwavering commitment to the highest quality of journalism and programming, and his financial acumen make him particularly well-suited to lead NPR as we begin our search for a permanent chief executive."

Haaga said that his time on the Board has been "one of the most rewarding and exciting phases of my career."

He continued: "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to lead one of the world's leading providers of news, music and cultural programming on an interim basis and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Board and senior leadership team to help this great organization build on its success."

Haaga will succeed NPR President and CEO Gary E. Knell, who recently announced that he will leave the organization to become President and CEO of the National Geographic Society.

NPR has appointed a search committee, co-chaired by Board members Florence Rogers, President and General Manager, Nevada Public Radio, and John Wotowicz, Managing Partner, Concentric Capital, to lead the search for a permanent CEO.

The Board also approved a budget for fiscal year 2014 and a strategic roadmap to achieve a balanced budget over the next two years.

The budget includes operating and investment revenues of $178.1 million, expenses of $183 million, and an operating cash deficit of $6.1 million, or 3 percent of revenues. As part of the strategy to eliminate the deficit and lower ongoing expenses, NPR will offer a voluntary buyout plan broadly across the organization that seeks to reduce staffing levels by approximately 10 percent.

According to The Washington Post, NPR hopes to reduce its 840-member payroll over the next year. NPR said the buyout is necessary to close a persistent deficit, projected at $6 million in its upcoming fiscal year.

In April, it opened its new headquarters building in the shadow of the Capitol, a $201 million edifice complete with in-house restaurant with an executive chef, health-care facilities, employee gym and gift shop.

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The organization laid off 64 employees, or about 8 percent of its staff, in late 2008 and cut two programs to save money.

NPR receives less than 2 percent of its annual budget directly from federal funds but relies on dues from member stations that receive an average of 15 percent of their budgets from federal funds.