New York Public Radio is, once again, cutting its journalism and programming across several of its properties, including public radio news station WNYC 93.9 FM, podcast production house WNYC Studios and classical WQXR 105.9 FM. Amidst the cost cutting, an NYPR spokesperson refused to disclose the salary being paid to the organization’s President and CEO LaFontaine Oliver, reports the Gothamist website.
In an email to staff Thursday, Oliver said the organization was making cuts in the local newsroom, canceling the show “Notes from America” with Kai Wright, stopping production of WQXR podcasts and reducing the number of events planned at The Greene Space, a venue and multimedia production studio in Lower Manhattan. Out of a total 302 employees, 14 were laid off. Another 12 took voluntary layoffs.
Oliver blamed declining radio listenership and advertising dollars and the shift of consumers’ to new digital platforms and he lamented the departure of “talented colleagues and friends.”
“The moment we’re in is requiring us to make fundamental changes so we can remain viable and relevant for years to come,” Oliver wrote.
The cuts to the classical station include eliminating morning newscasts and no hosts during nighttime programming.
Newsroom staffers would not speak on the record but several talked about the deep sense of sadness at the cuts and the long-running frustration of seeing the news operation dwindle as people leave and are not replaced. Four newsroom people were laid off, one voluntarily, despite Oliver’s memo stating that NYPR was “doubling down on local.” The NYPR spokesperson, Jennifer Houlihan Roussel, did not answer questions about that apparent contradiction.
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