"NPR executives are scanning the horizon for storm clouds even as they are planning a stand-pat budget for the upcoming fiscal year: they don't yet know how badly NPR local member stations have been hurt by the July vote by Congress to cease all federal funding for public media. NPR CEO Katherine Maher told the board of directors in an open session Friday that the network's $300 million annual budget would be balanced. Like that of the federal government, NPR's fiscal year begins Oct. 1."
"At NPR and many member stations, listener contributions have spiked up significantly. They are helping to make up for the cuts, at least in the short term. But the dynamics are so volatile that officials privately say it's hard to know where the public radio system's finances will land, or how long that generosity will last. NPR News spoke to seven people with direct knowledge of events for this story."
"According to three of the people with direct knowledge, NPR plans to make trims totaling more than $5 million over the course of the coming fiscal year to bring its annual budget into balance. It does not plan layoffs or major programming shifts. Maher is offering $8 million in relief to stations hardest hit by the cost of paying for NPR's programs."
NPR plans to balance its $300 million annual budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 despite Congress's July decision to end federal funding for public media. NPR leadership intends to hold a stand-pat budget while offering $8 million in relief to stations hardest hit by program fees. Listener contributions to NPR and many member stations have surged and are offsetting cuts in the short term, but finances remain volatile and future sustainability is uncertain. NPR intends to trim more than $5 million over the coming fiscal year without layoffs or major programming shifts and will hold an all-staff meeting.
Read at www.npr.org
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