Starting in 2023: NPR to Cut About a Hundred Employees in One of the Largest Layoffs in History
Several civic leaders have expressed dismay at the budget cuts. “DCist and the journalists who run it provide essential and irreplaceable reporting to keep us informed about what’s happening in our community,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va. ) said in a Facebook post. This is terrible news. “
Staff learned of the assembly the day before through an eerie email announcing that WAMU offices would be closed and internal computer systems would be temporarily frozen Friday while leaders presented a new strategic plan.
There is no local programming at WAMU on Friday morning.
WAMU is the most-listened-to news station in the Washington, D. C. , area, which is the nation’s largest radio market, according to Nielsen.
WAMU acquired DCist in 2018, calling it a “beloved local news site,” after it was shut down by a parent network of urban news sites. Initially introduced in 2004, DCist has become one of the most prominent virtual media outlets, aimed exclusively at local media. Washington news and lifestyle coverage, delivered with the laid-back voice popularized by the blogging boom of the early 2000s.
Since the merger of the WAMU and DCist newsrooms, many journalists have written articles for DCist and recorded them for broadcast on WAMU.
But over the past year, a wave of journalists left the station, adding DCist’s senior editor, who left just weeks ago, and most of those positions had yet to be filled, employees said.
The city’s former political reporter, Martin Austermuhle, who left the station last summer, said the vacancies come with Maryland’s education and politics, though “a good portion of our listeners” are in Maryland’s suburbs.
“A lot of other people love public radio, but other people in the Washington domain love public radio,” he said. “The number of times I’d pass out and say, ‘My call is Martin Austermuhle,’ other people would say, ‘I love WAMU and NPR!'”
He said DCist had an appeal to a younger, more digitally savvy audience, who appreciated the commitment to local coverage at the epicenter of political power. “There are so many sleuths in Washington covering the White House, federal agencies and Capitol Hill, but far fewer covering local affairs,” he said. “We celebrate that facet of local journalism. “
Pulley-Hayes said Friday that “we remain committed to sharing stories about what makes our region unique compared to what our audience has told us. They need local politics, art, culture, and food. He also stated that they would continue to expand. “new local radio systems while maintaining its commitment to existing systems.
He said staff will continue to have access to DCist’s archives, a privilege denied to other journalists when a virtual media site is shut down, leaving them with no evidence of their subsequent work.
A newspaper has disappeared from the Internet. Did he pay to kill him?
But for the public, DCist no longer exists. Its address now redirects to WAMU’s website, after a brief explanation that “as of February 23, the site will no longer publish new content. “
More than 80% of WAMU’s profits come from corporate donations and subscriptions, the advertising edition of public media. A small portion comes from NPR and the state-funded Public Broadcasting Corporation.
Over the summer, Pulley-Hayes told staff that the station was facing a budget shortfall of about $2. 5 million, several former and existing workers said.
The layoffs at WAMU come as other media outlets have scaled back their local politics in Washington. The Washington Post’s overdue acquisitions last year included significant cuts to the paper’s Metro section.
Such cuts are part of a broader wave of contractions in a media industry still struggling with the disruptions and evolutions of the virtual publishing revolution. Vice announced Thursday that it would block posting on its online page and plans to lay off many workers. The Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal have faced primary layoffs this year, while music whistleblowing site Pitchfork has seen a downsizing by joining other media outlets. The Messenger, a news startup with $50 million in funding, imploded in less than a year. , laying off many workers last month.
An earlier edition of this article quoted WAMU as another news organization that would hire another 10 people in audio production. WAMU officials now say that number has yet to be determined.