NPR cuts programs, lays off 7% of workforce

National Public Radio has announced the cancellation of daytime news programs Day to Day and News and Notes. Hosts Madeleine Brand and Farai Chideya will lose their jobs when the shows go off the air in March, along with more than 60 other NPR employees. This is part of a larger effort to minimize the company's projected budget shortfall: $23 million for the fiscal year.

NPR will lay off 7 percent of its workforce overall, and cut expenses elsewhere.

"It's a very difficult time for us all, but NPR is not exempt, unfortunately, from the recession that has covered our country in the last several months," said Dennis Haarsager, the interim president and CEO. "We simply must react to it in a responsible way—and that's what we've tried to do."

Day to Day was created as a "midday complement to mainstays Morning Edition and All Things Considered," while News and Notes was designed to attract the African American demographic. The programs premiered in 2003 and '04, respectively.

Click here to listen to an interview with Madeleine Brand and Media Correspondent David Folkenflik. In "About Prospects," they discuss the dilemma of the laid-off journalist in this economic climate, and the sustainability of public radio.

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NPR.org
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