‘PBS NewsHour’ Plans Layoffs as It Closes Offices

[dixiegrrrrl]

WASHINGTON — The “PBS NewsHour,” the signature nightly newscast on public television, is planning its first significant round of layoffs in nearly two decades.

Amid declines in support from corporate sponsors, the show’s producer, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, will close the two offices it has outside of the Washington, D.C., area — in Denver and San Francisco — and lay off most of the employees there. The company, which is based in Arlington, Va., will also eliminate several of what it calls “noncritical production positions” at its main office.

Earlier this year, public television employees who were not authorized to speak publicly told The New York Times that the production company was facing a shortfall of up to $7 million, a quarter of its $28 million overall budget, in the fiscal year that ends this month. It is unclear what the company’s budget for the next fiscal year forecast. But a spokeswoman for the “NewsHour” acknowledged that the reorganization, which will take place over several months starting in July, would help balance the budget.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/business/media/pbs-newshour-plans-layoffs-as-it-closes-offices.html

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. kick for long in depth news segments