PBS is preparing for layoffs as the public television network has lost support of many corporate sponsors, according to the New York Times. They layoffs, which will be the first to occur at the network in 20 years, will be centered on "PBS NewsHour."
MacNeil/Lehrer Productions will be closing the offices in both Denver and San Francisco, laying off the majority of employees that work in those offices. Additionally, cuts will occur on "noncritical production positions" at the company's main office in Arlington, Virginia, where additional jobs will be eliminated.
Employees of PBS that weren't authorized to speak on the matter told the New York Times that MacNeil/Lehrer was facing a $7 million budget shortfall in its first quarter, which is a fourth of its total budget of $28 million.
On Monday, an internal memorandum was released, where the executive producer of "NewsHour," Linda Winslow and Boisfeuillet Jones, Jr., the chief executive of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, detailed the cuts that will occur. They include the closing of the Denver and San Francisco offices of "NewsHour," which previously also had offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles that have since closed.
"Under no circumstances do we intend to abandon the minidocumentary reports that have become so critical to our broadcast," Winslow and Jones wrote in the memorandum. The will make up for the loss of reporters outside the Washington area by "building new relationships with a variety of locally based freelance video journalists around the country.
"The 'NewsHour' remains committed to delivering the same kind of in-depth reporting our viewers and supporters expect from us," they added. They will also be sending their own news teams into the field.
A spokesman for "NewsHour" didn't offer any additional details on the program's current budget, though other measures will be put into place to cut costs. These measures will include leaving positions unfilled and streamlining the network's technical operations.
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