PBS North Carolina announced Tuesday that it plans to cut staff due to the loss of federal funding for public media.
The loss of Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding will mean a nearly $5 million cut for the TV network. It's giving "voluntary separation offers" to most of its staff, freezing hiring and eliminating vacant positions.
PBS NC says it hopes the move will minimize the need for layoffs. “We did not create this — it was dictated by Congress,” CEO David Crabtree said in a news release. “Nonetheless, we will play the hand we’re dealt and pledge to continue to be good stewards of our budgets.”
The news release didn't say how many jobs could be cut or whether the budget cuts will impact PBS NC's programming, some of which comes from the national network and some of which is produced locally. Those include travel shows like "North Carolina Weekend" and the weekly political talk show "State Lines."
The news release says the goal of the cuts is "streamlining operations, strengthening core services, and ensuring financial sustainability."
The announcement from PBS NC comes after Charlotte public radio station WFAE announced it's reducing its staff by six people in response to funding cuts.
PBS NC is also facing the threat of state budget cuts, including a proposed $4 million cut in the state Senate's budget bill. The House and Senate have not yet agreed on a budget plan. Crabtree told WUNC several months ago that "in the worst-case scenario, you would be looking at about 30 to 31% of our entire budget with what's laid out so far" between potential state and federal funding cuts.
PBS NC and WUNC Radio are both public media broadcasters, but the two are fully separate from each other. While WUNC Radio is an affiliated entity of UNC-Chapel Hill, the station receives no state or university funding. WUNC has been impacted by the defunding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which makes up about 5% of the station’s budget. WUNC has not cut any staff positions in response to the funding loss.
