NPR is canceling "Tell Me More," its only show "expressly designed to have a primary appeal for African-American listeners and other people of color," the organization itself reported today. From the writeup by David Folkenflik:
"NPR announced Wednesday that it would cease broadcast of the weekday program on Aug. 1 and eliminate 28 positions as part of a larger effort to end the company's persistent budget deficits..."
NPR's board of directors required its executives to close this year's $7 million gap. Previously, a voluntary buyout led to the departure of dozens of people throughout the company. Ultimately, NPR's total headcount will be seven percent lower than the level it stood at last year. NPR has run deficits in all but one of the past six fiscal years, including the one ending Sept. 30
NPR will continue to run two sites, Code Switch and The Race Card Project, oriented toward race-related issues.