The audit also shows $175 million in liabilities, mostly for grants and contracts.
I sent an email to CPB on Friday asking what the plan is for the remaining money. I’m particularly interested in what CPB meant by saying it will make “final distributions.” Grants will surely be fulfilled, but will stations get another round of cash? CPB hasn’t responded. I’ll update this post if it does.
NPR and WaPo, however, did provide this quote from buffoon NPR CEO Katherine Maher:
The ripple effects of this closure will be felt across every public media organization and, more importantly, in every community across the country that relies on public broadcasting.
Here are some financials on other organizations that were the subject of headlines above.
American Public Media
American Public Media, which oversees Minnesota Public Radio, is one of the giants in public media, with about 500 employees. It announced cutbacks of 5-8% on July 24, or about 25-40 employees. According to its most recent 990 form, a required IRS filing for nonprofits, it carries liabilities of $48 million, but also $178 million in assets, including $75.7 million without donor restrictions!
Seventy-five million is a lot more than what 40 employees cost. That amount would cover all 40 of those employees even if they were paid $725,000 a year, the compensation rate of APM’s president and CEO.
(W)GBH
“We needed to take some pretty quick action.” Those were the words of WGBH CEO and President Susan Goldberg in discussing layoffs of 13 people who work for the excellent documentary series “American Experience.” The Boston Globe points out that the legendary Boston public outlet GBH (formerly WGBH) has had two other rounds of layoffs since 2024.
An audit completed in November 2024 shows GBH has $375 million in liabilities, but $576 million in assets, and about 75% of that amount is without donor restrictions!