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American Public Media Group, Minnesota Public Radio's parent company, on Friday laid off 30 staff members after Congress clawed back funding that it had previously approved for public broadcasting. Cuts in state funding from the Minnesota Legislature exacerbated the budget gap.
APMG CEO Jean Taylor announced the job cuts in an email to staff three weeks after a general announcement about plans to eliminate jobs. The cuts did not include staff reductions in the MPR newsroom. Cuts included APM Research Lab staff, which focused on demographic analyses, surveys, and data journalism.
APMG would not confirm every department affected by cuts, but layoffs impacted areas of the organization including YourClassical, The Current, information technology and the division that distributes national programs to other public radio stations.
“Due to reductions in funding from both federal sources and the State of Minnesota, Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media is facing a budget shortfall of more than $6 million this fiscal year,” said Roycie Eppler, the chief people and culture officer said for APMG in a statement provided to MPR News. “While MPR-APM remains financially strong, these cuts required us to make the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by 30 positions — about 6 percent of staff.”
Before this latest round of cuts, APMG had employed around 500 people.
In June, APMG cut 15 jobs when it announced plans to sell the BrainsOn! Universe science podcasts for younger listeners. In April, the company eliminated seven positions at Marketplace as part of a restructuring.
In 2023, APMG reported annual operating expenses of $117 million on revenue of $108 million for the fiscal year, the most recent for which documents are public. The organization also draws from restricted endowment accounts.
Disclosure: This story was written by MPR News reporter Matt Sepic. It was edited by MPR News editor Annie Russell. When reporting on the business of MPR and public media, we do so independently from news executives and they do not review material before it is broadcast or published online.
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