NPR is slashing executive pay as the company braces for heavy corporate revenue losses

National Public Radio (NPR) is cutting the pay of executives across the board to help offset the financial impact of the pandemic on the company.

CEO John Lansing sent an email to the staff last week explaining that NPR was preparing to take a $12-$15 million hit in the amount it had expected to receive from sponsors this fiscal year.

Close to one-third of NPR’s revenue comes from corporate sponsors, including State Farm, Trader Joe’s, and General Motors. These sponsors are largely in lieu of traditional advertisements, which the company does not run.

“We do not have any position eliminations on the table now … and it is out goal to avoid them as much as is reasonably possible,” said Lansing in the email. His own salary will be cut by 25%.

The company is hoping to save $25 million through pay cuts and closely monitored discretionary spending.

NPR spokeswomen Isabel Lara said the company’s “main priority is to preserve jobs.”

More than 33,000 news professionals have been furloughed, lost their jobs, or had their pay reduced since the beginning of the economic lockdown brought about by the pandemic.

Since the beginning of the national lockdown, news consumption has increased. Readership numbers on NPR’s website have doubled in recent weeks, radio streaming has increased by close to a third, and podcast downloads have gone up, as well.