PBS North Carolina begins voluntary separation program after CPB funding cuts
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- PBS North Carolina offers staff buyouts after federal CPB funding cuts.
- Organization implements hiring freeze, trims expenses and halts show production.
- Local media stations in North Carolina launched fundraising campaigns in response to cuts.
PBS North Carolina is offering voluntary separation offers to most permanent employees in response to federal funding cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The public media organization said the offers were among other efforts to lessen potential involuntary staff reductions.
“We did not create this — it was dictated by Congress,” David Crabtree, CEO of PBS North Carolina, 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.”
In addition to the voluntary separation offers, PBS North Carolina is reducing non-personnel expenses, implementing a hiring freeze and eliminating vacant positions.
PBS North Carolina receives about $4.8 million annually from the CPB, a private organization that funds NPR, PBS and local public media stations nationwide. The public broadcaster said the funding helps provide educational programming and emergency communications infrastructure.
Before PBS North Carolina announced it would offer voluntary separation offers, the organization paused production on a new show and work on specials in development.
Funding cuts to CPB
The CPB announced Friday, Aug. 1 that it would shut down, after federal lawmakers clawed back about $1.1 billion in funding. Most staffers would be gone by Tuesday, Sept. 30, and a small team would remain through January 2026.
The $1.1 billion was part of a larger rescission bill that also revoked about $8 billion for foreign aid.
Public media outlets in North Carolina began fundraising campaigns in response to the loss of federal funding. WUNC, for example, which said CPB funding amounts to about $800,000 annually, raised $1.3 million in a July drive.
This story was originally published August 5, 2025 at 11:57 AM.
