WBUR/Boston Hit With Budget Cuts

• Public radio continues to get financially hammered by ongoing COVID-19-related issues. On the heels of major cutbacks at Chicago Public Media’s WBEZ/Chicago and Minnesota Public Radio, Boston University’s NPR News-Talk affiliate WBUR/Boston announced a sizeable financial restructuring that will result in the layoff of 29 people — more than 10% of the station’s staff — including Executive News Director Tom Melville, Digital Managing Director John Davidow and Director of Operations and Production Peter Lydotes.

Sr. Managing Editor Dan Mauzy will be elevated to Executive Editor for News, assuming many of Melville’s responsibilities. And in a move that WBUR Chief Executive Margaret Low (pictured) said had been planned since last year, Managing Director of News and Programming Sam Fleming will retire after almost three decades at the station.

In other budget-cutting moves, WBUR will also stop producing the 27-year-old nationally syndicated sports show, Only A Game this fall. The show is carried by 260 stations but has been without a permanent host since founding host Bill Littlefield retired two years ago. The station shakeup also includes dropping the Kind World podcast, which is co-hosted by two women of color. “I really hope that, in this moment, they’re taking this diversity and inclusion problem very, very seriously,” said Andrea Asuaje, one of the hosts of Kind World. “The fact that my show is powered by minority women, and it’s gotten cut, you know, it’s not a great look.”

Staff reductions will help WBUR, one of the largest stations in public radio, reduce its operating budget by roughly 13%, to about $40 million, in the fiscal year that begins July 1. In an interview, Low said she hopes to avoid additional layoffs but cannot guarantee more cuts won’t be necessary. “One would be not smart to say anything’s impossible,” Low said. “The world as we know it changed, and changed again, overnight. I’m hopeful.”