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Update from our colleague @NPRwelna, whose layoff early in the week triggered much debate. Thanks for his many years of service, which continue. Thanks to others who have served NPR well and whose positions were eliminated; hoping those who want other posts at NPR will find them.
Not all of our laid-off colleagues have spoken publicly, but those who have include @kara_frame, one of three members of an amazing NPR video team that has produced surprising, distinctive, original work for many years.
When I was a very junior freelancer, NPR had me cover a trial relating to Mexico. I knew nothing. @NPRwelna, then based in Mexico, called me and patiently explained everything. It may have been a small thing to him, and long ago, but you remember when somebody throws you a rope.
The elimination of two national security posts at @NPR triggered a debate that I trust will continue. Meanwhile I’m grateful that deeply experienced @HannahAllam, @gregmyre1, @TBowmanNPR and @michelekelemen continue covering terrorism, intel agencies, the Pentagon and State.
The United States remains at war. There is a risk of further wars. Defense spending is on the rise. Tension with China has increased. The leadership of intel agencies is in flux. It’s hard to focus on all this because of America’s own domestic tensions. But it matters enormously.
It’s plain that NPR, like every news organization, is wrestling with a challenge. Serious reporting about the world is far more demanding, far more labor intensive, than ever before. More precisely: it’s always been that demanding, but today we better understand that.
I will say NPR has progressed a bit from the days before 9/11, when I was assigned to the Pentagon. And then told to look also at intel agencies. And then told, while still covering those beats, to help cover a presidential campaign.
And @NPR’s ombudsman now has a column on the layoffs, noting that “newsroom leaders need to have that kind of flexibility. But it matters how such changes are made.” npr.org/sections/publi…
