WNIN has cut five staff members and will cut TV shows, as it deals with the loss of state and federal funding. WNIN’s John Gibson has details:
The cuts include two full-time employees and three part-timers at the public media operation based in Evansville.
In addition to staff cuts, some remaining employees will be reorganized and take on additional responsibilities within individual departments.
WNIN President and CEO Tim Black calls it a “sad but unavoidable situation.”
Black says “core PBS and NPR programming will remain on the schedule and no programming or on-air staffing changes are planned for WNIN-FM.”
But WNIN will make several TV program cuts that viewers will notice beginning in October and continuing through the end of 2025, depending upon the length of existing contracts.
Local community affairs programming including “NewsMakers”, “Shively and Shoulders” and “Two Main Street with David James” will continue with a focus on digital distribution.
Black is thanking donors for a boost in support.
During the period of April thru August local donors gave an additional 345-thousand dollars to WNIN, doubling the amount of local donor revenue during the same period last year.
And while it didn’t cover the station’s funding gap the additional gifts DID prevent WNIN from having to move dollars from station reserves to the general operating account.