PBS North Carolina has laid off dozens this month. Here’s what to know
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- PBS North Carolina cut 32 jobs and 16 vacant roles following federal funding cuts.
- Layoffs followed a rescission bill impacting the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
- PBS North Carolina has also cut costs with a hiring freeze and pausing work on projects.
In less than two weeks, PBS North Carolina laid off 32 employees.
The “involuntary separations” implemented by public broadcaster over the past 10 days ending Thursday, Sept. 26 are in addition to five voluntary separations accepted in September, and the elimination of 16 vacant positions, PBS North Carolina CEO and general manager David Crabtree said in a statement shared with The News & Observer.
They come after the broadcaster, as well as other public media outlets across the country, lost federal funding as a result of a rescission bill passed earlier this year.
Changes to personnel and non-personnel expenses that began in January “were necessary to ensure PBS North Carolina’s long-term financial stability,” Crabtree said.
Positions affected by the 32 layoffs spanned divisions including content and production, marketing and creative, engineering, education, development and finance.
Together, the voluntary and involuntary separations and elimination of unfilled positions “mark the completion of planned personnel changes,” Crabtree said in the statement.
“With these changes now in place, we are in a stronger position to continue serving the people of North Carolina and fulfilling our public media mission for decades to come,” Crabtree said. “While the impact of these budget cuts is significant, our PBS North Carolina team is resilient, and we remain committed to our purpose.”
Current first reported this news.
Funding cuts for NC public broadcasting
In August, PBS North Carolina announced plans to cut costs in response to federal funding cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In addition to offering voluntary separation offers to most permanent employees, PBS North Carolina began reducing non-personnel expenses, implementing a hiring freeze and eliminating vacant positions.
Before the August announcement, it had paused production on a new show and work on specials in development.
The CPB — a private organization that funds NPR, PBS and local public media stations nationwide — provides about $4.8 million to PBS North Carolina each year. That funding helps provide educational programming and emergency communications infrastructure.
Earlier this year, Congress passed a rescission bill that clawed back about $1.1 billion from the CPB and revoked about $8 billion for foreign aid.
The CPB said Aug. 1 it would shut down after 58 years, with most employees gone by Tuesday, Sept. 30 and a small team staying on through January 2026.
PBS North Carolina could also lose state funding. The Senate’s budget bill proposed cutting $4 million in funding to PBS, but the House’s budget bill did not. Because there still isn’t a new, comprehensive state budget, state funding remains at previous levels until new legislation.
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 9:24 AM with the headline "PBS North Carolina has laid off dozens this month. Here’s what to know."
