Dear Noelle,

KQED and public media stations like ours are in one of the most difficult and distressing moments in the nearly 60-year history of public broadcasting. A rescission package that would take back previously Congressionally authorized federal funding for stations for the next two years is currently being deliberated by the Senate. Other threats, including an executive order that seeks to defund PBS and NPR permanently, signal that attempts to undermine the financial health of public media are unlikely to subside in coming years regardless of the rescission outcome.

Meanwhile, uncertain market conditions and some predictions of a recession signal a challenging fundraising landscape moving forward. In this volatile environment, KQED has been operating under a $12 million annual board-approved deficit, brought about by investments in digital content and platforms to meet audience needs and reach new ones. While KQED has experienced audience growth on our digital channels, our revenue growth has not kept up with our expenses.

In light of the combination of these factors, we have taken action to aggressively address our deficit as it currently stands in order to stabilize our finances so we can better navigate the uncertainty that remains. Today we made painful, but necessary budget cuts which include 45 layoffs across the organization. An additional twelve individuals have accepted voluntary buyout packages and will be leaving KQED over the course of the next year. Together this represents a 15% reduction to our workforce. Another ten open positions will not be filled. The changes to our workforce, programs and other expense reductions across the station will lead to savings of about $13 million in annualized operating expenses.

These are heartbreaking cuts to make because the strength of our service lies in our people. We are losing talented, devoted individuals whose contributions have positively impacted this organization and our region. We're working to minimize the impact on these colleagues with financial and transitional support.

The depth of these reductions necessitate some changes to the work we do.

Media literacy for middle school and high school students and educators has been a main focus of KQED Education in recent years. We will continue to support and showcase youth media and voices on digital platforms and to advance media literacy through educator professional development. But this means we will sunset our annual program and week-long showcase of high school student-produced content, Youth Takeover. Instead, we will continue to cultivate media literacy and support the education community with the KQED Youth Media Challenge, a platform where students can create audio, video, or images and publish their work. We are also reducing the number of educator media literacy workshops we host, but will maintain the online professional platform KQED Teach that provides professional development courses for K-12 teachers in all areas. And, KQED will continue to manage PBS LearningMedia for California stations, which gives educators direct access to thousands of classroom-ready digital resources and curriculum aligned to Common Core and national and state standards.

Additionally, we are rethinking our digital video production strategy. Digital video will continue to be a key part of informing and engaging audiences around our news coverage, science and food programming and on our social media channels. However, rather than having a dedicated digital video team, we will integrate that work across the organization. This means that we will disband the existing digital video production unit and focus resources in favor of deploying digital video to expand the reach of existing popular programs such as Forum, Political Breakdown and others.

Over the course of 71 years, KQED has continually adapted and, at times, made bold organizational changes based on economic, political and social conditions. Once again, we find ourselves in a challenging moment that calls for us to address our financial realities. Layoffs are always our last choice, and our objective is always to maintain our commitment to public service. Despite the depths of these cuts, we will continue to deliver on our public service mission. Uncertainties still remain, but we are a strong and resilient organization. We will endure thanks to the support of this incredible community, and KQED will re-emerge stronger when the circumstances allow.

Now more than ever I am grateful for the commitment and dedication of my KQED colleagues and the trust, faith and support of all of you.