Chicago Public Radio cuts 11 staffers

Chicago Public Radio laid off 11 full-time employees today — 9 percent of its workforce, according to the station. “Although we continue to see positive growth in our overall audience and high responsiveness to our fundraising campaigns, we have experienced revenue shortfalls due to a significant drop in our average donation and limited growth in corporate underwriting,” the station said in a letter to its board and Community Advisory Council, also shared with Current. The cuts come as the station faces a $1.5 million budget shortfall, according to the Chicago Tribune. The Chicago Reader lists some of the laid-off employees, which include two hosts of CPR’s startup web/radio hybrid, Vocalo.org. The Reader‘s media critic wrote about Vocalo.org earlier this year. A recent article in Chicago’s Time Out looks critically at Vocalo.org’s execution: “…[T]o many people who hear Malatia’s new radio project, it doesn’t sound like groundbreaking radio. Often, it just sounds like college radio.”