NPR downsizing is a “crisis we will not waste”

Why is NPR cutting into its radio newsroom while continuing to invest in digital operations? It’s a question that’s been repeatedly posed to President Vivian Schiller as she leads the network through its latest round of budget cuts. “I’m here to tell you today, and I will continue to say this . . . until I’m blue in the face–this is a crisis we will not waste,” Schiller said during a March 30 speech at NVision 2009, a conference on the future of journalism. “The answer for us is not to retrench and just go back to what we do best, but to regroup. We have to innovate. We have to push. We have to take risks . . . . I say, we absolutely must embrace the way people use media today.” A video of Schiller’s speech, including her “to-do” list for NPR’s newsroom and digital operations is here.