WORT lays off staff due to budget shortfall

WORT in Madison, Wis., has taken steps to reduce its budget deficit by eliminating the jobs of two senior staffers.

The layoffs affected Music Director Sybil Augustine and Business and Events Development Director Doug Holtz, said Board President Grant Foster during the Monday broadcast of 8 O’Clock Buzz. Foster appeared on the morning show to discuss WORT’s financial outlook following the loss of its CPB funding. The station received $113,000 annually from CPB, he said. 

Before the layoffs, the station faced a budget deficit of $80,000–$90,000 per year without CPB’s financial support, Foster estimated. Personnel expenses exceeded revenues, and WORT’s underwriting and events programs “had not performed to budget expectations for I think as far back as I could find in our records.”

“Events, I think, are really beloved by a lot of people in the community and are really expensive to pull off,” Foster told host Brian Standing. “And at the end of the day, they really weren’t a source of revenue at all.”

The board determined that eliminating the music director role would have a limited impact on the station’s programming, Foster said. 

Standing asked how WORT will manage its fundraising with the planned retirement of Donor Relations Director Susan Sheldon. Foster said former News Director Molly Stentz has returned to WORT under a contract “to help fill in any of the specific responsibilities that might not be covered during this transition time with our staffing.” 

Station leadership also plans to restructure its fundraising programs and hire a new development director to oversee both donor relations and underwriting/events, Foster said. 

Tanya Graham, VP of the WORT board, announced the cuts in a Nov. 10 email to volunteers, Isthmus reported.

WORT is a community radio station affiliated with Pacifica and the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. Its FM signal reaches communities within a 50-mile radius of Madison, according to its website.