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1/18 This is a (brief!) thread about executive compensation at public media non-profits. I’ve worked at American Public Media / Minnesota Public Radio in different roles for about four combined years. Today was the second time there have been layoffs since I’ve been with the org
2/18 Each time this happens, employees look to the 990s. As a non-profit, the top earners at APM.MPR must disclose their salaries and extras on tax forms. During layoffs, many of us wonder – could jobs have been saved if these executives’ salaries were pared back & redistributed?
3/18 When you compare APM/MPR’s 990s with industry peers, it’s hard to miss that APM/MPR execs are compensated at levels on par with industry peers, despite the fact that we ultimately bring in less revenue.
4/18 In 2017, the president and CEO of American Public Media made $32,469 more than the president of National Public Radio, despite the fact that NPR brought in more than twice our revenue ($113,940,531 more than us, to be exact).
5/18 In 2017, the CEO of APM made $126,892 more than the CEO of KQED despite the fact that KQED brought in $71.7 million more than APM in revenue.
6/18 Our board sets CEO salary and CEO sets the rest of APM/MPR executives’ salaries. The board of APM/MPR is made up of some pretty important people from locally-based, international companies like 3M, Cargill and UnitedHealth Group. https://www.mpr.org/about/board
7/18 In the wake of coronavirus’ first wave of economic impacts, executives at American Public Media and even National Public Radio took cuts. At NPR, execs took 25%. At APM, executives took between 20% and 35% cuts. The CEO of APM took a 35% cut.
8/18 This is commendable. But from 2013 to 2018, APM’s CEO salary went up by $169,421 without bonuses/extras. That’s an increase of about 25% in 5 years. It will now go down 35% this year, or about $241, 507 not including bonuses/extras.
9/18 The net loss is that he’ll be making $72,086 less in the coming year than he was five years ago.
10/18 Not sure what NPR's current CEO is making (he just started in Sept.) but I do know from the 990s that the CEO before him saw his salary go up 65% from 2015 to 2018 *including bonuses.*
11/18 If John Lansing's (NPR's current CEO/pres) pay is anywhere near what Jarl Mohn's (his predecessor) was by the time he left, he's still the beneficiary of a pretty generous salary boost from his Mohn.
12/18 A 25% or 35% pay cut doesn't seem like much when compensation has grown by such a large figure in just the last few years at both APM and NPR. Before Jarl Mohn, NPR's CEO Gary Knell saw his salary go up by 25% in just one year, between 2013 and 2014.
13/18 The question we might ask is - when executives take these pay cuts, how does that stack up to the salary inflation that's taken place for executives over the last five years? Is 25% or 35% a huge cut when compensation for these positions has grown quickly & dramatically?
14/18 Which brings me to the point about how all these large figures appear to us making gears turn. All over this industry, lower-paid employees are either explicitly or implicitly expected to accept less money because we're “doing mission-driven work.”
15/18 Shouldn’t our leaders have to adhere to the same standard – even more so given that their salaries actually make a dent in the overall budget?
16/18 Seeing execs take cuts and forgo bonuses during times of financial stress is commendable, but should a nonprofit offer exec bonuses or extras at all? Most employees at APM are expected to be satisfied w/ a 2.5% increase once a year. Shouldn’t company leaders be, too?
17/18 Today we learned 28 laid off and no one will receive 2.5% merit increase this year. I hope we continue to talk about whether non-profit public media is a place for execs to ascend to millionaires. Especially as we're forced to shed talented people so frequently.
18/18 Today the president and CEO of APM said he welcomed discussion on all of this, so I hope there is more to come.
