https://www.dailymail.com/media/article-15870807/npr-layoffs-climate-section.html
By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER
National Public Radio (NPR) slashed its entire climate desk during the outlet’s latest round of layoffs, joining several other publications in axing their green coverage.
NPR CEO Katherine Maher announced the company was doing away with dozens of newsroom positions in an attempt to ‘adjust’ to an era without federal subsidies.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) – the private broadcasting body previously responsible for funneling federal funds from Congress to NPR – was shut down in January.
Maher wrote that restructuring was necessary because the network expects to earn $15 million less in station fees this year.
‘We have made every effort to preserve the core capacity and strengths of what makes NPR different and distinct,’ Maher said. ‘This is never an easy choice to make, to have to cut anywhere near the newsroom.’
The number of cuts was not specified, but the station is offering buyouts to some 300 staffers and would accept as many as 30, NPR said.
Just days later, NPR’s Chief Climate Editor Neela Banerjee revealed that her entire team was ousted in the layoffs.
‘I was laid off by NPR. The climate desk no longer exists separately but has been folded into the National Desk,’ Banerjee wrote on LinkedIn.
‘I have rarely been as inspired or happy as I was working with the nine other journalists on NPR’s Climate Desk, and I feel so very lucky to have helped you – and learned from you.
‘I’m finding my way forward, because as crushing as journalism can be, it has often given me purpose, joy and friendship. Our desk was a testament to that.’
It comes as several other media outlets have cut their climate coverage divisions this year.
In February, The Washington Post let go of over 300 journalists, including at least 13 reporters and editors who covered climate change, sources told environmental newsletter The Drain.
In March, CBS News laid off its national environmental correspondent, David Schechter, according to the LA Times.
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More hits for "climate journalism" as NPR just shuttered their "Climate Desk." pic.twitter.com/ARDgC9tnL5
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 2, 2026
