I recently spoke to a prominent activist investor (who targets publicly traded companies for various forms of board reform) who was in financial distress and needed to expand his audience and make more money. I asked him what he would demand from a fallen radio network.
His answer is an ultimatum for CEOs and executives to no longer produce polarizing content.
On the other hand, if you have employees telling management how current programming is alienating consumers, never think about shooting the proverbial messenger.
Listen to him; maybe even give him a raise.
I’m withholding the name of this activist investor because he has enough problems to participate in the middle of a crap show involving National Public Radio.
Suffice it to say, the network, once known for its reliably eccentric views on culture, politics and business, is doing just the opposite.
Most recently, Uli Berliner, the proverbial messenger and now former business editor, was gunned down for calling attention to progressive corruption within the organization and for a published essay that went viral that no one listened to. He was suspended from his job for failing to lend money and later resigned.
What’s more, NPR is doubling down on everything under the influence of its fresh-faced, cartoonishly leftist CEO Katherine Maher, who will continue to push the network even further to the far left.
To someone who knows the business, it’s all very strange. Because, as I point out in my recent book about the radicalization of corporate America, Go Woke, Go Broke, being woke was a terrible business model.
Most Americans are centrists and hate the far left. Or perhaps awakened is not such a derogatory term.
progressive fringe
NPR once had a large number of conservatives who liked its erudite news and opinion programming.
As Mr. Berliner’s essay in the Free Press pointed out, NPR’s “news” is no longer exposed as being engineered by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.
This is literally a show aimed at the same audience that loves MSNBC, oblivious to the fact that there are a very small number of far leftist listeners.
A quick review of the company’s corporate leadership shows where the social justice pandering on NPR’s show is coming from, and Maher’s selection as CEO earlier this year.
Maher is the former CEO of Wikimedia, the nonprofit that runs the online (and increasingly left-leaning) encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Her main skills seem to be knowing the left-wing nonprofit funding circuits and communicating progressive politics.
And it’s clearly not working.
Evidence of this is, of course, provided in Berliner’s essay, which scathingly criticized the loss of listeners and the irrelevance of NPR’s reporting.
You can find further evidence by searching NPR’s own website for audited financial statements.
NPR is not a public company (its revenue comes from government subsidies, member stations that buy its programming, and, most importantly, corporate sponsorships).
If so, it would be a perfect short sell, where investors bet that the stock will collapse as the company’s business evaporates.
NPR’s finances appear to be doing just that. The latest audited financial report describes the financial outlook as follows: “In early 2023, management determined that NPR’s corporate sponsorship revenue for the current fiscal year would be significantly lower due to worsening economic conditions, which had a negative impact on corporate sponsor spending.” Given the relative economic uncertainty, we believe lower levels of corporate spending on sponsorship opportunities will have an impact in 2023 and beyond. ”
“Poor” excuse
Are you in a bad financial situation?
Most corporate profits have increased since the 2020 pandemic lockdown.
It’s NPR’s audience that is suffering, which is why corporate sponsorships are declining.
What makes NPR’s crisis even more intractable is that Mr. Maher appears to be one of the people least capable of righting the ship.
Instead of sitting down with Mr. Berliner, she attacked him and his admittedly accurate criticisms in a memo to staff.
Not smart.
Also not smart: Her hilariously insane Woke Public
Maher admitted to having a dream about “tasting and comparing nuts and baklava” with Vice President Kamala Harris, another famous awakener.
She justified the violent riots by George Floyd in 2020 because “it’s hard to be angry at protests that don’t prioritize the private property of a system of oppression based on treating people’s ancestors as private property.” did.
(Tell that to the small business owners who have seen their life’s work sacrificed for a cause.)
She’s also well-versed in weirdo-woke jargon, like “toxic masculinity” and “cis mobile privilege,” and calls Donald Trump (and presumably those who voted for him) a “deviant person.” No wonder he thinks he’s a speciesist sociopath.
Currently, she runs a major media company with a balance sheet (so far) of over $500 million in assets.
Wow!
As I said, NPR is not a public company.
But if it were to happen, it would be the next “Big Short.”
