NPR senior strategist Andy Carvin announced on Twitter this morning that he’s been offered a buyout from the organization. Carvin included a link to his blog, where he explained more.
“Earlier this fall, NPR announced it would offer buyouts for staff to help balance the company’s budget by reducing the workforce by about 10%. Surprising even myself, I must admit, I threw my hat into the ring. Last Friday, I learned NPR has accepted my buyout request.”
But he hasn’t yet accepted it. Carvin writes that he has until December to decide. If he doesn’t take it, he’ll keep his job.
Stu Seidel, managing editor for standards and practices for NPR News, confirmed to Poynter this morning in an e-mail that he also put in for the buyout and plans to accept it.
Kee Malesky, a librarian for NPR, also confirmed to Poynter in an e-mail that she put in for the buyout and also plans to take it. Malesky is the author of “Learn Something New Every Day,” and “All Facts Considered.”
In a piece yesterday, Carvin spoke with Smithsonian.com’s Around The Mall blog about his use of social media as a journalist, including up to 17 hours a day on Twitter during the Arab Spring. The cell phone he used to report on the Arab Spring is now on display at the museum.
“I think a lot of the people who follow me for professional reasons follow me because I’m also a real human being on Twitter. I talk about my family, I talk about how things are going at work, the apple picking that I took my kids to a week ago or whatever. Social media gives you a chance to demonstrate to the world that you’re not just a talking head on a screen somewhere and that you actually are multidimensional. I think that adds to your authenticity in ways that make people more likely to trust you, to the point where they may want to share things with you as well. Being yourself on Twitter and social media is just a natural part of being a good citizen and cultivating sources online.”
If Carvin does accept the buyout, then he’s on to the next. And he’s crowdsourcing for what that next might be.
“What will I do after that? That’s a question I can’t answer yet,” he writes on his blog, “because I haven’t made any decisions. I’ve had the honor of serving at NPR for seven years, and while it’ll be hard to top that, no doubt there many exciting opportunities out there worth exploring. Would love to hear all of your thoughts on what I should tackle next.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to NPR as a company.
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