New York Public Radio, the non-profit that owns WNYC and Gothamist, announced that it has secured an $8.9 million Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan from the federal government to help get through the pandemic.
"The PPP loan we received will provide us with relief at a time when the crisis has greatly strained our finances, and allow us to continue to serve New York City with trusted information and news coverage," NYPR CEO Goli Sheikholeslami said in a statement to Gothamist.
According to a release put out by the company, NYPR has lost "millions in expected sponsorship funding" due to the pandemic, expanding a deficit that existed before the coronavirus shut down New York City and killed thousands of New Yorkers.
The news of the PPP loan was announced during a virtual all-staff meeting that this reporter did not attend. According to sources at the meeting, the deficit is projected to be around $10 million.
This year, like any other year of the past decade or so, has been brutal for the journalism industry. The pandemic spurred mass unemployment and vanishing advertising budgets, which in turn forced media companies to make salary cuts, furloughs and layoffs. The list of affected outfits is excruciatingly long, the damage to the public discourse unimaginable. According to the Times, at least 36,000 journalists have lost their jobs since the pandemic began.
During the meeting, Sheikholeslami said that the company would not order furloughs or layoffs this fiscal year, which ends on June 30, and that listeners and readers were donating generously, but that NYPR still has "a steep hill to climb," according to the sources.
NYPR's annual operating budget is around $87 million, according to its most recent financial documents. The money comes from a mixture of donations, sponsorship, and government grants. NYPR also runs WQXR, WNYC Studios, and The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space.
This is the second round of $310 billion allocated for PPP loans, after the first round of $349 billion ran out in two weeks. According to the most recent figures released by the federal Small Business Administration, which administers the loans, only around 7 percent of the 2.5 million second-round loans are for more than $5 million. The average loan in this round is $73,000.
Companies with 500 or fewer employees are eligible for PPP loans, which are capped at $10 million. The loans are eligible to be forgiven if the money is used on payroll, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. NYPR says it employs 361 people.
"This funding will not change our fierce independence in any way. Indeed, these resources will be used to continue our rigorous public service journalism, including accountability reporting on government responses to this crisis," Sheikholeslami's statement said.
The Seattle Times and the Tampa Bay Times recently announced that they received $9.9 million and $8.5 million in PPP loan money, respectively. Newsday, the Long Island-based newspaper, also received a $10 million PPP loan.
During the first round of PPP loans, large companies like Shack Shake and Potbelly Corporation received $10 million, and were criticized for taking money meant for actual small businesses. (Both companies later returned the loans.)
We asked NYPR about its relative size compared to small businesses throughout the city that are struggling to apply for and receive PPP relief.
"There have been many issues with current PPP loan program, and we as an organization would be very supportive of a program designed for truly small businesses with fewer than 50 employees," Sheikholeslami replied.
