GBH lays off 6 percent of staff due to funding cuts, rising costs, and stagnant revenues

GBH is laying off 45 employees, 6 percent of its staff, across more than a dozen departments due to financial challenges that include federal grants cut by the Trump administration.

The cuts come less than a month after GBH laid off nine staff members at WORLD Channel, a television channel that focused on global news, programs, and documentaries. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in consultation with GBH, cut funding for the channel because it wasn’t sustainable.

Combined, the cuts amount to 7 percent of GBH’s total workforce, president and chief executive Susan Goldberg said in an email to staff, which The Boston Globe obtained. Layoffs had a pronounced effect on GBH’s children’s media and education team, which receives significant funding from the Ready to Learn federal grant program the Trump administration canceled last month.

In addition, eight staffers from the radio program “The World” and two employees from the newsroom were laid off, Goldberg confirmed.

“GBH is being impacted by several dynamics at once: federal funding cuts, rising costs of doing business, and the need to evolve our work to meet audiences’ needs,” Goldberg said in a statement. “We’re sad to have to say goodbye to colleagues and grateful for their contributions. At a volatile time like this, we owe it to the public to reshape our work to meet the moment and to ensure long-term sustainability.”

The layoffs represent the second organizationwide job cuts at GBH in as many years. Media organizations across the country have struggled as audiences have increasingly moved to streaming platforms, podcasts, and social media for news and entertainment.

Last year, GBH laid off 31 employees, about 4 percent of its staff, which included 11 staffers in its newsroom. The organization also suspended production of the television programs “Basic Black,” “Greater Boston,” and “Talking Politics.” The organization relaunched “Basic Black” this year as “GBH News Rooted” and has said it will revive “Greater Boston.”

Goldberg said Monday the organization also reduced expenses across all of its departments and will not fill some roles that are vacant because of normal turnover.

GBH is one of the largest producers of PBS programming in the country, with programs such as “Frontline,” “Masterpiece,” and “NOVA.” It also operates an NPR news station, creates educational programming, produces podcasts, and more.

The Trump administration is also threatening to cut federal funding for public media. President Trump signed an executive order last month that would halt funds to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an independent nonprofit that funds NPR and PBS. Both organizations sued the Trump administration over the order last week, arguing in separate lawsuits the move was unconstitutional.

Losing federal funding would deal a huge blow to NPR and PBS stations across the country, particularly smaller and more rural stations that receive a larger share of federal funding. But even for juggernauts such as GBH and WBUR, where federal funding is respectively about 8 percent and 3 percent of their total revenues, the financial loss would be much greater because other stations pay to license some of their programming.

Aidan Ryan can be reached at aidan.ryan@globe.com. Follow him @aidanfitzryan.