Gannett Blog
The Newseum says it “eliminated 16 positions” this week.
The Gannett blog reported the Freedom Forum, which funds the Newseum, “laid off 20% of approximately 150 employees at the Washington museum and other programs financed by the foundation“:
These are just the latest cuts since the museum opened in new quarters in 2008 that cost nearly double the original $250 million construction estimate.
In a statement sent to Poynter earlier Thursday, the Washington, D.C., museum says the cuts were part of a “restructuring,” and that new hires will get the museum back to its pre-layoff staffing level. In a later statement, Freedom Forum CEO James Duff said ” When the Newseum’s restructure is complete, we will actually have more associates at the Newseum than before.”
Duff was paid $1.6 million in 2011, Gannett Blog reports. The Newseum laid off 29 full-time staffers in 2009.
Correction: This post originally got James Duff’s first name wrong.