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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION: NPR For The Tone Deaf

bag_of_money_1.jpgINQUIRER: WHYY is a relatively low-profile station in the world of public broadcasting. It doesn’t produce flashy, syndicated television shows like Frontline, from Boston’s WGBH, or Nature, from New York’s WNET. Among public stations in the top-10 markets, it is in the middle of the pack for budget and staff. WHYY is tops in one category – how much it rewards its chief executive.

President and CEO William J. Marrazzo’s potential pay, benefits and expenses totaled $740,090 in the year ending June 30, 2007, according to its most recent tax filing. The package consists of $415,993 in salary, $317,240 in benefits and $6,857 in expenses. Those benefits include $280,000 in deferred compensation reported to the IRS that Marrazzo will receive next July if he meets performance goals, as he has in the past.

Marrazzo’s total outstripped that of chief executives at WNET and WGBH, with five and six times WHYY’s revenues. It also exceeded the compensation of the heads of the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio, networks that serve stations countrywide. As a public station, WHYY received nearly $4 million in tax dollars in 2007. It spent $2.63 out of every $100 in expenditures on its CEO – more than any other public station in the largest markets. MORE

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This entry was posted on Sunday, November 9th, 2008 at 4:05 pm and is filed under News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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4 Responses to “EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION: NPR For The Tone Deaf”

  1. Dan Buskirk Says:
    November 9th, 2008 at 8:27 pm

    I think of this fact every time I hear them fundraising, and I wish all their listeners would as well. It is inexcusable that a public station in a major market would have NO local newscast AND a CEO who lives like royalty. Whatta disgrace.

  2. missfidget Says:
    November 10th, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    I contacted the NPR Ombudsman about this years ago. To add insult to injury they tape and replay many of their tv fund drives. For a real shock, listen to NPR on Sirius, without the commercials. There are a shockingly HUGE number of commercials and corporate hand jobs on WHYY radio. Ditto Dan, can we have some local coverage?

  3. Try the Fish Says:
    November 11th, 2008 at 8:05 pm

    Holy Crap! Does it ever end with this guy? Did he learn all his trix from Fumo and the guy at the SeaPort museum? I think he drives an expensive car that the station pays for and fills with gas. Probably also drives it when he goes to his other part time jobs of his board membership where he makes another 150K. I’m surprised that the board members and the public relations people haven’t posted “Oh, everybody is picking on Bill” stories on this and other blogs. Maybe a good letter to the editor will not be far off.

    I don’t understand why every concerned Philadelphian isn’t out marching on the sidewalk demanding that he and the board take a long walk.

  4. Dan Buskirk Says:
    November 12th, 2008 at 12:57 am

    Glad to hear the grumbling so far at least. It’s the kind of public perception an organization like WHYY can’t afford to see grow, it’ll rot the beams.

    To complain again about the nightly newscast, I lived in an Alaskan town of 5,000 that had ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, FRESH AIR and a local newscast. A Philadelphia public station can’t swing that? Lord knows they repeat enough of their programming….

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