Thirty-four WHYY journalists signed a letter to top managers last February complaining about how they were running the newsroom at the biggest public media outlet in the Philadelphia region.
The journalists complained of poor organization, lack of communication, and a focus on quick stories instead of the longer pieces that National Public Radio has long championed. "Inspiration, communication, and morale are low, while burnout, siloing, and attrition are high," the letter said.
By the end of the year, 13 of the letter-signers, all members of a union that was then more than a year into negotiating its first contract with WHYY, had left. The contract was signed in September.
