Two longtime music hosts and one reporter from Maine Public Radio have voluntarily accepted retirement offers as the broadcast network attempts to protect itself from financial trouble as the coronavirus pandemic goes on.
Hosts Sara Willis and Robin Rilette, along with news reporter Ed Morin, will retire from the network in early October, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Willis hosted the contemporary music series “In Tune” for nearly 20 years and worked at the Blue Hill radio station WERU for 11 years before that. Rilette hosted “Morning Classical” for six years and was on public radio in Washington state for 24 years.
Morin worked as a reporter and news producer for the network since 1979.
Maine Public President and CEO Mark Vogelzang said the network has avoided drastic revenue shortfalls throughout the pandemic but still offered staff the opportunity to retire as a “proactive measure.”
Budgets for corporate support and foundation revenue decreased about $440,000 from fiscal years 2020 to 2021, the Press Herald reported, according to summaries provided by Maine Public.
The network also reduced its 2021 budget from $14,069,650 to $13,961,350. Vogelzang said other staff members also took retirement offers but did not specify how many.
“We don’t know what future revenues will be like as this goes on, so we’re being cautious and prudent about how we’re budgeting,” he said. “So far we’ve been lucky.”