Minnesota Public Radio has decided to cancel a series whose three-year investigation and 20 podcast episodes assisted in overturning a conviction of a Mississippi man on death row.
APM Reports investigative podcast “In the Dark” cancellation might come as a surprise, considering it received several accolades, including a pair of Peabody Awards, and was even profiled on “60 Minutes” last year.
“As a trusted public media service, Minnesota Public Radio is committed to providing high-quality journalism, programming, and experiences for our audiences and communities,” MPR said in a statement, per Inside Radio.
“In keeping with this commitment, advancement of our strategic priorities, and our responsibility as financial stewards of MPR’s resources, we have made a difficult decision regarding the future of APM Reports. We are dissolving APM Reports as a separate business unit and incorporating select programming elements into MPR News. Unfortunately, this change means that colleagues, who’ve invested their energy, skills, and passion with us, will be leaving our organization.”
The radio station informed the APM Reports team of the decision on Thursday, and it’s uncertain how many of the 18-staffers will face layoffs. The decision to pull the plug on the podcast comes two months after Minnesota Public Radio and American Public Media converged into a lone entity under CEO Jean Taylor.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
