BRIC, a Brooklyn arts and media nonprofit organization, dismissed 16 employees in November after a business restructuring process, prompting a high-level executive to leave the insitution.
According to Hyperallergic, Michael Nichols, BRIC’s director of marketing and communications, said the restructuring was implemented to increase revenue flow, a difficult, yet necessary decision to keep the organization afloat.
He attributed the decision to "decreased philanthropic support” and a loss of revenue from television cable providers as audiences migrate to streaming services. Employees who spoke to the publication added that the retrenchments would severely affect the organization's media and community-produced programming on public access channels through BRIC TV and BRIC Free Speech TV.
Anthony Riddle, a former vice president of BRIC’s community media department resigned two days after the dismissals. The publication cited a letter he wrote to BRIC President Wes Jackson, in which he said he could not “be an accessory nor silent witness to the utterly abusive manner in which my colleagues across BRIC were fired en masse on November 15."
He said he could no longer align himself with the institution.
“The action further degrades Brooklyn Community Media’s fully-funded ability to serve the community. BRIC no longer represents a culture I can serve with my whole heart," he said.
