October 18, 2001 | Read Time: 1 minute
A 30-percent erosion in the value of the Freedom Forum’s assets in the past two years has prompted plans to consolidate its offices and trim its staff.
The foundation, which runs the Newseum, an interactive news-media museum in Arlington, Va., as well as programs for journalists, said it would close its New York office. It is also terminating its international program.
The foundation said it still plans to open a new Newseum in Washington in 2005.
Charles L. Overby, the fund’s chairman and chief executive, said that in the stock-market decline its assets fell from $1-billion in 1999 to $700-million today. Its assets consist largely of real estate and a diversified stock portfolio.
Mr. Overby said the Freedom Forum would offer its full-time employees a voluntary buyout program before resorting to layoffs. Of the foundation’s approximately 285 employees, 236 work in its Arlington headquarters.
