Top executives at the non-profit Freedom Forum and Newseum got $1.4 million in bonuses in 2008 – a year when the foundation’s endowment lost millions, and the museum began layoffs. The story comes from a former USA Today editor who writes a blog about the Gannett company and former CEO Al Neuharth, founder of the Freedom Forum.
IRS records show a bonus of $375,000 went to Freedom Forum Chairman and CEO Charles Overby, bringing his total pay package to $991,044. The Newseum’s then-president, Peter Prichard, got a $225,000 bonus, for a total income of $665,927.
The blog paints an unflattering picture of a non-profit that celebrates freedom of the press, at a time when nearly 36,000 journalists have lost their jobs at media companies across the country.
