 | |
| Type | Public radio network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
First air date | April 20, 1971; 53 years ago (1971-04-20) |
| Availability | Global |
| Founded | February 26, 1970; 55 years ago (1970-02-26) |
| Endowment |  $342.3 million (2023)[1] |
| Revenue | $318.7 million (2023)[1] |
 $−4.45 million (2023)[1] | |
| Headquarters | |
Broadcast area |
|
Key people | Katherine Maher (CEO) |
Former names | |
| Affiliation(s) | WRN Broadcast |
Official website | npr |
National Public Radio (NPR) is an Americanpublic broadcasting organization headquartered inWashington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters inCulver City, California.[2] It serves as a nationalsyndicator to a network of more than1,000 public radio stations in the United States.[3]
Funding for NPR comes from dues and fees paid by member stations, underwriting from corporate sponsors, and annual grants from the publicly fundedCorporation for Public Broadcasting.[4] Most of its member stations are owned bynon-profit organizations, includingpublic school districts,colleges, anduniversities. NPR operates independently of any government or corporation, and has full control of its content.[5]
NPR produces and distributes both news and cultural programming. The organization's flagship shows are twodrive-time news broadcasts:Morning Edition and the afternoonAll Things Considered, both carried by most NPR member stations, and among themost popular radio programs in the country.[6][7] As of March 2018,[update] the drive-time programs attract an audience of 14.9 million and 14.7 million per week, respectively.[8]
NPR manages thePublic Radio Satellite System, which distributes its programs and other programming from independent producers and networks such asAmerican Public Media andPublic Radio Exchange, and which also acts as aprimary entry point for the Emergency Alert System. Its content is also available on-demand online, on mobile networks, and in many cases, aspodcasts.[9] Several NPR stations also carry programs from British public broadcasterBBC World Service.
The organization's legal name isNational Public Radio and itstrademarked brand isNPR; it is known by both names.[10] In June 2010, the organization announced that it was "making a conscious effort to consistently refer to ourselves as NPR on-air and online" because NPR is the common name for the organization and its radio hosts have used the tag line "This ... is NPR" for many years.[10]National Public Radio remains the legal name of the group, however, as it has been since 1970.[10]
NPR replaced theNational Educational Radio Network on February 26, 1970, following Congressional passage of thePublic Broadcasting Act of 1967.[11] This act was signed into law byPresidentLyndon B. Johnson, and established theCorporation for Public Broadcasting, which also created thePublic Broadcasting Service (PBS) for television in addition to NPR. A CPB organizing committee under John Witherspoon first created a board of directors chaired byBernard Mayes.
The board then hiredDonald Quayle to be the first president of NPR with 30 employees and 90 charter member local stations, and studios inWashington, D.C.[12]
NPR aired its first broadcast on April 20, 1971, coveringUnited States Senate hearings on the ongoingVietnam War inSoutheast Asia. The afternoon drive-time newscastAll Things Considered premiered on May 3, 1971, first hosted byRobert Conley. NPR was primarily a production and distribution organization until 1977, when it merged with theAssociation of Public Radio Stations.Morning Edition premiered on November 5, 1979, first hosted byBob Edwards.
NPR suffered an almost fatal setback in 1983 when efforts to expand services created a deficit of nearly $7 million (equivalent to $19 million in 2022 dollars). After a Congressional investigation and the resignation of NPR's then-presidentFrank Mankiewicz, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting agreed to lend the network money in order to stave off bankruptcy.[13] In exchange, NPR agreed to a new arrangement whereby the annual CPB stipend that it had previously received directly would be divided among local stations instead; in turn, those stations would support NPR productions on a subscription basis. NPR also agreed to turn its satellite service into a cooperative venture (thePublic Radio Satellite System), making it possible for non-NPR shows to get national distribution. It took NPR approximately three years to pay off the debt.[14]
Delano Lewis, the president ofC&P Telephone, left that position to become NPR's CEO and president in January 1994.[15] Lewis resigned in August 1998.[15][16] In November 1998, NPR's board of directors hiredKevin Klose, the director of theInternational Broadcasting Bureau, as its president and chief executive officer.[16]
September 11th attacks made it apparent in a very urgent way that we need another facility that could keep NPR going if something devastating happens in Washington.
NPR spent nearly $13 million to acquire and equip aWest Coast 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m2) production facility,NPR West, which opened inCulver City,Los Angeles County, California, in November 2002. With room for up to 90 employees, it was established to expand its production capabilities, improve its coverage of thewestern United States, and create a backup production facility capable of keeping NPR on the air in the event of a catastrophe in Washington, D.C.[17]
In November 2003, NPR received $235 million from the estate of the lateJoan B. Kroc, the widow ofRay Kroc, founder ofMcDonald's Corporation. This was the largest monetary gift ever to a cultural institution.[18][19]
In 2004, the Kroc gift increased NPR's budget by over 50% to $153 million. Of the money, $34 million was deposited in itsendowment.[20] The endowment fund before the gift totaled $35 million. NPR will use the interest from the bequest to expand its news staff and reduce some member stations' fees.[18] The 2005 budget was about $120 million.
In August 2005, NPR entered podcasting with a directory of over 170 programs created by NPR and member stations. Users downloaded NPR and other public radio podcasts 5 million times by November of that year. Ten years later, by March 2015, users downloaded podcasts produced only by NPR 94 million times,[21] and NPR podcasts likeFresh Air and theTED Radio Hour routinely made theiTunes Top Podcasts list.[22]
Ken Stern became chief executive in September 2006, reportedly as the "hand-picked successor" of CEO Kevin Klose, who gave up the job but remained as NPR's president; Stern had worked with Klose atRadio Free Europe.[23]
On December 10, 2008, NPR announced that it would reduce its workforce by 7% and cancel the news programsDay to Day andNews & Notes.[24] The organization indicated this was in response to a rapid drop in corporateunderwriting in the wake of theeconomic crisis of 2008.[24]
In the fall of 2008, NPR programming reached a record 27.5 million people weekly, according to Arbitron ratings figures. NPR stations reach 32.7 million listeners overall.[25]
In March 2008, the NPR Board announced that Stern would be stepping down from his role as chief executive officer, following conflict with NPR's board of directors "over the direction of the organization", including issues NPR's member station managers had had with NPR's expansion intonew media "at the expense of serving" the stations that financially support NPR.[23]
As of 2009, corporate sponsorship comprised 26% of the NPR budget.[26]
In October 2010, NPR accepted a $1.8 million grant from theOpen Society Institute. The grant is meant to begin a project called Impact of Government that was intended to add at least 100 journalists at NPR member radio stations in all 50 states by 2013.[27] The OSI has made previous donations but does not take on-air credit for its gifts.[28]
In April 2013, NPR moved from its home of 19 years (635Massachusetts Avenue NW) to new offices and production facilities at 1111 North Capitol Street NE in a building adapted from the formerC&P Telephone Warehouse and Repair Facility.[29] The new headquarters—at the corner of North Capitol Street NE and L Street NW—is in the burgeoningNoMa neighborhood of Washington.[30] The first show scheduled to be broadcast from the new studios wasWeekend Edition Saturday.[31]Morning Edition was the last show to move to the new location.[32] In June 2013 NPR canceled the weekday call-in showTalk of the Nation.[33]
In September 2013, certain of NPR's 840 full- and part-time employees were offered avoluntary buyout plan to reduce staff by 10 percent and return NPR to a balanced budget by the 2015fiscal year.[34]
In December 2018,The Washington Post reported that between 20 and 22 percent of NPR staff was classified astemps, while this compares to about five percent of a typical for-profit television station. Some of the temporary staff members told the newspaper the systems were "exploitative", but NPR's president of operations said the current system was in place because the station is a "media company that strives to be innovative and nimble."[35]
In December 2018, NPR launched a new podcast analytics technology called Remote Audio Data (RAD), which developer Stacey Goers described as a "method for sharing listening metrics from podcast applications straight back to publishers, with extreme care and respect for user privacy."[36]
In late November 2022, CEO John Lansing told staffers in a memo that NPR needed to reduce spending by $10 million during the current fiscal year due to a drop in revenue from sponsors. The amount is approximately three percent of the organization's annual budget.[37]
In February 2023, Lansing announced in a memo that the network would be laying off approximately 10 percent of the workforce due to reduced advertising revenue. He said the annual operating budget is approximately $300 million, and the gap will likely be between $30 and $32 million.[38]
In January 2024, NPR's board named formerWikimedia Foundation CEOKatherine Maher its new CEO, effective late March.[39]
On January 31, 2025, a Defense Department memo announced that NPR must move out of its longtime workspace on the Correspondents' Corridor in the Pentagon, a move under a new Annual Media Rotation Program for the Pentagon Press Corps.[40]
NPR is a membership organization. Member stations are required to benon-commercial ornon-commercial educational radio stations; have at least five full-time professional employees; operate for at least 18 hours per day; and not be designed solely to further areligious broadcasting philosophy or be used for classroomdistance learning programming. Each member station receives one vote at the annual NPR board meetings—exercised by its designated Authorized Station Representative ("A-Rep").
To oversee the day-to-day operations and prepare its budget, members elect a board of directors. The board was previously composed of ten A-Reps, five members of the general public, and the chair of the NPR Foundation. On November 2, 2015, NPR Members approved a change in the NPR Bylaws to expand the board of directors to 23 directors, consisting of 12 Member Directors who are managers of NPR Member stations and are elected to the board by their fellow Member stations, 9 Public Directors who are prominent members of the public selected by the board and confirmed by NPR Member stations, the NPR Foundation Chair, and the NPR President & CEO.[41] Terms are for three years and arestaggered such that some stand for election every year.[42]
As of January 2024[update], the board of directors of NPR included the following members:[41]
The original purposes of NPR, as ratified by the board of directors, are the following:
The Public Editor responds to significant listener queries, comments and criticisms. The position reports to the president and CEO John Lansing.[44]In April 2020,Kelly McBride became the Public Editor for NPR.
In 2020, NPR released a budget for FY21 anticipating revenue of $250 million, a slight decrease from the prior year due to impacts of COVID-19. The budget anticipated $240 million in operating expenses, plus additional debt service and capital costs that lead to a cash deficit of approximately $4 million. The budget included $25 million in budget cuts.[45]
During the 1970s and early 1980s, the majority of NPR funding came from the federal government. Steps were taken during the Reagan administration in the 1980s to completely wean NPR from government support, butthe 1983 funding crisis forced the network to make immediate changes.
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2024) |
According toCPB, in 2009 11.3% of the aggregate revenues of all public radio broadcasting stations were funded from federal sources, principally through CPB;[46] in 2012 10.9% of the revenues for Public Radio came from federal sources.[47]
In 2010, NPR revenues totaled $180 million, with the bulk of revenues coming from programming fees,grants fromfoundations or business entities, contributions andsponsorships.[26] According to the 2009 financial statement, about 50% of NPR revenues come from the fees it charges member stations for programming and distribution charges.[26] Typically, NPR member stations receive funds through on-airpledge drives, corporate underwriting, state and local governments, educational institutions, and the federally fundedCorporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In 2009, member stations derived 6% of their revenue from federal, state and local government funding, 10% of their revenue fromCPB grants, and 14% of their revenue from universities.[26][48] NPR receives a small number of competitive grants from CPB and federal agencies like the Department of Education and the Department of Commerce.[26][better source needed] This funding amounts to less than 1% of revenues.[49]
In 2011, NPR announced the roll-out of their own onlineadvertising network, which allows member stations to run geographicallytargeted advertisement spots from national sponsors that may otherwise be unavailable to their local area, opening additional advertising-related revenue streams to the broadcaster.[50]
Center Stage, a mix ofnative advertising andbanner ad featured prominently on the NPR homepage, above-the-fold, was launched in 2013. The launch partner forCenter Stage wasSquarespace.[51]
In 2014, NPR CEO Jarl Mohn said the network would begin to increase revenue by having brands NPR views as more relevant to the audience underwrite NPR programs and requesting higher rates from them.[52]
For the year ended September 30, 2018, total operating revenues were $235 million, increasing to almost $259 million by September 2019.[53]
In 2023,Current reported that NPR partnered withSpotify to run targeted advertisements sold through the Spotify Audience Network platform within NPR programming, when NPR has empty slots available they otherwise were unable to sell to other advertisers directly.[54]
In contrast withcommercial broadcasting, NPR's radio broadcasts do not carry traditional commercials, but has advertising in the form of brief statements from major sponsors which may include corporateslogans, descriptions of products and services, and contact information such as website addresses andtelephone numbers.[55] These statements are calledunderwriting spots and, unlike commercials, are governed by specific FCC restrictions in addition totruth in advertising laws; they cannot advocate a product or "promote the goods and services" of for-profit entities.[56] These restrictions apply only to radio broadcasts and not NPR's other digital platforms. When questioned on the subject of how corporate underwriting revenues and foundation grants were holding up during the recession, in a speech broadcast onC-SPAN before theNational Press Club on March 2, 2009, then president and CEOVivian Schiller stated: "underwriting is down, it's down for everybody; this is the area that is most down for us, in sponsorship, underwriting, advertising, call it whatever you want; just like it is for all of media."[57] Hosts of the NPR programPlanet Money stated the audience is indeed a product being sold to advertisers in the same way as commercial stations, saying: "they are not advertisers exactly but, they have a lot of the same characteristics; let's just say that."[58]
According to NPR's 2022 data, 30.7 million listeners tuned into its programs each week.[59] This is down from its 2017 high of 37.7 million,[60] but still well above its total of 20.9 million in 2008.[61]
According to 2015 figures, 87% of the NPR terrestrial public radio audience and 67% of the NPR podcast audience is white.[62] According to the 2012Pew Research Center 2012 News Consumption Survey, NPR listeners tend to be highly educated, with 54% of regular listeners being college graduates and 21% having some college.[63] NPR's audience is almost exactly average in terms of the sex of listeners (49% male, 51% female).[63] NPR listeners have higher incomes than average (the 2012 Pew study showed that 43% earn over $75,000, 27% earn between $30,000 and $75,000).
A 2012Pew Research Center survey found that the NPR audience leansDemocratic (17%Republican, 37%independent, 43% Democratic) and politically moderate (21% conservative, 39% moderate, 36% liberal).[63] A late 2019 survey, also by Pew, found that NPR's audience overwhelmingly leaned Democratic. Further, 87% of those surveyed identified as Democrats, or leaning Democratic, and 12% were Republicans.[64]
AHarris telephone survey conducted in 2005 found that NPR was the most trusted news source in the United States.[65][66] In 2014, Pew reported that, of adults who had heard of NPR, 55% of those polled trusted it; this was a similar level of listener trust asCNN,NBC, andABC.[67]
NPR stations generally subscribe to theNielsen rating service, but are not included in published ratings and rankings such asRadio & Records. NPR station listenership is measured by Nielsen in both Diary and PPM (people meter) markets. NPR stations are frequently not included in "summary level" diary data used by most advertising agencies for media planning. Data on NPR listening can be accessed using "respondent level" diary data. Additionally, all radio stations (public and commercial) are treated equally within the PPM data sets making NPR station listenership data much more widely available to the media planning community. NPR's signature morning news program,Morning Edition, is the network's most popular program, drawing 14.63 million listeners a week, with its afternoon newsmagazine,All Things Considered, a close second, with 14.6 million listeners a week according to 2017 Nielsen ratings data.[68] Arbitron data is also provided byRadio Research Consortium, a non-profit corporation which subscribes to the Arbitron service and distributes the data to NPR and other non-commercial stations and on its website.[69]
NPR's history indigital media includes the work of an independent, for-profit company calledPublic Interactive, which was founded in 1999[70] and acquired byPRI in June 2004, when it became a non-profit company.[71] By July 2008, Public Interactive had "170 subscribers who collectively operate 325 public radio and television stations" and clients such asCar Talk,The World, andThe Tavis Smiley Show; by the end of that month, NPR acquired Public Interactive from PRI[70] In March 2011, NPR revealed a restructuring proposal in which Boston-based Public Interactive would become NPR Digital Services, separate from the Washington D.C.–based NPR Digital Media, which focuses on NPR-branded services.[72] NPR Digital Services would continue offering its services to public TV stations.[72]
The technical backbone of its digital news publishing system is Core Publisher, which was built onDrupal, an open-sourcecontent management system.[72]
NPR has been dubbed as "leveraging the Twitter generation"[73] because of its adaptation of the popularmicroblogging service as one of its primary vehicles of information. Of NPR's Twitter followers, the majority (67%) also listen to NPR on the radio. In a survey of more than 10,000 respondents, NPR found that itsTwitter followers are younger, more connected to thesocial web, and more likely to access content through digital platforms such as itsPeabody Award-winning website npr.org, as well aspodcasts,mobile apps and more.[74] NPR has more than one Twitter account including @NPR;[75] its survey found that most respondents followed between two and five NPR accounts, including topical account, show-specific accounts and on-air staff accounts.[74] In addition, NPR'sFacebook page has been at the forefront of the company foray into social media. Started by college student and fan Geoff Campbell[76] in 2008, the page was quickly taken over by the organization,[77] and over the last two years has grown to nearly 4 million fans and is a popular example of the company's new focus on a younger audience.[78] NPR also has a YouTube channel featuring regularly posted videos covering news and informational subjects.
In May 2018, a group led by NPR acquired the podcasting appPocket Casts.[79] On July 16, 2021,Automattic acquired Pocket Casts from NPR.[80]
In July 2014, NPR launched NPR One, an app foriOS andAndroid smartphones and other mobile devices, which aimed to make it easier for listeners to stream local NPR stations live, and listen to NPR podcasts by autoplaying content and permitting easy navigation.[81] Since launch, NPR has made the service available on additional channels:Windows mobile devices, web browsers,Chromecast, Apple Car Play,Apple Watch,Android Auto,Android Wear,Samsung Gear S2 and S3,Amazon Fire TV, andAmazon Alexa–enabled devices.[82]The New York Times listed NPR One as one of 2016's "best apps".[83]
As of October 2024, the NPR programs still in production are as follows:
NPR produces daily news programs that air live on member stations.
Many programs broadcast on U.S. public radio stations are not affiliated with NPR. If these programs are distributed by another distributor, a public radio station must also affiliate with that network to take that network's programming.
American Public Media (APM) andPublic Radio Exchange (PRX; which also merged withPublic Radio International in 2018) are other major public radio production and distribution organizations with distinct missions, and each competes with the other and NPR for programming slots on public radio stations.
Most public radio stations are NPR member stations and many are affiliate stations of APM and PRX at the same time. The organizations have different governance structures and missions and relationships with stations.
This list includes programs that were distributed by Public Radio International (PRI) prior to the merger with PRX.
Over the course of NPR's history, controversies have arisen over several incidents and topics.
NPR has been accused of displaying both liberal bias – as alleged in work such as aUCLA andUniversity of Missouri study ofMorning Edition – and conservative bias, including criticism of alleged reliance on conservativethink-tanks.[89] Public radio hostLisa Simeone, who worked for NPR from 1998 to 2002, accused NPR'sPentagon reporting of being "little more than Pentagon press releases."[90] The NPR ombudsman has described how NPR's coverage of theIsrael-Palestinian conflict has been simultaneously criticized as biased by both sides.[91] University of Texas journalism professor and authorRobert Jensen has criticized NPR as taking a pro-war stance during coverage ofIraq war protests.[92] During the 2020 election, NPR declined to cover the controversy surrounding aNew York Post article on theHunter Biden laptop controversy, saying "We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don't want to waste the listeners' and readers' time on stories that are just pure distractions ..."[93]
In 2024, veteran NPR journalistUri Berliner stated that NPR demonstrated a left-wing bias in its reporting after the2016 United States presidential election, citing NPR's approach to coverage of theHunter Biden laptop controversy, theMueller special counsel investigation, theorigin of SARS-CoV-2, and the2023 Israel-Hamas war.[94][95] According to Berliner, NPR's management prioritized focus on race and identity politics, while NPR simultaneously lost viewpoint diversity.[96] NPR editor-in-chiefEdith Chapin claimed that NPR stood behind its work and defended its policies on inclusion.[97] NPR subsequently suspended Berliner for 5 days without pay, claiming that he did not secure NPR approval to work for another outlet.[98] Berliner subsequently resigned, citing disparagement by CEO Katherine Maher and her divisive views.[99]
As of July 2024[update], theMedia and Journalism Research Center evaluated NPR to be "Independent Public Media" under itsState Media Matrix.[100][101]
In 1994, NPR arranged to air, onAll Things Considered, a series of three-minute commentaries byMumia Abu-Jamal, a journalist convicted of murderingPhiladelphia Police officer Daniel Faulkner. They cancelled the commentaries after theFraternal Order of Police and members of the U.S. Congress objected.[102]
In a controversial act, NPR banned in 2009 the use of the wordtorture in the context of theBush administration's use of torture.[103] NPR's OmbudswomanAlicia Shepard's defense of the policy was that "callingwaterboarding torture is tantamount to taking sides."[104]Berkeley Professor of LinguisticsGeoffrey Nunberg pointed out that virtually all media around the world, other than what he called the "spineless U.S. media", call these techniques torture.[105][106] In an article which criticized NPR and other U.S. media for their use of euphemisms for torture,Glenn Greenwald discussed what he called the enabling "corruption of American journalism":[107]
This active media complicity in concealing that our Government created a systematic torture regime, by refusing ever to say so, is one of the principal reasons it was allowed to happen for so long. The steadfast, ongoing refusal of our leading media institutions to refer to what the Bush administration did as "torture" – even in the face of more than 100 detainee deaths; the use of that term by a leading Bush official to describe what was done at Guantanamo; and the fact that media outlets frequently use the word "torture" to describe exactly the same methods when used by other countries – reveals much about how the modern journalist thinks.
On October 20, 2010, NPR terminated Senior News AnalystJuan Williams's independent contract[108] over a series of incidents culminating in remarks he made on theFox News Channel regarding Muslim head coverings and not feeling comfortable around women wearing them. Williams's firing, which was made abruptly without Williams being given a face-to-face meeting beforehand, was reported byThe Washington Post as being a key part ofEllen Weiss, NPR's top news executive at the time, being given an ultimatum on January 4, 2011, to either resign or be fired. On January 6, 2011, NPR announced that Weiss had quit.[109]
In March 2011, conservative political activist and provocateurJames O'Keefe sent partners Simon Templar (apen name) and Shaughn Adeleye[110] to secretly record their discussion with Ronald Schiller, NPR's outgoing senior vice president forfundraising, and an associate, in which Schiller made remarks viewed as disparaging of "the current Republican party, especially theTea Party", and controversial comments regarding Palestine and funding for NPR. NPR disavowed Schiller's comments. CEO Vivian Schiller, who is not related to Ronald, later resigned over the fallout from the comments and the previous firing of Juan Williams.[111]
From 1988 to 2021,[112][113] NPR broadcast an annual reading of the 1776United States Declaration of Independence over the radio.[114] In 2017, it began usingTwitter as a medium for reading the document as well. On July 4, 2017, the 100+ tweets were met with considerable opposition, some online supporters ofDonald Trump mistakenly believing the words of the Declaration referring toGeorge III of the United Kingdom to be directed towards the president. The tweets were called "trash"[115] and were accused of being "propaganda",[116] condoning violence[115] and calling for revolution.[117][118] The July 4, 2022, annual tradition was not held. Instead, referencing the recentDobbs decision andvoting rights, hostSteve Innskeep held a discussion on "what equality means" with two historians, contrasting Thomas Jefferson's use of "All men are created equal" in the Declaration withhis participation in slavery.[112][113]
In October 2017, sexual harassment charges were leveled againstMichael Oreskes, senior vice president of news and editorial director since 2015. Some of the accusations dated back to when he was Washington, D.C. bureau chief forThe New York Times during the 1990s, while others involved his conduct at NPR,[119] where eight women filed sexual harassment complaints against Oreskes.[120] After a report on theTimes accusations was published inThe Washington Post, NPR put Oreskes on administrative leave, and the following day his resignation was requested.[121][122][123] CNN'sBrian Stelter reported that NPR staffers were dissatisfied with the handling of Oreskes, were demanding an external investigation, and that Oreskes poisoned the newsroom atmosphere by abusing his position to meet young women.[124] Oreskes resigned at the request of CEOJarl Mohn, was denied severance and separation benefits, and reimbursed NPR $1,800 in expense account charges related to his meetings with women.[125][126]
AfterElon Musk's acquisition of American social media platformTwitter, NPR's main Twitter account was designated as "US state-affiliated media" there in April 2023; this label was typically reserved for foreign media outlets that directly represented the point of view of their respective governments, like Russia'sRT and China'sXinhua.[127][128][129] Twitter's designation was widely considered controversial as NPR is an independent news organization that receives a small minority of its funding through government programs. Twitter's previous policy had explicitly mentioned NPR, as well as the United Kingdom'sBBC, as examples of networks that were not considered as state-affiliated due to their editorial independence.[127][128][129] NPR ceased activity on its main Twitter account in response to the designation.[130]
On April 8, 2023, Twitter changed the designation of NPR's account from "state-affiliated" to "government-funded".[131] On April 10, after managing to get in contact with Musk himself, NPR reporter Bobby Allyn wrote in a tweet that the platform's owner told him he was relying on a list accessible through aWikipedia category page, named "Category:Publicly funded broadcasters", in order to determine which news organizations' accounts should be deemed as "government-funded media".[132][133]
On April 12, NPR announced that its accounts would no longer be active on Twitter,[132][134][135] citing the platform's "inaccurate and misleading" labeling of NPR as "government-funded media" despite the fact that it receives "less than 1 percent of its $300 million annual budget" from theCorporation for Public Broadcasting.[132][134][136] As their last post on the platform, the network shared links to their alternative newsletters, websites and social media profiles in a thread.[134][137] In an email to the staff explaining the decision, CEO John Lansing allowed individual NPR journalists and staffers to choose for themselves whether to keep using Twitter, while noting that "it would be a disservice to the serious work you all do here to continue to share it on a platform that is associating the federal charter for public media with an abandoning of editorial independence or standards."[132][135] After NPR stopped posting on Twitter, Elon Musk threatened to forcefully reassign the @NPR handle to another user if NPR didn't reactivate its Twitter activity[138][139].
Source:[140]
Heard by 13.3 million people on 814 radio stations each week, All Things Considered is one of the most popular programs in America.
Conceived as "alternatives",Morning Edition andAll Things Considered are the second and third most listened-to radio programs in the ...
National Public Radio announced yesterday that it had received a bequest worth at least $200 million from the widow of the longtime chairman of the McDonald's restaurant chain. The gift is the largest in the 33-year history of NPR, the nonprofit broadcasting corporation – and about twice the size of NPR's annual operating budget. It is considered among the largest ever pledged to an American cultural institution.
