National Public Radio (NPR, stylized as npr) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California.[2] It serves as a national syndicator to a network of more than 1,000 public radio stations in the United States.[3] It differs from other non-profit membership media organizations, such as the Associated Press, in that it was established by an act of Congress.[4]
Funding for NPR comes from dues and fees paid by member stations, underwriting from corporate sponsors, and annual grants from the publicly funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.[5] Most of its member stations are owned by non-profit organizations, including public school districts, colleges, and universities. NPR operates independently of any government or corporation, and has full control of its content.[6]
NPR produces and distributes both news and cultural programming. The organization's flagship shows are two drive-time news broadcasts: Morning Edition and the afternoon All Things Considered, both carried by most NPR member stations, and among the most popular radio programs in the country.[7][8] As of March 2018,[update] the drive-time programs attract an audience of 14.9 million and 14.7 million per week, respectively.[9]
NPR manages the Public Radio Satellite System, which distributes its programs and other programming from independent producers and networks such as American Public Media and Public Radio Exchange, and which also acts as a primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System. Its content is also available on-demand online, on mobile networks, and in many cases, as podcasts.[10] Several NPR stations also carry programs from British public broadcaster BBC World Service.
The organization's legal name is National Public Radio and its trademarked brand is NPR; it is known by both names.[11] 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.[11] National Public Radio remains the legal name of the group, however, as it has been since 1970.[11]
NPR replaced the National Educational Radio Network on February 26, 1970, following Congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.[12] This act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which also created the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for television in addition to NPR. A CPB organizing committee under John Witherspoon first created a board of directors chaired by Bernard Mayes.
The board then hired Donald Quayle to be the first president of NPR with 30 employees and 90 charter member local stations, and studios in Washington, D.C.[13]
NPR aired its first broadcast on April 20, 1971, covering United States Senate hearings on the ongoing Vietnam War in Southeast Asia. The afternoon drive-time newscast All Things Considered premiered on May 3, 1971, first hosted by Robert Conley. NPR was primarily a production and distribution organization until 1977, when it merged with the Association of Public Radio Stations. Morning Edition premiered on November 5, 1979, first hosted by Bob 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-president Frank Mankiewicz, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting agreed to lend the network money in order to stave off bankruptcy.[14] 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 (the Public 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.[15]
Delano Lewis, the president of C&P Telephone, left that position to become NPR's CEO and president in January 1994.[16] Lewis resigned in August 1998.[16][17] In November 1998, NPR's board of directors hired Kevin Klose, the director of the International Broadcasting Bureau, as its president and chief executive officer.[17]
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.
Jay Kernis, NPR's senior VP for programming[18]
NPR spent nearly $13 million to acquire and equip a West Coast 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m2) production facility, NPR West, which opened in Culver 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 the western 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.[18]
In November 2003, NPR received $235 million from the estate of the late Joan B. Kroc, the widow of Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald's Corporation. This was the largest monetary gift ever to a cultural institution.[19][20]
In 2004, the Kroc gift increased NPR's budget by over 50% to $153 million. Of the money, $34 million was deposited in its endowment.[21] 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.[19] 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,[22] and NPR podcasts like Fresh Air and the TED Radio Hour routinely made the iTunes Top Podcasts list.[23]
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 at Radio Free Europe.[24]
On December 10, 2008, NPR announced that it would reduce its workforce by 7% and cancel the news programs Day to Day and News & Notes.[25] The organization indicated this was in response to a rapid drop in corporate underwriting in the wake of the economic crisis of 2008.[25]
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.[26]
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 into new media "at the expense of serving" the stations that financially support NPR.[24]
As of 2009, corporate sponsorship comprised 26% of the NPR budget.[27]
In October 2010, NPR accepted a $1.8 million grant from the Open 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.[28] The OSI has made previous donations but does not take on-air credit for its gifts.[29]
In April 2013, NPR moved from its home of 19 years (635 Massachusetts Avenue NW) to new offices and production facilities at 1111 North Capitol Street NE in a building adapted from the former C&P Telephone Warehouse and Repair Facility.[30] The new headquarters—at the corner of North Capitol Street NE and L Street NW—is in the burgeoning NoMa neighborhood of Washington.[31] The first show scheduled to be broadcast from the new studios was Weekend Edition Saturday.[32] Morning Edition was the last show to move to the new location.[33] In June 2013 NPR canceled the weekday call-in show Talk of the Nation.[34]
In September 2013, certain of NPR's 840 full- and part-time employees were offered a voluntary buyout plan to reduce staff by 10 percent and return NPR to a balanced budget by the 2015 fiscal year.[35]
In December 2018, The Washington Post reported that between 20 and 22 percent of NPR staff was classified as temps, 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."[36]
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."[37]
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.[38]
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.[39]
In January 2024, NPR's board named former Wikimedia Foundation CEO Katherine Maher its new CEO, effective late March.[40]
NPR is a membership organization. Member stations are required to be non-commercial or non-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 a religious broadcasting philosophy or be used for classroom distance 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 are staggered 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]