National Public Radio News (NPR)

Eric Kallgren    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 12:21pm on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

NPR promoted Ellen McDonnell from director of morning programming to executive director of news programming, effective June 1, 2009.

Also, Dick Meyer is being promoted from editorial director of NPR Digital to executive editor for NPR News and Stuart Seidel from supervising senior editor to deputy managing editor.

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 11:34pm on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

NPR's Michele Norris was named "journalist of the year" by the National Association of Black Journalists on April 28, 2009. NABJ specifically recognized Norris for her coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign:

"The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) named National Public Radio host Michele Norris Journalist of the Year at its spring Board of Directors meeting in Tampa.

"Michele had the best year hands down, one full of accomplishments," said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. "Journalists should look to people like Michele Norris, who shows that through determination, intelligent analysis and careful investigation come journalism's highest level of respect."

Michele Norris's recognizable voice as host of NPR's "All Things Considered" became ever-present during the network's election coverage. Her reporting was crisp, bold, assertive and heart-warming. Her insight and sensitivity to the African-American experience brought to the mainstream candid discussions about race and the impact of Barack Obama's election on the nation.

One of Norris' most successful 2008 election projects was her own idea to have Americans of different races sit down over a meal and have a comfortable, honest conversation about race. In more than 15 hours of conversations throughout the fall election season, voters in York, Pa. shared candid and revealing thoughts that were aired in six segments on "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 11:20pm on Thursday, March 26th, 2009

NPR achieves record audience ratings in early 2009:

On March 24, 2009, Paul Farhi of the Washington Post wrote about good news for NPR:

"At a time when newspapers, magazines and TV news continue to lose readers and viewers, at least one part of the traditional media has continued to grow robustly: National Public Radio.

The audience for NPR's daily news programs, including "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered," reached a record last year, driven by widespread interest in the presidential election, and the general decline of radio news elsewhere. Washington-based NPR will release new figures to its stations today showing that the cumulative audience for its daily news programs hit 20.9 million a week, a 9 percent increase over the previous year.

The weekly audience for all the programming fed by Washington-based NPR -- including talk shows and music -- also reached a record last year, with 23.6 million people tuning in each week, an 8.7 percent increase over 2007."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 3:29pm on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

March 2, 2009: Published by Slate, June Thomas wrote an excellent article titled "Let's Get Those Phones Ringing! The cunning genius of the public radio fundraising drive:"

"If you're a public radio addict like me, you know the despair of waking up on a winter morning, turning on the radio, and hearing not the reassuring tones of Renee Montagne and Steve Inskeep but instead the jarring sound of your local host begging for money. At least twice a year, stations across the land withhold Nina, Cokie, and Sylvia and devote precious drive-time minutes to fundraising. It's maddening, in part because it reminds us how hopelessly hooked we are."

Read the full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2212340/