type public radio network country united states first air date april 1971 availability global founded february 26 1970 ; 46 years ago 1970 02 26 endowment us 258 million revenue us 159 million net income us 18.9 million headquarters 1111 north capitol st ne washington d.c. broadcast area nationwide owner national public radio inc. key people jarl mohn ceo established february 26 1970 ; 46 years ago 1970 02 26 former names association of public radio stations national educational radio network affiliation world radio network official website npr.org national public radio usually shortened to npr stylized as npr is an american privately and publicly funded non profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the united states of america . 1 npr produces and distributes news and cultural programming . individual public radio stations are not required to broadcast all npr programs that are produced . most public radio stations broadcast a mixture of npr programs content from rival providers american public media public radio international and public radio exchange and locally produced programs . npr s flagships are two drive time news broadcasts morning edition and the afternoon all things considered ; both are carried by most npr member stations and are two of the most popular radio programs in the country . 2 3 npr manages the public radio satellite system which distributes npr programs and other programming from independent producers and networks such as american public media and public radio international . its content is also available on demand via the web mobile and podcasts . contents 1 name 2 history 2.1 1970s 2.2 1980s 2.3 1990s 2.4 2000s 2.5 2010s 3 governance 4 funding 4.1 underwriting spots vs. commercials 5 audience 6 digital media 7 programming 7.1 programs produced by npr 7.1.1 news and public affairs programs 7.1.2 cultural programming 7.2 programs distributed by npr 7.2.1 news and public affairs 7.2.2 cultural programs 7.3 public radio programs not affiliated with npr 8 controversies 8.1 allegations of ideological bias 8.2 euphemisms 8.3 live from death row commentaries 8.4 juan williams comments 8.5 ronald schiller comments 9 see also 10 references 11 further reading 12 external links name edit the organization s legal name is national public radio and its trademarked brand is npr ; it is known by both names . 4 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 the tag line this ... is npr has been used by its radio hosts for many years . 4 however national public radio remains the legal name of the group as it has been for more than 45 years . 4 history edit 1970s edit 1970s logo national public radio replaced the national educational radio network on february 26 1970 following congressional passage of the public broadcasting act of 1967 . 5 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 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 stations and studios in washington d.c. 6 npr aired its first broadcast in april 1971 covering united states senate hearings on the vietnam war . a month later the afternoon drive time newscast all things considered began 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 . 1980s edit npr suffered an almost fatal setback in 1983 when efforts to expand services created a deficit of nearly us 7 million . after a congressional investigation and the resignation of npr s president frank mankiewicz the corporation for public broadcasting agreed to lend the network money in order to stave off bankruptcy . 7 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 . 8 1990s logo 1990s edit delano lewis the president of c & p telephone left that position to become npr s ceo and president in january 1994 . 9 lewis resigned in august 1998 . 9 10 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 . 10 2000s edit september 11th 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 11 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. 11 in november 2003 npr received us 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 . 12 13 in 2004 npr s budget increased by over 50 % to us 153 million due to the kroc gift . us 34 million of the money was deposited in its endowment . 14 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 . 12 the 2005 budget was about us 120 million . in august 2005 npr entered podcasting with a directory of over 170 programs created by npr and member stations . by november of that year users downloaded npr and other public radio podcasts 5 million times . ten years later by march 2015 users downloaded podcasts produced only by npr 94 million times 15 and npr podcasts like fresh air and ted radio hour routinely made the itunes top podcasts list . 16 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 . 17 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 . 18 the organization indicated this was in response to a rapid drop in corporate underwriting in the wake of the economic crisis of 2008 . 18 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 . 19 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 . 17 as of 2009 corporate sponsorship made up 26 % of the npr budget . 20 2010s edit npr s former headquarters at 635 massachusetts avenue nw in washington d.c. demolished in 2013 the new npr sign at 1111 north capital st ne . 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 . 21 the osi has made previous donations but does not take on air credit for its gifts . 22 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 . 23 the new headquarters at the corner of north capitol street ne and l street nw is in the burgeoning noma neighborhood of washington . 24 the first show scheduled to be broadcast from the new studios was weekend edition saturday . 25 morning edition was the last show to move to the new location . 26 in june 2013 npr canceled the weekday call in show talk of the nation . 27 in september 2013 certain of npr s 840 full and part time employees were offered a voluntary buyout plan with the goal of reducing staff by 10 percent and returning npr to a balanced budget by the 2015 fiscal year . 28 governance edit 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 . this board is composed of ten a reps five members of the general public and the chair of the npr foundation . terms are for three years and are staggered such that some stand for election every year . 29 as of march 2015 update the board of directors of npr included the following members 30 npr member station managers mike crane director wisconsin public radio betsy gardella president and ceo new hampshire public radio kit jensen chief operating officer wviz pbs & 90.3 wcpn ideastream chair of the board roger lamay general manager wxpn caryn mathes president and general manager kuow greg petrowich executive director wsiu public broadcasting florence rogers president and general manager nevada public radio mike savage general manager wbaa kerry swanson station manager northwest public radio connie walker general manager wunc president of npr jarl mohn president and ceo chair of the npr foundation howard wollner senior vice president retired starbucks coffee company public members of the board fabiola arredondo managing partner siempre holdings chris boskin media company consultant patricia diaz dennis senior vice president and assistant general counsel retired at & t paul g. haaga jr. chairman of the board retired capital research and management company john s. wotowicz managing partner of concentric capital vice chair of the board the original purposes of npr as ratified by the board of directors are the following provide an identifiable daily product which is consistent and reflects the highest standards of broadcast journalism . provide extended coverage of public events issues and ideas and to acquire and produce special public affairs programs . acquire and produce cultural programs which can be scheduled individually by stations . provide access to the intellectual and cultural resources of cities universities and rural districts through a system of cooperative