Founded in 1970, National Public Radio (NPR) made a name for itself covering the Senate Vietnam hearings. Chartered by Congress as "the People's Radio," the private, nonprofit radio network has managed to evade funding disasters while steadfastly maintaining its occasionally controversial programming content. From All Things Considered to Fresh Air and Car Talk, NPR maintains its integrity by providing consistently innovative and entertaining programming. Based in Washington, DC, NPR beams out to 600 member stations across the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam, and in Europe through Armed Forces Radio. In 1998, NPR launched a 24-hour direct broadcast satellite channel for Europe as part of NPR Worldwide. NPR boasts 15 million American listeners and thousands more in 50 foreign countries. Moreover, it maintains 12 foreign bureaus. An anomaly in the world of radio today, NPR has maintained much of the character of the golden days of the radio by offering hard-hitting investigative journalism, original drama, and unique music programming.

Commercialism as the cost of cuts

NPR has had to fight against serious funding cuts in the 1990s and as a result has had to become more business minded. Critics are complaining that NPR practices smack of commercialism and worry that programming decisions will eventually be influenced by relationships with corporate underwriters. Recent NPR money-raising schemes have people questioning whether it is truly a 'pure' nonprofit organization. Insiders stress the fact that the development portion of NPR is completely separate from the actual news and broadcast divisions. In the end, cuts in NPRs government subsidy will trickle down to affect all low budget radio stations that air NPR programming. Effective October 1, 1999, NPR began charging radio stations based on the size of their audiences, rather than implementing its time-honored practice of charging based on the size of a station's operating budget.

Non-non-profit practices?

In 1996, NPR allowed the public to rent time in their state-of-the-art recording studio in Washington, DC. Local commercial studios complained this was unfair competition, as NPR had acquired much of its equipment at low or no cost because of its non-profit status. Another controversial venture was a joint effort with Dorian Records to release albums featuring alternative music. As a non-profit organization, NPR is exempt from paying licensing fees for the music it sells, but performer rights groups argue that the radio network does not deserve that provision, as it is benefiting at the musicians' expense. Supporters of NPR point out that the radio network provides excellent publicity for these artists. (Though this is easily twisted into the counterargument that the radio network will benefit from increased sales by the baby-boomer audience.) NPR has also raised millions of dollars leasing space on its satellite to other groups, though this has not stirred up much controversy.

Putting the nation back in the name

In December 1998, Kevin Klose, formerly the director of the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau, replaced Delano Lewis as NPR president and CEO. Klose has inspired a number of new initiatives designed to expand NPR's audience both as radio listeners and interactive participants online. Through one such plan, called the "Western Initiative," NPR will include more West Coast issues in NPR's programming, including immigration and population diversity. During the national elections of 2000, NPR will remain on air later than the usual 10 p.m. witching hour, in order to wait out the West Coast election returns. Further plans for expansion were announced in March 1999, when NPR and Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) firmed up an agreement to create a new online network that will provide the American public with interactive news, information, arts and entertainment programming. NPR listeners will be encouraged to interact online with program producers and with other listeners. In the words of one NPR trustee, this is "the type of entrepreneurship that will help secure public radio's role in the multi-media world." In 2000 the company launched its first Internet-only program, All Songs Considered.

New dish for NPR