Connecting Through 2017 Stories Annual Report NPR BY THE NUMBERS, 2017 NPR BY 38.9 million The number of unique monthly visitors to NPR.org1 2 million NPR’s approximate monthly audience across broadcast, 103 podcasts, and NPR.org2 955 million The number of NPR podcast downloads in 20173 million The number of weekly broadcast listeners Irene Rinaldi/NPR 30 of all NPR programming and newscasts4 1Source: Google Analytics, January – December 2017. 2Source: Deduplicated estimate based on Nielsen, Splunk, Google Analytics, and comScore. Fall 2017. 3Source: Splunk 4Source: © 2018 The Nielsen Company. May not be quoted or reproduced without the prior written permission of Nielsen. Fall 2017, P12+ LETTER FROM JARL MOHN Looking back on 2017, I reflect on what a complex year it was for NPR and the nation. It was a year full of victories and challenges for the organization, a year that opened the floor for big, important conversations both on the air and in the workplace. With record-high engagement, we continued Through it all, we were able to stay true to our to give our audience new ways to connect mission only because of the member stations, with thought-provoking content. Our growing sponsors, and donors who so graciously presence on smart speakers, apps, and other contributed to our work. Your support, 3 emerging platforms expanded NPR’s reach to combined with our news teams’ tireless an estimated 103 million people each month. efforts, helped earn NPR the distinction of We’ve proudly welcomed these millions of new “Most Loved News Service Brand” and “Most listeners, readers, and users to the world of Trusted News Service Brand” by a 2017 Harris public radio. These achievements, and so much Poll EquiTrend study. It confirms that the more, were made possible thanks to member American public values our work with member stations, sponsors, and our generous donors. stations to provide the best mix of unbiased national and local journalism. We reimagined how to tell stories, launching eight new shows including It’s Been a Minute Yet, for everything that was happening in the with Sam Sanders, which touched the minds and news, 2017 was also a year of looking inward hearts of both broadcast and digital audiences, at our own community. Because of this, we and Wow in the World, our first-ever children’s have taken crucial measures to improve our podcast. NPR remains the top publisher of organization for the important work that podcasts in the U.S. and continues to develop new lies ahead, and have emerged from the year shows through the NPR Story Lab, an idea hub stronger. Stephen Voss/NPR Stephen designed to introduce new voices to the network. As we move forward, As we move forward, we think of new ways Most importantly, we continued to provide a to reach more people, uphold journalistic we think of new ways to meaningful service to our nation at a time excellence, and deliver the best public service reach more people, when the news cycle seemed overwhelming. – together. The pages within this report only uphold journalistic Every day, our journalists provide listeners scratch the surface of the breadth of work that with in-depth, fact-based stories about issues has been made possible by your generosity. excellence, and and ideas affecting ordinary people around the Thank you for listening, supporting, and deliver the best public country and across the world. We were there connecting through stories. service – together. to cover the avalanche of news from the nation’s capital and to investigate stories that had not yet been told, as with the special series, Lost Mothers, which took an in-depth look at the U.S.’s alarmingly high maternal mortality rate. Jarl Mohn NPR President and CEO 4 HELPING WOWING OUR SAM INVITES LISTENERS WAKE UP YOUNGEST LISTENERS TO WITH THE NEWS LISTENERS TALK IT OUT This year saw the launch of Up First, In May, NPR launched its first- Following on his success on the a new, 10-minute news podcast ever podcast created specifically NPR Politics Podcast, Sam Sanders available to download every weekday for children. On Wow in the World, returned with It’s Been a Minute, by 6 a.m. ET. With quick analysis of hosts Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas a new, twice-weekly podcast and events around the world, the show is take young listeners on exciting weekly radio show. In his new designed to get listeners up to speed journeys to teach them about incarnation, Sam gets under the on the biggest stories of the day from the world, stimulate their minds, skin of the news, popular culture, the moment they wake up. and cultivate their interest in the and the internet in roundtable science behind the news. discussions with newsmakers, journalists, and listeners – with a style that sounds like friends talking to friends. Host Sam Sanders converses with guests at a live recording of It’s Been A Minute NPR IS #1 IN at NPR’s headquarters in D.C. PODCASTING After another year of inspiring, entertaining, and informing audiences, NPR has retained the title of #1 Podcast Publisher in the US. According to Podtrac’s monthly ranking, NPR had the largest US unique monthly audience and highest number of global unique streams and downloads for the year. FROM PODCASTS TO BROADCASTS 5 For years, NPR had been making some of the most popular radio shows available as podcasts. This year, in response to requests from member stations, we did the reverse by adding four hit podcasts to our radio lineup. Planet Money, How I Built This, Hidden Brain, and It’s Been a Minute can now be heard on public radio stations around the country, curated to highlight memorable moments from recent episodes. Kara Frame/NPR Frame/NPR Kara NPR’S FIRST STRETCH & BOBBITO A QUICK WAY TO GET INTERNATIONAL DEFY THE UP TO SPEED ON THE PODCAST “NPR VOICE” ECONOMY International correspondent Gregory In another first, legendary New York In December, NPR launched The Indicator, Warner spearheads a new, award-winning hip-hop radio DJs Adrian “Stretch” a new, 5-to-9-minute podcast from the team podcast called Rough Translation. At a time Bartos and Robert “Bobbito” Garcia behind Planet Money. Using a news story as when it’s easy to talk across borders but returned to the airwaves in July after a springboard, each episode of The Indicator harder than ever to understand each other, a 19-year absence with a new podcast takes a closer look at a number, phrase, or Warner takes listeners to places where for NPR. What’s Good with Stretch and concept to bring the audience quick hits the phrasebook fails. For the first season, Bobbito gets the inside track on the of insight and compelling stories from the launched in August, those places included a movers and shakers in the arts, music, world of work and business. Somalian prison cell, a Ukrainian battlefield, politics, and sports, bringing their and a yoga studio in India. stories to a new audience. NPR ANNUAL REPORT 2017 CONNECTING COMMUNITIES Through a nationwide community of more than 200 member station newsrooms, NPR’s And now, collaborative journalism network keeps every community in America connected through stories. As Hurricane Harvey swept southeastern Texas in late August, NPR Member Station Houston Public Media the news relied on statewide partnerships with DISCOVERING LOST EMBEDDED WITH TRUMP’S KEDT in Corpus Christi, KUT in Austin, MOTHERS INNER CIRCLE KERA in Dallas, and Texas Public Radio In a unique collaboration with Embedded returned in October with in San Antonio to enhance coverage about ProPublica, a non-profit a series exploring what President affected areas. Similar station partnerships investigative organization, Trump and some of his closest occurred during Hurricanes Irma and Maria 6 NPR produced a special series advisers were doing before they got when WLRN in Miami worked with stations titled Lost Mothers: Maternal to the White House. Over the course in Florida to provide national coverage of Mortality in the U.S. Using real-life of five episodes, with more to come the storm, and when WTJX in St. Thomas interviews and testimonies, the in 2018, host Kelly McEvers and her worked with NPR News to report on the series revealed that a shockingly team of guest reporters uncovered widespread devastation to Puerto Rico and large number of women in some surprising stories behind the US Virgin Islands. From equipment, to America are dying or suffering Trump’s rise. Listeners were left to staffing, to financial assistance, collaboration serious complications in childbirth, ponder what those stories say about among NPR member stations connects and uncovered many previously Trump, and what they say about us. communities during some of the country’s untold stories and statistics. most trying times. This is the strength of Lost Mothers went on to receive AFFECTING CHANGE IN the public radio network. a 2017 George Foster Peabody PUERTO RICO Award in the Radio/Podcast After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto category, a George Polk Award in Rico in late September, many of the ANNOTATING IN the medical reporting category, local reporters affected by the storm the 2018 Goldsmith Prize for were left unable to report on it. REAL TIME Investigative Reporting, and a In their place, NPR sent Code finalist spot in the 2018 Pulitzer Switch reporter Adrian Florido, NPR’s fact-checking techniques made Prize category of Explanatory who traveled to the local radio headlines again this year when a large Reporting. Its first piece, about station in the small town of Marta team of specialist reporters collaborated how a focus on infants during de Cana to provide urgent coverage to verify and analyze President Trump’s childbirth leaves moms in danger, of Maria’s aftermath.