Issue: December 2010
Major Journalism Initiative To Create A Network of Station-Based Journalists Dedicated To Covering The Effect of Government Actions in Every State
National Public Radio (NPR) announced the kick-off of Impact of Government, a local-national journalism initiative that will add editorial resources and reporters to NPR member stations in all 50 states, to better inform the public about the impact that the actions of state governments has on citizens and communities. The new initiative, which begins its pilot phase in March 2011, is launching with a $1.8 million grant from the Open Society Foundations.
Impact of Government will build on the best of local and state reporting at nearly 800 NPR member stations across the country, adding reporters, editors, and analysts to take a deeper and more comprehensive look at the role of state government from a local, regional, and national perspective. It significantly augments the work of existing public radio reporters that cover the statehouse and related issues, ultimately adding at least 100 journalists to strengthen public radio's service to local communities with reporting on-air and online.
"This initiative will provide the public not just with information, but with the context they need to hold local governments to a higher level of accountability, "said Vivian Schiller, NPR president & CEO.
The $1.8 million Open Society Foundations grant supports the planning and the beginning of the year-long pilot phase with station partners in eight states, allowing NPR to staff a new team of editors and data-analysts to run the project.
"A strong democracy requires a diverse, independent, and highly functioning watchdog press to help people hold the government and private sector accountable," said Ann Beeson, executive director of U.S. Programs at the Open Society Foundations. "The dramatic decline in news coverage at the state level has left millions of people significantly less informed about what is happening in their own backyards."
At its core, Impact of Government will enhance service to public media's growing audience of 34 million radio listeners, and millions more online and on mobile, by focusing on governmental decisions and issues that have the greatest impact, such as health care, taxes, crime, immigration, the environment, and jobs. Rather than covering the process of government, as is typically the case with statehouse reporting, Impact of Government will help public radio stations develop hubs for reporting on issues critical to their region or state. NPR will serve as a central editorial and technical resource, enabling stations in every state to work collaboratively with NPR, each other and with other partners to develop stories and share content on common issues, and identify national trends. All coverage produced by Impact of Government will be multiplatform.