State of the Media: NPR the juggernaut

The New York Times‘ David Carr reports one of the few “bright spots” of the recently released State of the Media report is NPR, the “unlikely juggernaut” that was the only “large traditional news organization that added audience, reporters and revenue.”

Carr writes: “According to the State of the Media
report, NPR’s overall audience grew 3 percent in 2010, to 27.2 million
weekly listeners, up 58 percent overall since 2000. In the last year,
total staff grew 8 percent, and its Web site, npr.org, drew an average
of 15.7 million unique monthly visitors, up more than five million
visitors. Its foreign bureaus and global footprint continue to grow
while other broadcasters slink home.

“And while NPR receives a small portion of its operating budget through
government money, millions of people also think that its journalism is
worthy enough to pay for through contributions, a trick that the rest of
news media have had trouble figuring out, to say the least.

“Trouble is, NPR has often been better at breaking news than running a news outlet.”

Carr also notes that NPR’s CEO resigned last week after a hidden camera caught one of her executives making derogatory comments about The Tea Party.