Kroc Gift Has NPR Riding High :: PNNOnline ::

Kroc Gift Has NPR Riding High :: PNNOnline ::: "Rapid changes in communication technologies and a $230 million gift have National Public Radio rethinking its role, the New York Times reports.


While other news organizations have had to cut staff and scale back their ambitions as audiences and advertisers have become harder to come by, NPR, thanks to a November 2003 bequest from McDonald's heiress Joan B. Kroc, has created nearly seventy new jobs in its newsroom. The interest on the gift alone pays for most of the new positions, and that, in turn, has allowed the organization to cover new beats. 'It was like Christmas and the lottery,' said Jay Kernis, NPR's senior vice president of programming. 'It was this enormous act of validation. We knew who we were. But suddenly, this outside force was saying, 'Not only are you worth it, but we want you to continue for decades doing this.''"

Tags: Public television fundraising