From: Eva Rodriguez, Vice President and Executive Editor, NPR
Re: Monthly Content Review
March 2025 session
The Cohort:
Ashley Brown, Supervising Editor, All Things Considered
Pat Wood, Chief Desk Editor, NewsHub
Rachel Waldholz, Editor III, Climate Desk
Graham Smith, Sr. Producer, Investigations
Kirk Siegler, Correspondent, National Desk
Julie Caine, Supervising Sr. Editor, Throughline
Susanna Capelouto, Southern Bureau Chief, National Desk
Greg Myre, Correspondent, Washington Desk
Joanna Kakissis, Correspondent, International Desk
Rolando Arrieta, Director, Content Ops
NOTE: DME Jim Kane joined at my request to take notes to allow me to focus entirely on the conversation. Jim also provided insights into themes and takeaways but did not participate in the conversation.
The Content, by the numbers:
NPR aired or published 2,056 pieces of content (not including Newscast) in January 2025.
· By category: 1,533 were news -- produced pieces or two-ways with NPR/Member station reporters or outside experts/newsmakers; 286 were categorized as culture and 104 as music. (133 pieces were uncategorized.)
· By platform: Broadcast shows hosted 948 of these pieces, owned and operated digital platforms were vehicles for 883 stories and podcasts accounted for 225. (Content posted exclusively on third-party platforms such as Instagram and YouTube were not discoverable in this data scrape.)
The Topic: NPR's coverage of developments linked to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The Discussion, generally: I began the conversation by asking the group whether we'd produced too many DOGE stories. DOGE's activities were unquestionably news-worthy, but sometimes those of us ensconced in the "Washington bubble" assume that audiences far from the Capitol share the same enthusiasm for government/D.C. reporting. Surveys and focus groups have been clear that this is simply not the case for run-of-the-mill, incremental government coverage. But is DOGE and the speed at which it's moving different? I was particularly interested in hearing from colleagues stationed outside of D.C., including those in the South and West and the one colleague joining us from Kyiv.
Here's a sampling of what they said:
— "I have to say when I talk to Ukrainians, everyone asks me about restructuring stories, and knows what DOGE is."
— "In a lot of these western states, the government is a large employer or even the largest. In towns with a recreation economy, there are concerns about wildfires, and what will be the effect [of cuts]? We haven't heard a lot from places like this."
— "In New York, the volume has felt just about right now, reflecting reality. But we're covering a lot from D.C., from policy people, people being laid off, unions, and not so much on the actual impacts on the ground."
— "In Alaska, the government is one of the biggest employers. Why are the people who are doing this doing it, and why are people supporting it? There's a view in which these things make sense, where USAID is a bastion of liberal power, along with NGO's. We're not getting at that. There's a view that these groups are BS along with a lot of non-profits in the U.S., and that they're just 'Liberal graft.'"
— "In the South, there's a lens that cutting government is always a good thing. Some of our coverage did get to that – it's always a thing with every Republican running for office. People here feel super strongly about it! The cutting makes sense to a lot of people. We really need to get down to ground level and understand what they feel."
Beyond the impressions of colleagues who live and work outside of Washington, data from our owned & operated digital platforms gave us real time information that listeners and readers were flocking to NPR for information on DOGE's work and its impact. Typically, inside-the-Beltway machinations aren't top of mind for audiences, but the fact that DOGE was moving so quickly and so definitively increased the need and desire of audiences for fact-based, reliable information on what was being done and how it could it affect their lives and livelihoods.
Several participants – beyond those heard from in the opening quotes – agreed that NPR had done a laudable job of serving audiences well through fast and fair reporting, including quick-turn investigative scoops on such matters as how much – or how little – cost-savings DOGE was seeing and what it felt like to work at an agency that been hollowed out and where toilet paper had run out. It was understandable that so much of the early reporting was focused on activity in Washington, given that the headquarters of agencies that were DOGE's first targets are based in D.C. And the impacts of cuts in Washington were immediately apparent in much of the rest of the country. But there was consensus that we should be more aggressive and deliberate in capturing the thoughts, moods, experiences and voices of individuals in all corners of the country, going forward. Partnering with Member stations to reflect these individuals and communities would go a long way toward that goal.
A colleague who works in the podcast space also raised the possibility that this type of partnership and on-the-ground reporting could be valuable material for a podcast series or as installments in an existing podcast.
The Takeaways:
1. Unlike more typical cycles, audiences have flocked to coverage of DOGE and government restructuring, according to our digital data. The moves by President Trump's DOGE team are not only politically dramatic, but they have real-world impact on taxpayers across the political spectrum and in all parts of the country; federal government employees; and those who rely on government services at the VA, health agencies and beyond. We shouldn't confuse this moment of lightning speed developments and impacts for audience interest in the typical incremental and snail's pace of government.
2. NPR has done a very good job of chronicling DOGE's work, including through scoops from the multi-desk Restructuring Team that surfaced exclusive information. But much of the coverage has been focused on developments in Washington. This cohort analyzed some of our earliest coverage of DOGE when impacts beyond Washington may have been readily apparent. But most agreed more should be done going forward to document the impacts on people, institutions and systems beyond the Beltway.
3. NPR should also make an even bigger effort to hear from those across the country who applaud President Trump and DOGE's work and to understand how these supporters view the moves.
4. Several members of the cohort saw an opportunity for NPR to facilitate the conversation between Americans of all views and from across the country. Some of this work is already being done by Member stations through local call-in shows, for example. Is there a way for NPR to support or partner with stations to expand these efforts? Could there be a wider conversation in partnership with Member stations that results in a new local/national effort that builds on the early successes of "Talk of the Nation"? Is there a local/national podcast series that highlights the experiences and voices of people across the country?
Copyright 2025 NPR