NPR: The Trials and Triumphs of National Public Radio
by Michael P. McCauley
Category: History

The people who shaped America's public-broadcasting system in the early 1970s believed that NPR should treat its listeners as citizens and not as consumers. NPR would offer programming that promoted empowerment and social change, appeal to the broad spectrum of U.S. society, and serve communities traditionally ignored by commercial broadcasting. This book tells the story of how NPR has tried to embody these ideals and the extent to which the network has reached its goals. Michael P. McCauley describes NPR's evolution from virtual obscurity when it was riddled with difficulties - political battles, unseasoned leadership, funding problems - to a first-rate broadcast organization. McCauley's work draws on a wealth of primary sources, including dozens of interviews with people who have been central to the NPR story. He examines various internal debates about the direction of NPR and the content of its programming. McCauley also places the development of NPR within the historical context of the wider U.S. radio industry, the ideological and political conflicts of postwar America, and contemporary debates about the ways in which mass media can better serve the citizens of a democracy.