NPR’s Digital Makeover

As senior vice president and general manager of the NYTimes.com, Vivian Schiller presided over one of the industry's best-read Web sites. But six months ago, Schiller stunned media watchers when she defected from the financially troubled Times to become CEO of National Public Radio. With the relaunch of NPR.org, today is a kind of coming-out party for Schiller. The renovated Web site, featuring a cleaner look and easier navigation—is the linchpin, she explained to NEWSWEEK last week, of a strategy to transform NPR into the No. 1 destination for free news on and beyond the radio. "We have to be a multiplatform play," she said. For Schiller, that means building on NPR's reputation as a broadcaster of national and international news, by extending its reach into local news. She plans on relying more on local member stations to fill what she sees as a "scary" void in local coverage as hometown daily newspapers fold.

Schiller spoke to NEWSWEEK's Johnnie L. Roberts about why newspapers shouldn't become not-for-profit ventures, why she believes its' "delusional" to charge readers for online news, and the "slippery slope" that the Times would embark upon were it to seek philanthropic support for news-gathering. Excerpts:

Why was it necessary to relaunch NPR.org?
This is an organization that's in transformation into becoming a fully functional news content organization, not just a radio company. As part of that, we've been training our journalists to become multiplatform journalists, not only radio—not that radio is not important to our core. We have been adding more and more content to our Web site to make it a much richer experience, not just a companion for radio, but a destination in its own right. When we launch, it'll be a much friendlier destination that allows you to find what you're looking for.

Does your emphasis on the Web risk overshadowing radio?
Radio is our core, our heart and soul. It's where most of our audience is. But we have to make sure that we serve the audience wherever they want it. Of course, there's traditional radio with massive, massive audience. But where else is audio listening going? We need to own that space. We're the No. 1 most downloaded podcast in news and information.

How will it work? Do you expect listeners to bypass the sites of the local station and come to NRP.org?
In creating all this digital content, it's not just to service NPR.org. We're giving them more digital content that they can pull down and use on their site. One of the major focuses of our digital initiative is to give stations the tools, the resources, the knowledge, and the infrastructure, so they can create a great experience in their communities. The [local] station presence is going to be much more visible on the redesign.

Why all the emphasis on the local stations in connection with the Web site relaunch?
That's where a big void is happening in journalism now. It's the worst at the local level. I'm worried about locals. It's scary. It happens to be where the biggest crisis in journalism is happening. [Take the L.A. Times as an example.] They've closed bureaus all over the world. It's a travesty. We can go market by market. We want to increase the output and platforms on which stations create content in local communities, with a focus on accountability journalism. [Editor's note published July 29: In the first version of this story, Schiller incorrectly stated that the Times had shut down its investigative unit.]

Accountability journalism?
Some people call it investigative journalism. That just to me means so many things. So I narrow it to accountability journalism—being the watchdog for public institutions and public individuals.

So local is simply the biggest opportunity?
The reason that I came to NPR and left other big national news organizations is because NPR has something thoses organizations don't have. In all of public radio, there are 8,000 people spread around the country. They are in every community. [They have a] physical presence and a presence in the hearts of minds of the audience in those communities.

There's a lot of talk in the newspaper industry about the 'NPR model'—the idea of becoming a nonprofit venture as an answer to the financial decline brought on by impact of the Web and by the recession. Is going nonprofit a good idea?
A lot of media pundits have been saying the salvation for commercial media is to become a not for profit. I laugh when I see that. The notion is that you declare yourself not for profit, and poof, all of your problems go away. Well guess what, if you're a not for profit, you still have to raise all the money that you're spending and then some, so you have a surplus when the economy goes off a cliff. It's incredibly naive.