From: Eva Rodriguez, Vice President and Executive Editor, NPR
Re: Monthly Content Review
December 2024 session
The Cohort:
Eric Deggans, TV Critic/Media Analyst, Arts & Culture Desk
Lauren Frayer, International Correspondent
Aisha Harris, Host, Pop Culture Happy Hour
Martin Kaste, National Correspondent
Kyle Mackie, Producer 1, Team Atlas
Nick Michael, Supervising Editor, Visuals
Estefania Mitre, Visuals Producer, Visuals
Padma Rama, Editor, Washington Desk
Denice Rios, DME, Evenings
* NOTE: We pushed the regular end-of-month meeting to early January because of the end-of-year holidays.
The Content, by the numbers:
NPR aired or published 1,903 pieces of content (not including Newscast) in November 2024.
· By category: 1,410 were news -- produced pieces or two-ways with NPR/Member station reporters or outside experts/newsmakers; 271 were categorized as culture and 97 as music. (125 pieces were uncategorized.)
· By platform: Broadcast shows hosted 1,040 of these pieces, owned and operated digital platforms were vehicles for 684 stories and podcasts accounted for 179. (Content posted exclusively on third-party platforms such as Instagram and YouTube were not discoverable in this data scrape.)
The Topic: We discussed the 20 most-read or listened-to "culture" stories produced by NPR in November.
The Discussion, generally: Culture coverage can mean a great many things to a great many people. For some, it means reviews of pop music or museum art. For others, it involves dissecting the latest fashion or food trends or understanding why the National Dog Show became a Thanksgiving staple. For curious NPR audiences, it involves all of the above, as well as reading about people in bear costumes allegedly committing insurance fraud.
We reviewed the 20 most read or listened to culture stories produced by NPR in November 2024. We analyzed how many people read or listened to each piece (if an audio version was available) and how long they spent with each story. We then debated the merits of each piece. Given limited resources and staff, would we still choose to cover the topic today? Were pieces well-done and in keeping with NPR's brand of adding value and context? We were also mindful that how a piece is tagged or labeled in our publishing systems determines whether it surfaces when performing a search for "culture" stories. For example, some stories that clearly fall within the culture bucket would not show up if improperly tagged. Others that could seem odd in the culture category nevertheless appear if labeled as culture or if curated to appear on the Culture section of npr.org.
The top performing "culture" piece in November involved an e-coli outbreak linked to organic carrots – not exactly what comes to mind when considering culture coverage. But the piece touches on a subject that dovetails with how we live, what we eat, and choices (organic v. non-organic foods?) many of us routinely make. News of the outbreak also could be categorized as "news you can use" – information that many find essential, in this case, to avert illness. The piece garnered 356,000 story views but recorded a "very low" engagement time, meaning that most people spent very little time reading and did not read deeply into the story. The disappointing engagement time could be explained by the fact that the piece was a "one note" – reporting the bare bones news that could be found on a number of other outlets but not adding much in the way of context necessary to keep readers engaged.
A different food-themed story garnered fewer story views (217,000) but performed exceptionally well, with "very high" engagement times. The piece was a text-adaptation from the Life Kit podcast, timed to publish a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving. The piece was informed by interviews with a food-safety specialist and an official from the Food and Drug Administration. The headline: "Is it okay to keep reheating leftovers? Honest questions about food safety, illustrated." As advertised, the text was accompanied by panels of whimsical illustrations that served as the vehicles to ask and answer questions. The piece was timely, connected with common experiences and common questions we all have – especially around big holidays when leftovers are almost de rigueur. And it provided serious, reliable information in an entertaining way.
Another high-performing piece also originated as a Life Kit podcast and was headlined: "Beer before liquor? Busting six popular myths about hangovers." Also published during the lead-up to Thanksgiving and also falling within the "news you can use" category, this piece logged 75,000 story views and maintained "high" engagement.
Of the 20 most popular pieces, six were about or related to food or drink.
High-ranking pieces more commonly recognized as falling under the Culture category involved a guitarist who'd been nominated 32 times for the Country Music Association's "Musician of the Year" but had yet to grab his first award; a movie review of "Wicked"; and an interview with novelist Anne Patchett. The cohort agreed that these were solid topic choices, well-executed and reading and listening audiences agreed.
But the cohort also felt there were some pieces that did not fit well into NPR's portfolio; readers (there were no audio versions of these stories) rendered a split decision. Two stories in question were bear-themed – one about a person in a bear costume damaging cars as part of an insurance fraud scheme and another where a man called 911 claiming to have been attacked by a bear in what turned out to be an elaborate scheme to throw police off of a murder and identity theft.
The first story chronicled a case brought by California law enforcement that resulted in the arrests of four people in the "bear"-related car attacks. A law enforcement press release noted that insurance companies had paid out roughly $140,000 in these fraudulent bear attack claims. The story was a one-note wonder in that it only retold the facts of this case but did not develop the story any further. The story could have explored other wacky or unusual ploys used to collect insurance money and shared data on whether insurance fraud – by wacky means or not – is common and what the consequences are for law-abiding folks when others rip off insurers. Because the story didn't explore deeper angles it felt a bit frivolous and too close to "click bait." That does not align with the NPR brand, which, at its best, delivers charm and depth even when tackling light-hearted subjects. This piece recorded 75,000 story views but registered "low" engagement.
The second bear-themed story turned out to be more of a whodunnit that led the reader from the 911 call through the labyrinthine tale of the man who placed the call and his decision to murder a stranger to steal the victim's identity. Past crimes and aliases surfaced in this well-told and richly reported story that ended with the surprise arrest of the culprit. The story logged 92,000 story views and engaged readers at a "high" rate, meaning they stuck with the story and read through the end.
The Takeaways:
1. NPR should consider reviving – or realigning an existing beat – to focus on food/beverage/culture. At the least, NPR should prioritize food-related themes and stories around holidays, long-weekends, etc. where food is central to a celebration. Metrics showed audiences responded to and connected with these themes.
2. Whether in audio or digital platforms, pieces produced by NPR should align with the brand, even when tackling light-hearted or off-beat topics. Audiences want variety but they also signal through the amount of time they spend with pieces their appreciation for good reporting and good story-telliing, regardless of the topic.
3. Taking smart and responsible story-telling risks pay off, as in the Life Kit piece about reheating leftovers. The information in that piece was rock solid yet the presentation was surprising and fanciful. Readers loved it.
4. News-you-can-use is in high demand. NPR should take heed.
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