never complacent
NHPR offers citizens locally produced, state-focused news and information programming – the exact area where local journalism efforts are falling short and the need in our community is most urgent.
While NHPR’s loyal audience – more than 178,000 weekly listeners to the broadcast network and 35,000 weekly unique visitors to nhpr.org – values the service we provide, they are most likely aware that we are only scratching the surface of the stories that need to be reported. For example:
- NHPR has grown from a single signal in Concord (WEVO) to a statewide network with towers from Colebrook to Nashua and Portsmouth to the Connecticut River Valley, yet NHPR has only two regional bureaus, in the Seacoast and the North Country. What important stories are not being reported from other regions?
- While NHPR is the state’s source for State House coverage, with hundreds of bills each session, there is much more that can be done. What role could NHPR play in creating an environment of increased accountability of our elected officials?
- The New Hampshire Primary is an important national story. How could NHPR take advantage of the digital media marketplace and bring important first-in-the-nation primary stories to audiences across the country?
- Environmental issues have never been of greater concern. And while New Hampshire is a leader in protecting land, coverage of important environmental issues deserves more and deeper reporting. What is possible if more people understood the implications of environmental policies?
A Glimpse into our future
Experience shows that when NHPR devotes resources to cover local issues, our audience responds. In 2016, NHPR's newsroom produced several series of stories that not only attracted record audience to our website, but also spurred debate an action by lawmakers and other public policy stakeholders.
The topics were as diverse as they were compelling, including a multi-platform series on homelessness in New Hampshire; a data-driven look at disparities within the criminal justice system; continuing coverage of the debate over voting laws after false claims of fraud in the 2016 election; and a project focused on the state's growing opioids crisis.
2017 National Edward R. Murrow Award-Winning Series
When a homeless man named Gene Parker was hit and killed by a car in Concord, his death opened up a conversation about what homelessness looks like in our state. Click here to see the multiple award-winning series No Place to Go: Homeless in New Hampshire.
These stories and other work from NHPR's newsroom led to a record haul in national awards in 2017, including three national and seven regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, including the national award for Overall Excellence, and four first place PRNDI awards, the most prestigious journalism awards in public radio.
Beyond accolades, this work serves as a glimpse of the NHPR of the future: national-caliber, in-depth, contextual reporting about New Hampshire issues, delivered in a way that engages a growing number of people across generations, throughout the state.
Developing knowledge, connecting with listeners on issues through a variety of means: this is an engaged, connected New Hampshire. And this is the future.