Oh please, NPR, take the money you spend on developing fancy misguided apps that supposedly serve up "curated content" and spend it on more reporters' salaries.
Lots more reporters. Lots and LOTS more reporters. The world is a big place, and the list of crucial, complex, reportable issues is growing by the day.
Then we can enjoy the "curation" work of the producers of the fine programs you put on the air and online—have you heard them? They're really a pretty good example of curated content. (Of course, those programs used to simply be called good broadcast journalism.)
To hire reporters you need $. To get $ in the digital age, you really should have some control of the distribution of your content. Therefore, an app makes sense, especially at NPRs scale.
NPR has had INTENSE control of their content since the 1970s. They don't need an app for that. They also have staggering amounts of donations and endowment funds. They may, sadly, have more money than they know what to do with.
Lots more reporters. Lots and LOTS more reporters. The world is a big place, and the list of crucial, complex, reportable issues is growing by the day.
Then we can enjoy the "curation" work of the producers of the fine programs you put on the air and online—have you heard them? They're really a pretty good example of curated content. (Of course, those programs used to simply be called good broadcast journalism.)