Tag: NPR

W.Va. Education Officials Dispute Spending Totals

A report released Monday by NPR tracks the amount of money spent on each student across the country by county. But representatives of the West Virginia Department of Education say the data reported doesn’t add up in West Virginia.

NPR and the national publication Education Week attribute their spending numbers to the U.S. Census Bureau. Their map says in West Virginia, McDowell County spent the most at $14,000 per student in 2013. Jefferson County, according to the map, spent the least per pupil at around $8,000.

But Amy Willard, Executive Director of School Finance for the West Virginia Department of Education, says the numbers don’t match state spending records.

“The numbers that are reflected in this story do not agree to the data that we have,” she explained, “It says in the story that the data is adjusted for regional cost differences, and it appears there have been additional adjustments made, and we cannot speak as to what those adjustments are.”

Willard says the state Department of Education’s data shows Jefferson County spending over $11,000 per student in 2013, with Hardy County spending the least amount per pupil at $9,700.

County Boards of Education Per Pupil Expenditures for the 2012-2013 Year:


In both cases however, NPR’s data and the state Department of Education show McDowell County spending the most on its students. Willard says this in part has to do with the county receiving a considerable amount of federal funding to spend on education.

“Presumably due to the economic conditions in that county, they are receiving a higher amount of federal funding, which is driving up their overall per pupil expenditures. That appears to be the main reason for the higher expenditures in that county.”

According to the state Department of Education, Doddridge County is the only other county to spend over $14,000 on an individual student per year.

NPR Chief Says Network Positioned for Growth After Struggles

After years of leadership changes and funding deficits, NPR’s new president and CEO says the public radio network has turned a corner and is positioning itself to grow its already sizable audience and funding.

Jarl Mohn, a longtime radio and television executive who created E! Entertainment Television, helped launch MTV and VH1 and formed his own venture capital firm, is now nearing the end of his first year leading NPR.

His commercial media roots may prove critical in charting NPR’s future.

Mohn says NPR is set to break even financially in 2015 for the first time in six years. Now NPR is also looking to build new potential businesses in live events with local stations and is working to increase revenue from podcasts.

Timing Is Everything: A Note On NPR's Clock Changes

There’s a structure to what you hear on West Virginia Public Radio that’s about to change.

Each show on the station is governed by a “clock.” These graphical representations of each hour lay out what happens in a program and when.  

Whether it’s a newscast, a promotion for what is coming up later in the show, or a regular segment such as West Virginia Morning or the Marketplace Morning Report, it all happens at a precise time according to the clock. This clock is how we coordinate between hosts that are in NPR’s studios in Washington, D.C. and beyond, and West Virginia Public Radio’s hosts who are in our studios in Charleston, so we don’t end up talking over each other.

For years these broadcast “clocks” have remained the same. But how we listen to the radio and get our news has changed radically.

Over the last year, NPR has been redesigning the show clocks with a team of Program Directors from stations across the country. We spent countless hours on conference calls and in face to face meetings, going over every minute of the shows. We evaluated and debated when we should be telling you about local business sponsors and when we should be starting the big story of the day. We considered research about how people’s morning routines differ from their afternoon routines. That affects how often we need to tell you about the weather. Lots of thought went into what you will hear during each second of the shows when the new clocks go into effect on Monday, November 17th.

Some of the adjustments are really small and you probably won’t notice them. Others are more substantial. For instance, the times when you hear news updates in Morning Edition are changing. Instead of a newscast at the beginning of each half hour, you’ll hear news updates every twenty minutes during the program. Some segments, such as West Virginia Morning, will air at a different time.  

The bottom line is, if you know when to walk the dog or leave the house based on when something happens on the radio, you might want to keep your watch handy until you get to know the rhythm of the new “clocks.”

Here are a  few changes to note:

  • 6:30:30 This Week in West Virginia History
  • 7:30:00 West Virginia Morning
  • 8:30:30 StarDate
  • 4:48:00 This Week in West Virginia History

New NPR Chief Visits West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Talks Future of Public Radio

NPR has a new president and CEO.  Jarl Mohn was once a music DJ, but he says he has a passion for  public radio. That’s why he chaired Southern California Public Radio after making his career in cable TV as President and CEO of E-Entertainment Television.

Mohn and friend (and pilot and Los Angeles County Museum of Art director) Michael Govan finished their “Low and Slow” tour with a visit to West Virginia Public Broadcasting on Wednesday. The two traveled by small aircraft from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., making stops at public radio stations and art museums across the country.  

Mohn met with Public Broadcasting employees and board members to discuss his vision for public radio and some of the challenges he faces.

"The other things we can do on the fundraising front to get away from the pledge drives which most people dread, inside the radio stations and outside the radio stations is to do a nationwide capital campaign.  It's never been done at NPR with the stations to raise a lot of money, so that there can be less of a focus on pledge drives."  – Jarl Mohn, President and CEO, NPR

And, of course, Mohn took the time to pose with some West Virginia Public Broadcasting staff for #selfieswithjarl.

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