CPB approved $500,000 in emergency funding this week to support NPR’s coverage of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, which will boost security measures and safety gear for network staffers on the ground.
Although a CPB release noted that NPR would add staff with the funds, the network clarified that it will rotate, not increase, staff during coverage, said NPR spokesperson Isabel Lara. NPR began rotating hosts and other staffers from its international desk, Morning Edition and All Things Considered through Ukraine in January.
“We have had up to ten NPR staff in Ukraine at a given time (between news magazine hosts, producers, international correspondents, visual and digital reporters) since we started covering this story intensively in January,” Lara said in email to Current. “We plan to maintain this level of staffing throughout the crisis, rotating positions for as long as necessary.”
“As Russia accelerates its use of misinformation and disinformation in its invasion of democratic Ukraine, CPB is proud to support NPR reporters in their difficult and potentially dangerous work in bringing fact-based news and information to audiences in the United States and around the world,” said CPB CEO Patricia Harrison.
CPB already provides $1 million a year to NPR to maintain international bureaus.