Introduction
Jim Schachter is NHPR’s president and CEO. Photo by Allegra Boverman.
The 2019-2020 fiscal year will be remembered as a challenging and unique time in our organizational history, when carrying out our mission was perhaps never more meaningful.
In July 2019, the fiscal year began as usual, with the station’s most visible and important fundraiser - our Car Raffle. In the newsroom, NHPR journalists were already deep into covering national candidates on the primary trail in New Hampshire, and we were preparing to launch two new podcasts: Patient Zero: Lyme Disease in August and Stranglehold, an in-depth look at the New Hampshire primary, in September.
October saw the anticipated arrival of NHPR’s new President and CEO Jim Schachter, who moved to the Granite State from the Garden State with his wife, Pam. Then came December. As coverage of the New Hampshire primary began to accelerate, global health authorities began sharing news of a novel virus.
January and February 2020 brought candidates for president to New Hampshire and primary coverage to NHPR’s airwaves, via interviews, candidate forums, and events giving NHPR supporters the opportunity to meet visiting public media journalists. Everything changed in March, when New Hampshire went into COVID-19 emergency status and Jim Schachter announced that NHPR staff would work from home.
The only people going to the office would be a small crew of critical staff to keep our local news and talk shows on the air, our administrative operations running, and our studios and remote technologies working seamlessly. That quick pivot to remote status - to continue to bring the community critical information while ensuring the safety of our staff - has become long-term.
The Exchange producer Christina Phillips shows what it’s like to work in a pandemic world. Video by Emily Quirk.
By any measure, this difficult year was one of enormous societal and personal loss. Our collective belief in the importance of our work and the role it plays in keeping communities informed and connected, plus the affirmation we receive every day from our listeners and supporters, grounds and inspires us.
We are grateful for every listener, every reader, every comment, every note of thanks. And we thank you - our donors, funders and underwriters - who make our journalism possible.
Thank you.
Banner photo: Dan Colgan (left), Michael Brindley and Elaine Loft in the control room during a broadcast of The Exchange.