NPR launches new initiative to study impact of government

US public broadcaster National Public Radio (NPR) has announced the launch of a new journalism initiative to encourage in-depth reports on the role of the US government across local, regional and national levels.

A one-year pilot of the scheme, called 'Impact of Government', has been given a grant of $1.8 million from the Open Society Foundations to help get it started, a release from NPR announced today.

"NPR and our member stations are better positioned than any other news network to look at the effect that state government has on local communities," Vivian Schiller, president and CEO of NPR said in the release.

"This initiative will provide the public not just with information, but with the context they need to hold local governments to a higher level of accountability. Our network provides a perfect vehicle for cross-state, cross-region and national analyses of the most critical issues facing our country."

The initiative will begin as a year-long pilot across eight states in March 2011 and NPR is now inviting member stations to submit applications to be involved.

In the release NPR says it will then add another 17 states to the scheme. It hopes to eventually bring the initiative to every state in the country and introduce at least 100 new journalists to its stations.

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