National Public Radio (NPR) is defending the public’s right to stay curious.
After a tumultuous year in which the company found itself at the center of a political firestorm and saw Congress cut $1.1 billion in funding for public media, NPR has launched a national campaign that stands up for people’s right to ask tough questions.
“For Your Right to be Curious,” created by Mischief @ No Fixed Address, replaces the letters of its name with the questions “how,” “who,” and “why.” As part of the initiative, NPR will swap out its logo at its Washington D.C. headquarters, billboards in New York City and Chicago, and across video and social media.
This is the first time in NPR’s 56-year history that it has altered its logo.
The ads pose questions, many from NPR listeners, such as: “How does AI affect my electricity bill?” and “Why are groceries still so expensive?”
NPR is also taking out a full-page ad in The New York Times with the company’s manifesto, which ushers in a new era of resilient public media. The final line of the manifesto explains that the logo change is “A reminder that any attempt to silence curiosity will only inspire more of it.”
“Curiosity is the fuel of a functioning democracy,” Mishka Pitter-Armand, chief marketing officer at NPR, said in a statement. “This work is our pledge to the public: we will continue to provide the trusted context you need to explore the world, encouraging every American to keep listening and asking the hard questions.”
“NPR feeds a basic but strong human need — curiosity,” Greg Hahn, co-founder and COO of Mischief, said in a statement. “With a simple reframe, we sought to link the iconic NPR brand with the words so often at the initial spark of curiosity.”
NPR has a weekly listener base of 46 million across its 240 member stations.
