For immediate release
January 12, 1998


Major National Ad Campaign To Position National Public Radio
Media Partners Selected
NPR takes you there Called "Provocative" and "Intriguing"

Washington, D.C. - Using its hallmark of award-winning content and top-quality natural sound to transport radio listeners to the site of breaking news and landmark performances, National Public Radio's new NPR Takes You There advertising campaign will launch this month. Media partners TIME, Harpers, The Atlantic Monthly, Civilization and Worth have been selected for the initial flight.

"Leaders turn to NPR to better understand the issues facing the nation," says TIME Vice President Kenneth Godshall. "TIME is pleased to help promote the rich variety of NPR's programming and introduce new listeners to the quality of NPR's journalism." The first ad will appear in the January 26th issue of TIME (on newsstands January 19th).

NPR member stations will team with NPR in this, the most expansive visibility campaign in NPR's twenty-seven years as America's premier provider of public radio programming. The ads will run in major national news and consumer publications throughout 1998, supplemented by local media placements by member stations.

Potential media partners are attracted to the unique audience that NPR's quality programming delivers: listeners with high levels of education, income and community involvement, plus key business decision makers.

The series of seven full-page ads is designed to increase listenership and awareness of Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, NPR's Performance Today and NPR's jazz programming.

Pre-launch focus groups described the ads as "evocative," "intriguing" and "provocative". In one ad, which depicts a glassful of red wine spilled across a white linen café tablecloth, the superimposed copy reads: Background Music. Romantic Whispers. Flirtatious Laughter. Machine Gun Fire.

The Ford Foundation and the Gruber Family Foundation have provided funding for creative development and placement of NPR Takes You There.

Creative for NPR Takes You There was handled by award-winning agency August, Lang & Husak, Inc. of Bethesda, Maryland. The firm has produced successful campaigns for The American Red Cross, National Geographic, Washington Week In Review and others.

NPR produces and distributes award-winning news, information and entertainment programming, which is heard throughout the United States on 595 public radio stations. NPR programming can also be heard live in Japan on USEN cable and worldwide on America One and Armed Forces Radio.

For more information about the campaign, contact Jaya Koilpillai Greene, Director of Corporate Communication at 202-414-2305. For placement information, contact Rob McKnight, National Representative, Corporate Marketing at 202-414-2085.

National Public Radio, a membership organization of 595 public radio stations nationwide, produces and distributes the award-winning programs All Things Considered®, Talk of the Nation®, Weekly Edition® and NPR's Performance Today®.