Great co-workers; disappointing upper management
Pros
Filled with kind, creative, intelligent people to work with. Fantastic culture. Most people are fairly supportive. Work-life balance depends on where you're land in the organization - some shows and divisions have a healthy appreciation for work/life. Same goes for career growth and compensation. For the most part, people have a positive reaction when they learn you work at NPR.
Cons
Given they pay significantly less than other similar industry jobs, executives are either under-qualified or don't have many other opportunities available (obviously there are some exceptions but many of those people have been marginalized, retired or shoved out the door). Definitely impacted by financial and auto industries bottoming out but plenty of poor decision making inside the organization will leave NPR and the public radio system hurting for years (so many talented people across the board lost in several rounds of RIFs). Terrible communication between divisions (maybe this has improved by getting everyone under one roof at HQ but at one point they had three different buildings with various levels of restricted access to navigate within two blocks of each other). When outside people find out you work at NPR, they might hold you personally responsible for Bob Edwards firing.
