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NPR may be audio-first, but video podcasts are becoming part of its future
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The Weekly Wrap: October 02, 2026 NPR may be audio-first, but video podcasts are becoming part of its future It’s no secret NPR has had “a tough year.” But they’re still acquiring, as Sarah wrote this week: The public radio giant has acquired Machine Gods, the new video-first podcast from veteran tech journalists Casey Newton and Kevin Roose. The twice-weekly video podcast will debut as a radio show next year. “We were always audio-first,” NPR’s new chief content officer, Nadine Zylstra, said. “But as you move into the digital world, you have to turn the lights on, right? You can’t be in the digital world without video being part of the experience.” 🏫 Sarah also reported this week that Columbia Journalism School is “pausing” its MA program, and also launching an online degree. If you have insight into this decision or thoughts on it, you can email [email protected] or contact her on Signal (scire.99). Finally, a bit of Nieman Lab housekeeping: We said goodbye to our staff writer Neel Dhanesha last week. He has joined Vox as its senior biodiversity writer; please read him over there! I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite Neel Nieman Lab stories, and you can see them all here. — “Journalism coops seem utopian. What’s it like working in one?“ — “How tribal radio stations are preparing for a future without the Corporation for Public Broadcasting” (a Mirror Award finalist) — “Prediction markets are breaking the news and becoming their own beat“ — “On ‘secret’ radio stations nationwide, a decades-old news service has survived the move to digital“ — Laura Hazard Owen Columbia Journalism School will pause its M.A. program (and launch an online degree) The country’s most prestigious journalism school has initiated “a critical evaluation” of the Master of Arts program and is pausing admissions to it. By Sarah Scire. Two 23-year-olds used AI to create a daily audio briefing. It’s now the top news app in Argentina. “We want society to trust [media] again, and to give them a platform built around current consumption formats that reduces friction between society and verified information.” By Hanaa' Tameez. How publishers are rethinking audience engagement: Five takeaways from the Future of Media Technology Conference “It would be a mistake to try to replicate the creator economy.” By Gretel Kahn. NPR, the quintessential audio news brand, adapts to a video-first future NPR’s new chief content officer Nadine Zylstra on how the public media company acquired Machine Gods — which she thinks can be “the Car Talk of AI.” By Sarah Scire. OpenAI doubles support for Lenfest’s AI and local news fellowships With an additional $10 million in program funding, the Lenfest Institute will consider new applicants in local TV news and statewide public service journalism. By Andrew Deck. California’s big local news bill becomes law Federal appeals court upholds Thomson Reuters’ landmark AI copyright win NewsMatch will shift from a year-end campaign to a year-round model A lack of professional AI guidelines leads to feelings of “AI shame,” a new study finds Nieman Lab | View in browser | Unsubscribe You are receiving this daily newsletter because you signed up for for it at niemanlab.org. Nieman Journalism Lab · Harvard University · 1 Francis Ave. · Cambridge, MA 02138 · USA