
After an exceptionally tough year for public media, Connie Ballmer, billionaire philanthropist and wife of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, donated $80 million to support NPR’s future.
“We need fact-based journalism, and we need local journalism,” Ballmer told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Saturday. Ballmer is an avid NPR listener and said she listens to shows such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered while she walks, drives, and works.