Introduction

Courage. That single word captures the spirit of New Hampshire Public Radio’s journalism. It also describes the listeners, readers and supporters of NHPR. Allow me to explain.

In spring 2023, NHPR released a podcast, The 13th Step, that culminated in two years of reporting by our Document team on abuses of power and sexual misconduct in the addiction recovery industry. Our investigation, which began in New Hampshire and extended across the country, shined a spotlight on a phenomenon so well known among recovering addicts that it had a name, “the 13th step” — a reference to taking sexual advantage of people in 12-step programs.

NHPR’s reporting would not have been possible were it not for the courage of the women who told our journalists about their mistreatment by powerful men in the recovery industry. And the reporting was an act of courage itself. Weeks after NHPR published our initial investigation of Granite Recovery Centers, one of the state’s largest providers of addiction treatment, vandals attacked the homes of reporter Lauren Chooljian, her parents and our news director, Dan Barrick. They threw bricks through windows and spray painted obscenities and threats across house fronts.  

If these cowards expected to intimidate NHPR’s journalists, they failed. Lauren and her Document colleagues pressed forward to complete The 13th Step — extending the original reporting to include an account of the attacks, legal threats against NHPR’s sources and a lawsuit damning NHPR’s journalism. Weeks after the podcast’s release, federal authorities charged three men (and later a fourth) with the attacks, tying the incidents to NHPR’s reporting. 

Pursuing the truth in the face of threats and violence: that’s the definition of courage.    

What about you, the people who listen to, read and support NHPR’s work? In an era rife with misinformation and disinformation, with opinion that masquerades as fact, you seek out trustworthy information from credible sources like NHPR. You value open-minded inquiry. You don’t stew in media that reinforce your biases. You have the courage to take the risk of thinking for yourself. 

This report on NHPR’s work in the year ending June 30, 2023, highlights acts of courage large and small. Investigative reporting. Difficult conversations. Original programming. Open-handed partnerships. We take risks and pursue the facts because we know you, our supporters, have our backs. As ever, we’re grateful to our members and sponsors, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the nonprofits and foundations that allow us to pursue our vision: Through trustworthy journalism, NHPR enriches lives and helps build stronger communities, in New Hampshire and beyond.

Banner photo: Sunrise off the New Hampshire coast amid air quality alerts due to smoke from wildfires in Quebec. (Dan Tuohy/NHPR)