CapRadio releases audited 2024 financial reports, revealing $10M in debt and its repayment plans. Also, how charitable donations help wield political power. Finally, NPR’s annual “Books We Love.”

CapRadio Releases 2024 Audit

CapRadio has released its audited 2024 financial reports, revealing $10M in debt and its repayment plans. CapRadio Politics Editor Chris Nichols and Assignment Manager Claire Morgan share their reporting on how CapRadio management officials say a plan is underway to pay back the $7.7 million owed to Sacramento State for the cost of the station’s two Downtown projects.

Following NPR’s protocol for reporting on itself, no CapRadio corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted or broadcast.

Political Influence of Behested Payments

There is a lot of money that flows through the state Capitol to shape the laws and policies that affect Californians. Corporations, trade associations, and other organizations invest in certain state lawmakers for political gain. But that money comes with oversight via California's ethics board, the Fair Political Practices Commission (or FPPC). State law limits the amount of gifts and campaign contributions an elected official receives. But there is another type of payment that is more obscure. Behested payments are given to an elected official who is soliciting money for another individual or organization. And an investigation found that these come with some gray areas. This reporting was done by Max Harrison-Caldwell and Laura Fitzgerald with UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program.

You can listen to Laura and Max’s full audio story on Operation Gobble and behested payments below. This reporting was done as part of UC Berkeley’s Investigative Reporting Program.

NPR’s ‘2024 Books We Love’

Andrew Limbong is Host of NPR's Book of the Day and joins us with their annual Books We Love, an extensive list of great reads handpicked by NPR staff and trusted critics.