Major market NPR affiliate developer here. We need ads (digital) and underwriting (OTA) to operate. Member donations are great but don't make up the entire budget.
Still, it's at least not a news source purpose built to drive ad revenue. The culture and mission is different, and it shows in the interface design.
If you're in a position to suggest, let people donate to NPR to get a version of the app that never shows ads as their reward.
I noticed mine recently started very occasionally showing ads down on the bottom, but surely the ad revenue from delivering them to a single person is smaller than the amount a typical NPR listener will donate (if they donate at all).
