NPR lays off war correspondent with a rural perspective

Aymann Ismail for Slate reported a few days ago on journalist Tim Mak's recently having been laid off by National Public Radio.  The rural angle on the story is this from the Ismail interview with Mak: 

I really do believe NPR has a powerful place in American society and has a really important role to play, especially in rural communities. I was in the West Virginia National Guard for years as part of my Army service. And I’d be driving out in rural West Virginia, and the only news you can hear out there is West Virginia Public Radio. I love the mission of NPR and everything they do. I suspect that will not make for great copy, but that is my genuine view.

This is interesting to me not least because growing up in rural Arkansas I did not have access to NPR.  I was back in Arkansas last week and found that, in my home county, I had decent access to NPR in places, but not consistently.