John Lansing will begin his term as President and CEO of NPR in October, 2019. At the center of a graphic is our commitment to DEI, and all of our work in that circle is surrounded by four pillars. I was very pleased to see Code Switch named as Apples top podcast of the year. And my top goal is to support, in particular, the women of color at NPR so that they feel like they have more upward mobility. I joined in October of '19. NPR's chief news executive, Nancy Barnes, said Friday she would be leaving the network, prompted by NPR CEO John Lansing's decision to create a new executive role above her. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. "Governments around the world are increasingly cracking down on the free flow of information; silencing dialogue and dissent; and distorting reality," Lansing said in a speech he delivered in May to the Media for Democracy Forum. I thought, wow. Mike Morgan/Mike Morgan New podcasts Up First, Consider This and State of Ukraine sit on both sides. Mayor is said to be staying on at the network as a top executive and deputy to Lansing, retaining the enhanced portfolio she took on after Mohn's health crises. NPR undertook a strategic reorganization last fall, reinstating the position of a chief content officer overseeing both the newsroom and the programming division. NPR plans to lay off about 10% of its current staff due to the soft ad market and a drop in revenue from corporate sponsors, as well as uncertainties in the global economy overall. So that would be mine. I think you have to be willing to take hard questions. We discovered in our most recent climate survey that that was an area that we needed to put more effort into. The work theyve done during the pandemic has been nothing short of miraculous in many cases, particularly given the summer of racial reckoning, the most unusual presidential election in memory and everything thats gone on since. Pack then took a number of actions that raised fears about the independence of the agency, which includes Voice of America. And as the year unfolded, we began to develop our three-year strategic plan. Unlike some predecessors, Lansing doesn't face a particularly fraught political landscape. NPR's search for a new CEO is finally over! It is intended to align the strategy of its often fractious member stations with one another and NPR itself and to allow NPR, for the first time, to raise money digitally from its audience in concert with those stations. And Im holding myself accountable with my board and Ive been and am holding my direct reports accountable to me. First, we're a nonprofit. "We were doing everything we could against the tide and couldn't keep clipping our costs as the revenue kept slipping," Lansing says. You go to college and all the sudden you're like 'wait a minute, I've got to do something when this is over.' Essentially, the success of the company falls in your hands. Its new president and chief executive is John Lansing, a former cable executive who for the last five years has run the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the federally funded organization behind broadcasters like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The second pillar is to transform our workplace culture. NPR has a new CEO. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. We established the top priority [a.k.a. "Bloomberg Opinion" columnists offer their opinions on issues in the news. Instead, Whitney really helped us to buckle down with discipline, understand what's going on, and meet with women of color [in the organization], as we're doing tonight in our executive committee meeting, which we do regularly now. September 5, 2019; Washington, D.C. The NPR Board of Directors announced today that it selected John Lansing to become its next President and Chief Executive Officer. The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, eliminated its Sunday magazine and a handful of other jobs. The ratings for our weekend magazine shows are actually slightly greater than they were a year ago pre-pandemic, so thats a bright spot. The ratings for our weekend magazine shows are actually slightly greater than they were a year ago pre-pandemic, so thats a bright spot.. Oh wait. Lansing also spent almost 20 years working at Scripps, including eight years as President of Scripps Networks. NPR's rigorous reporting and unsurpassed storytelling connect with millions of Americans everydayon the air, online, and in person. But mostly its targeted at marketing investments on social media platforms that are specifically reaching out to younger and more diverse audiences to see if we can drive sampling. Weve seen significant growth in Code Switch, in Louder Than a Riot, in Sam Sanders podcast [Its Been a Minute], in part because for the first time in a while, were really investing in marketing support for those podcasts. Talk about a force of nature. And were pleased to work with them. It began to improve a little bit as we moved into August and September, as corporate sponsorships began to recover a little bit. Lansing: I dont know how long that may or may not take, but our emphasis right now is on our own internal digital strategy, digital production, digital storytelling. Last summer, we definitely had a racial reckoning. For the year that ended last September, NPR reported $241 million in expenses. Lansing said he took pride in maintaining conventional broadcasts while appealing to new audiences, reaching about 25% more people each week. Yet Lansing also takes over an institution riven by a scandal that hit its top reaches, with a chief news executive toppled over #MeToo complaints of inappropriate conduct toward female subordinates and colleagues. And I think we have to extend that lead. I got this part time job at a TV station to make a little money while I was going to college. Coming into public media, which I love, I noticed something that would be unusual in commercial media, in that there really wasnt a great investment in marketing podcasting to outside audiences off of our platforms. (On NPR's radio side, advertising takes the form of underwriting, as corporate sponsors are not permitted to call for listeners to purchase goods or services.). NPRs search for a new CEO is finally over! Weve had a couple of significant anonymous gifts that have helped shore up our forecast for the coming fiscal year. Current: NPRs budget also took a hit because of the pandemic. He made his mark in his current job with stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference. President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speak to reporters as they depart the Senate Democrat policy luncheon at the Capitol on March 2. The streaming platform Spotify paid nearly a quarter-billion dollars to buy the podcast producer Gimlet, founded by former staffers of NPR and other public radio outlets. Its a real business with real market dynamics.. NPR has tapped longtime media executive John Lansing to become its next president and CEO. John Lansing, NPR's President and CEO, defended Kelly last weekend during an interview on NPR's All Things Considered program, saying that Kelley "is one of the most respected, truthful . I just started in May. Lansing: That was conducted back in September. "We're not seeing signs of a recovery in the advertising market," Lansing says in an interview. Four years ago, Lansing was named by President Barack Obama to be the first chief executive of the broadcasting outfit that was renamed the U.S. Agency for Global Media. What advice would you give to young journalists of color when navigating these white spaces, but attempting to make a change? For two years, he served as the president and CEO of a cable trade group called the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing. We can share resources and story ideas, and we can help organize and support those efforts. "And I want to look for areas that I can provide leadership to bring resources together as needed strategically to find the right priorities that make the most sense for growing NPR this year and then into the future.". In these comments, John Lansing slides by with a public swipe at the Trump And what a breath of fresh air Whitney brings into the organization. "What you really want to do is be connected to people that are consuming content on something they're holding in their hand, and aren't necessarily tied to a TV set on a wall or a radio in a living room," Lansing said. Mr. Mohn led the push into podcasting and helped stabilize the organization after years of management turnover and budget deficits. It really stretched me to understand that flexibility is a good thing. Were they targeted to specific spending areas or just for general costs? You have stated that DEI is your top priority at NPR. At the same time, we have to think creatively. There's always going to be things here and there that have to be worked out, because that's just the way a company is, but I've never been in a company before where it was so understood that we're here to serve the American people. "I want to hear the ideas that are bubbling underneath right now and what people are excited about, what they're looking forward to developing," Lansing said Thursday. hide caption. Video Snippet "The challenges he will face at NPR are not dissimilar to challenges across the media landscape as a whole," said Sheikholeslami, who will soon take up the CEO job at New York Public Radio. It's not an extracurricular activity; it's fundamental to our business. And the pandemic hit six months later in March of '20. John Lansing, a veteran government broadcast and cable television executive, has been selected by NPR's corporate board to succeed its current chief, Jarl Mohn. And it really opened the funnel. "The combination of his health issues plus the situation with Mike Oreskes did derail his plans.". In an interview on Friday, Mr. Lansing, 62, praised NPR as a home of high-quality journalism and audio production, and said that in addition to supporting traditional radio broadcasting he wanted to help NPR further its expansion into areas like podcasts, where the radio network has already been a leader. During the pandemic, NPR sidestepped layoffs through temporary cuts to pay and retirement contributions, distributed with an eye to shielding less well-paid employees, so they were most sharply felt by the most highly compensated staffers and executives. The various challenges everybody's having from working at home, for example, you realize that everybody's situation is different when you're working. It's interesting. He began his career in media at age 17 when he was hired as a studio technician and cameraman for WPSD TV in Kentucky. Every time I hear it, I think that's a success by itself because we all have that as our guiding light. But also, what are the larger things that are happening? So were now into the new fiscal year. But second, we're mission-driven, and I think everybody in the organization lives and breathes that mission. Last fall, when announcing the earlier cuts, Lansing said the network would have to make tough choices - and to "do less with less." Our DEI efforts at the beginning of 2020 were not a project or an extracurricular activity; it really became our work. Weve also seen very positive upticks in development. And our number one goal is to improve our audience diversity. So sad to lose an American institution to propaganda. Now Lansing says he wants to draw on the intellectual and creative impulses of his new staffers as he leads a domestic journalistic powerhouse with an international reputation and reach. Its something that we certainly support. After Lansing hopped over to NPR from USAGM in 2019, NPR had to be prompted by outside critics to include disclaimers on its USAGM/VOA stories to note Lansings past USAGM role. With a nationwide network of award-winning journalists and 17 international bureaus, NPR and its Member Stations are never far from where a story is unfolding. All of that is to say that coming out of the reckoning of Memorial Day 2020 was for us and for me, in particular, a call to action internally at NPR to hear and reckon with our own issues internally. And theyre all expected to articulate a DEI goal thats measurable, actionable, and that they can be held accountable for and will be. But thats our commitment. Current: With broadcast listening declining during the pandemic, what is NPR doing to address and adjust to those trends? Current: Is there a timeline for that process? NPR will cut 10% of its workforce, CEO John Lansing said Wednesday. And our work began then. Current. It might come from my journalistic roots, and I think other journalists would say the same thing, I deal [with] and honor the truth. Lansing Last year brought a host of challenges to NPR: a multimillion-dollar deficit, calls for changes in its workplace culture and a hit to broadcast listening. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images The layoffs are in keeping with an increasingly grim landscape for media companies over recent months. Under standard procedures for reporting on NPR matters, NPR's corporate and news executives were not allowed to review the report until it was posted. The last time NPR faced such stark choices, it was 2008. Lansing clearly had an ongoing interest in the USAGM story and the notion that that at some point along the line he did not provide his take, at minimum, to NPR reporting staff, on the story beggars belief. I have a negative reaction to what is fundamentally unfair in life, whether it be pay equity, promotions and advancement, training and hiring, or making sure leadership represents people of color and our staff. Lansing, who is . What would you go back and tell your younger self? NPR's Michel Martin asks NPR's CEO, John Lansing, to respond to an All Things Considered interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He is passionate about NPR's public service mission and the role of a free and independent media in a strong democracy. He defined NPR's mission as "serving the public with information and an excellence and quality about it that makes it 'must see' on a variety of platforms.". How does the economy react to all of that? Our goal of developing our audience as a younger and more diverse audience requires that we invest in marketing, we invest in content, and we partner with platforms where those audiences can be found rather than expecting younger and more diverse audiences to come to our platforms, necessarily. Were working with member stations on topic teams for, say, political reporting or criminal justice reporting across the system. America needs public radio more than ever. Born and raised in Albany, New York, Lansing was trained as a lawyer, and was long involved in politics and government.During the American Revolution he was military secretary to General Philip Schuyler. ", He continued: "Citizens in countries from Russia to China, from Iran to North Korea, have been victimized for decades. We need help now. So we began an intensive set of Zoom meetings that I attended, each one with a member station and a qualified potential donor. Government support for the public radio system isn't in any immediate jeopardy. Its pretty clear to me that the ratings decline in radio is driven by commuting patterns. This is just dishonest, especially since NPR became what amounted to a voice of the opposition in its coverage of this dysfunctional federal agency. Mr. Lansing will start in October, replacing Jarl Mohn, who has run NPR since 2014. Scripps Company, where he managed the company's portfolio of ten broadcast television stations across the country. Since then,. The network has won acclaim for its coverage of wars and disasters, yet suffered its own crisis and tragedy in 2016 when its David Gilkey and Zabihullah Tamanna were killed while on assignment in southern Afghanistan. Lansing: They were for general. And so in late 2019 we began working on a set of priorities for the calendar year 2020 that included promoting Keith Woods to chief diversity officer; putting more energy behind our effort to have 100% sourcing and notating the diversity of our sources; and hiring, leadership, unconscious bias training, et cetera. hide caption. Scripps Networks September 5, 2019; Washington, D.C. - The NPR Board of Directors announced today that it. He soon made DEI the top priority at NPR. Lansing is a media executive with a deep understanding of journalism, having spent two decades as an award-winning journalist, successful newsroom leader and major market local media executive before becoming a global chief executive officer. All rights reserved. And be a good listener. September 6, 2019. Were working with them to create regional newsrooms in Texas and California and the Midwest and in the Gulf. In setting NPR's earlier rounds of budget cuts a couple months ago, Lansing consulted ahead of time with leaders of the unions representing workers at NPR with an eye to avoiding any layoffs. While member stations on average receive about 10% of their funding from the federal government, fees from the stations make up a significant part of the NPR budget. There were three of them, each for $1 million. NPR Let's say, I was walking out of high school into college, I had no idea what I was going to do. Lansing has earned an advanced degree in political agility. What steps does NPR still need to take in this area? The agency has an annual budget of $808 million. In late November, the network announced $20 million in cuts, including a near-freeze on hiring, elimination of most travel, and suspension of internships. John Gibbs is an American far-right political commentator and politician. How has that effort been progressing? To be a part of creating the future of such an important institution is humbling, exciting, and a distinct honor.". But we felt like it was an important investment to make in our member stations to support them during the pandemic. ", Lansing, formerly a top television executive for the E.W. Chief Executive Officer and Director of the, Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, Florangela Davila to Become KNKX News Director, NPR Hires Noelle LaCharite As VP Digital Technology. Age: 62, Born on July 31, 1957, in Minneapolis It didnt begin in the summer it accelerated in the summer. "We are delighted to welcome John, whose deep experience as a media industry executive and practicing journalist make him ideally suited to lead NPR into its next chapter," said Paul Haaga, Chair of the NPR board. Applicants to this years fellowship see its cancellation as a setback for journalists of color who want to work in public radio. NPR's chief executive announced the network would lay off roughly 10% of its current workforce at least 100 people and eliminate most vacant positions. Pozen Fellow At the Shorenstein Center. Mr. Lansing, who began his career as a teenage cameraman at a television station in Kentucky, spent two decades at Scripps Networks. Mr. Lansings colleagues attribute the growth to his embrace of digital formats and the understanding of audiences that he gleaned from the private sector. First of all, as a white man, my first reaction is that it's important for white people in general to understand the inherent biases that we have, even when we think we don't, unconsciously. Current: You recently made some changes to NPRs digital strategy by moving to integrate digital operations into divisions throughout the organization.This also includes eliminating the role of chief digital officer held by Thomas Hjelm at the end of February. How cool is it to be at. So its a constant commitment to communication, to training, to accountability. John Lansing, a media executive with government broadcast and cable television experience, has been named by NPRs board to succeed its current chief, Jarl Mohn who announced the plan to step down after his 5-Year term ended. NPR strives to create a more informed publicone challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, and cultures. And it gives the lie to NPRs claim, through disclaimers, that it is simply reporting on its own the implication of the disclaimer being that there is no editorial control or direction from the CEO. Lansing's tenure at the agency has not been without controversy. And I would do a board-level review for the donor or donors as to where the business was, the value of the work we were doing, the things we were adding in terms of covering the pandemic. Others have waded into the podcast fray with a vengeance. And the work goes on. Mohn fired head of news Michael Oreskes on Halloween 2017. Copyright 2023. We established management commitments to the women of color so that we address specifically their concerns. As we moved through the summer, that deficit remained at about $25 million. One thing I would say is, research the places you're looking at to either begin your career or advance your career and understand where they are on these issues. advanced degree - political agility. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. This documentary-style series follows investigative journalists as they uncover the truth. We collected a lot of data and we have a lot of good follow-up opportunities, and Ill continue to offer myself up as a direct resource in that pilot project. He was promoted to news photographer after two years, then moved on to managing editor, news director, and leadership of commercial television affiliates around the country. In Mr. Mohns first full year on the job, NPR operated in the black after having run a deficit for five of the six preceding years. Mohn placed an emphasis on fostering a more collaborative dynamic with the public radio stations that NPR serves and was given credit for making progress on that score. I would enjoy being on a podcast talking about politics. He held off a push by House Republicans to spin off Voice of America into a nongovernmental broadcaster. We are not just putting out regulations or policies and paperwork. John Lansing, the chief executive officer and director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, will become NPR's CEO in mid-October. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Public Media Now was created to be a centralized source of information and resources to help professional within Public Media be more successful. It did not drive a lot of immediate donations, but there were some. They lost their objectivity and are now just pushing leftist ideology. So I would tell my younger self to be confident, calm down, it's all gonna work out. What we now call the North Star of our strategic plan is our DEI efforts as it filters through everything that we do with all of our work. Lansing has won plaudits from journalists for his rousing defense of a free press even while serving in the Trump administration, which has been notably hostile to traditional notions of the role of journalism in civic life. That's a big thing too: having a common understanding of what management's committed to, what the Board supports, the work that's in front of us to live up to it, and ultimately diversifying our audience which leads to the business purpose. With a nationwide network of award-winning journalists and 17 international bureaus, NPR and its Member stations are never far from where a story is unfolding. Lansing, 62, who is currently chief executive officer of the government agency that oversees Voice of America, Radio and Television Mart and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, among others . Their editorial independence is enshrined in federal law, though it sometimes came under attack. A member of the Republican Party, Gibbs was a software engineer and missionary before entering politics. Lansing, who is 62, is. Lansing: About 11 months ago, in February, a pilot group of 15 stations got together and put together an 18-month plan to begin the process. And The New York Times has won praise and new fans through its weekday podcast The Daily, with in-depth interviews of reporters and newsmakers. Because when you're all at work, you're all at work, and you go home to your individual situations. And were happy to see SAG-AFTRA agree with us and to join up. I'm sure that's true even today. But now we're seeing authoritarian regimes expanding around the globe, with media repression in places like Turkey and Venezuela, Cambodia and Vietnam.". NPR CEO Jarl Mohn To Step Down After 5-Year Term Ends In June, Tensions Build In NPR Newsroom Over Handling Of Sexual Harassment Allegations, NPR Announces Newsroom Job Cuts Amid Restructuring. CEO John Lansing discusses NPRs diversity efforts, budget deficit and growing podcast competition. A new chief content officer will oversee NPR's news and programming divisions, which have frequently collaborated and almost as frequently clashed over resources and . It shouldn't be on any journalists of color, or anybody of color, to have to go and 'solve this problem' in somebody's company. As we got to April of last spring, we saw a massive deficit develop for NPR on the order of about $25 million. NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. Mr. Mohn was pressed about his leadership in a tense NPR interview and later apologized to employees for not taking action sooner. What was it like for you to watch that happen? Current: Why are NPR and its partners looking to sell the Pocket Casts podcast app? Lansing: We hope to have that completed within about eight to 10 weeks. Harvard Kennedy School. Lansing will start in his new position in mid-October. "I have been an avid fan of NPR for many years. "The result, I believe, is a war on truth. Why did you undertake this? Lansing: I guess I would comment just as a citizen watching from outside. An NPR spokeswoman said final decisions on which jobs will be eliminated should occur by the week of March 20. John Lansing, a veteran government broadcast and cable television executive, has been selected by NPR's corporate board to succeed its current chief, Jarl Mohn.

Legal Services Commissioner V Rosser [2020] Qcat 375, Informational Email To External Stakeholders, Claudia Lennear Mick Jagger Daughter, Articles J