And were pleased to work with them. So sad to lose an American institution to propaganda. 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. John Lansing will begin his term as President and CEO of NPR in October, 2019. "North Star"] for NPR on my arrival as supporting the diversity, equity, and inclusion of our staff so that we could become more relevant to our audiences and grow the diversity of our audiences. In recent remarks online, Johnson, who is Black, focused on a more competitive landscape for NPR journalists, including people of color. Talk about a force of nature. And the fourth one is to diversify and grow our revenue models so that were not overly reliant on one or two revenue streams to help strengthen our future financials. John Lansing is taking over for outgoing CEO Jarl Mohn, who has led the organization for . Scripps Networks 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. But we felt like it was an important investment to make in our member stations to support them during the pandemic. 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. So its an ongoing effort. Current: What are some of the highlights of that strategic plan? 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. He made his mark in his current job with stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference. NPR's president of operations, Loren Mayor, was the leading internal candidate for the chief executive position. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. administration regarding the now former managers of his former place of employment (USAGM) but claims the mantle of private citizen to do so. NPR stands stronger than it did at the outset of Mohn's five-year term in 2014. And as the year unfolded, we began to develop our three-year strategic plan. NPR chief news executive Nancy Barnes to depart as network reshapes top Well, what we're doing right now, I think communication. John Lansing is a former Obama appointee who was named president and CEO of NPR on Thursday. But now we're seeing authoritarian regimes expanding around the globe, with media repression in places like Turkey and Venezuela, Cambodia and Vietnam.". I have read and agree to the terms & conditions, Senior Vice President for Television in the broadcasting division of the E.W. I joined in October of '19. NPRs search for a new CEO is finally over! But after the pandemic hit in mid-March, we got together with our cohort and said, Why wait 18 months? The newsroom currently stands at just shy of 490 people, while programming has shot up to 230. NPR's programming division, which produces its industry-leading podcasts, has more than doubled since 2019. And some stations who had a schedule to go down actually were allowed to go down. The various challenges everybody's having from working at home, for example, you realize that everybody's situation is different when you're working. Mike Morgan/Mike Morgan When you first got to NPR, what did you think? Media Exec John Lansing to Become New CEO of NPR - Variety We are not just putting out regulations or policies and paperwork. Unlike some predecessors, Lansing doesn't face a particularly fraught political landscape. It has become enshrined in our three-year strategic plan as the centerpiece of all of our work. "In terms of mission, understanding of media, the depth of experience, his strategic leadership, his commitment to people and culture, I would say those were really the key things that we were looking for," said Goli Sheikholeslami, vice chairwoman of the NPR board of directors and CEO of Chicago Public Media. It's not just what happened this week on the Hill, although that's important. Bellarmine alumnus and former trustee John Lansing, a veteran cable television and government broadcast executive, is the new CEO of NPR. And so I had a very visceral reaction to that happening in my hometown, and that it was so egregious the murder of an innocent person captured on video, on a phone. National Public Radio will reduce its workforce by 10 percent as it grapples with what CEO John Lansing says is a "sharp . 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. 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. It really stretched me to understand that flexibility is a good thing. How is it a priority? 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.". NPR announces layoffs, cutting jobs by 10% as ad revenue drops : NPR It puts a filter on that helps us explain even unpopular decisions, how they link to our mission. 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 . Both Lansing and Sheikholeslami say he is adamant about pressing forward with reforms to the workplace culture at NPR that Mayor has already started to put in place. ", Lansing, formerly a top television executive for the E.W. So those are the four pillars that rotate around the centerpiece, we call it the North Star, of our commitment to DEI. Who is the NPR CEO? John Lansing Profile - Public Media Now Current: How have your priorities for NPR changed since you became CEO? NPR Facebook Post with Comments. CEO John Lansing cited the erosion. He is a member of the Quinnipiac University School of Communications Advisory Board and the National Board of Advisors of George Washington University's School of Media & Public Affairs. NPR's Michel Martin asks NPR's CEO, John Lansing, to respond to an All Things Considered interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. NPR Names Veteran Media Executive John Lansing As Its New CEO ", He continued: "Citizens in countries from Russia to China, from Iran to North Korea, have been victimized for decades. That's the way I think about leadership here. Here's what to do in a worst case scenario. Lansing is a veteran executive and journalist who has spent decades leading complex media companies in growing their relevance and reach, while strengthening their business operations. It is our work our North Star and our work are the same thing. Follow Bloomberg reporters as they uncover some of the biggest financial crimes of the modern era. Last fall, when announcing the earlier cuts, Lansing said the network would have to make tough choices - and to "do less with less." A number of executives will report directly to Lansing, including Nancy Barnes, senior vice president for news and editorial director, who joined NPR last November and oversees the network's newsroom. And were happy to see SAG-AFTRA agree with us and to join up. How do you think that the North Star, the strategic initiative, is going? In an email to the staff on Friday, John Lansing, who joined the nonprofit as chief executive in September, projected that NPR would fall $12 million to $15 million short of the amount it had . The work of those pillars will be done through the lens of improving our efforts on DEI. We had begun a lot of work under [Chief Diversity Officer] Keith Woods' leadership to really move us forward. You can't escape that. And what a breath of fresh air Whitney brings into the organization. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images You hear me say fairly often it's not a thing that's going to end; it's really a new way of operating with an awareness of this weakness that we need to address and build upon and ensure that it lives on and continues to improve. Our DEI efforts at the beginning of 2020 were not a project or an extracurricular activity; it really became our work. He has previously announced he would be staying on as president emeritus to help the network raise major gifts, and along with his wife, Pamela Mohn, he personally committed $10 million to the network. Lansing, who is 62, is. 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. And I had a lot of interest in how my former team was being treated, but more importantly, just as an American citizen, how the work of USAGM through VOA [Voice of America] and RFE/RL [Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty] was threatening to undermine the interests of the United States government by politicizing journalism that was meant by law to be free of political interference. Its pretty clear to me that the ratings decline in radio is driven by commuting patterns. In a memo to. Copyright 2023. "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. 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. I think you have to be in front of your teams. Lansing has also put significant stock into what he calls the NPR Network, which calls for greater unity of coverage and digital initiatives, such as newsletters, streaming, podcasts and more. Current: Why are NPR and its partners looking to sell the Pocket Casts podcast app? At the U.S. Agency for Global Media known until last year as the Broadcasting Board of Governors he presided over 53 percent growth in the weekly audience for the agencys networks over the last three years, to 345 million. Apple is reportedly building a podcast subscription service. Lansing says the agency referred Haroon Ullah's expenditures to auditors and investigators after travel assistants flagged them; according to the Justice Department statement, Ullah admitted submitting fraudulent receipts for hotel room reimbursements and fake medical claims to get government payments of upgrades in airline seat assignments, among other offenses. And our work began then. During the Donald Trump administration, he held roles in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and was acting Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Community Planning and Development. "When I think of NPR and I think of the member stations collectively, I think really of journalism as a public service, not tied to a profit motive," Lansing told NPR News. He is passionate about NPR's public service mission and the role of a free and independent media in a strong democracy. Ever since you started, you've been very vocal about it. Mr. Lansing, who began his career as a teenage cameraman at a television station in Kentucky, spent two decades at Scripps Networks. The only route to a successful engagement on this issue is to deal with it, to talk about it, and to take action. So we were pleased to see SAG-AFTRA join our efforts. National Public Radio (NPR) CEO John Lansing announced in a Wednesday memo that the network will lay off 10 percent of its staff and freeze vacant positions. There were about 20, 25 different meetings in the course of about 45 days. So I think thats being offset by some listening through smart speakers and even online, and thats helping to offset some of the reduction in listening within vehicles. Yet Mr. Mohns tenure was also marked by a sexual harassment scandal involving a senior news executive whom he had hired and a labor clash with hundreds of union workers. 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. After becoming part of Warner Bros. (Former long time member). Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas, Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information, news and insight around the world. So if you have leaders talking about DEI as a priority, well, then, show me. "I have been an avid fan of NPR for many years. And be a good listener. And weve seen some significant success with that. I think there's an awareness, like in the way you asked the question about 'our North Star.' 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. The agency has an annual budget of $808 million. "I don't anticipate that it would be like a haircut across every division, because that's just not management," Lansing says. Lansing: When we look at our strategic plan and our commitment to growing our audience of the future, its clear to us that every corner of NPR has a digital on-demand initiative thats critical to our success and that it makes more sense to have the digital assets closer to the work thats influencing our audiences and growing our audiences. NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. 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. Mohn fired head of news Michael Oreskes on Halloween 2017. 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. From 2015 to 2019, Lansing served as the CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), the independent federal agency whose programming reaches an average weekly audience of 345 million people in 62 languages. What do you think are some characteristics of good leadership? I'd say if there's anything that I focused on, and still am focused on during the pandemic, it is to make sure that whatever the situation is, we are supporting staff to do their best work, supporting them when they're having other challenges and making sure that we're attentive and tuned in to employees that need help, that need a break, that need to be heard, whatever that may be. Current: NPR has helped stations during the pandemic by delaying planned changes to the dues they pay. And for those stations that were scheduled to have a reduction, we allowed those reductions to go forward with a floor of 3% so that nobodys dues went up. "Jarl would be the first to say that it is the area where he feels that his work was not complete," Sheikholeslami said. Learn more at npr.org/about or by following NPR Extra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. John Lansing, CEO, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC. Lansing: Lets go back in time. "A really important strategic vector that we'll be talking about more within the company going forward is maximizing the value of the content wherever it can live and wherever the audience demands it," NPR Chief Operating Officer Will Lee says in an interview. I'm from Minneapolis, and my parents are buried about six blocks from where George Floyd was killed. Fearing a tepid economy, Lansing and his corporate team projected that revenue would stay flat for the fiscal year that began October 1. Selected by the NPR board of directors, Lansing will start in October, succeeding outgoing head Jarl Mohn, It began to improve a little bit as we moved into August and September, as corporate sponsorships began to recover a little bit. 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. Lansing has earned an advanced degree in political agility. NPR was seen to align itself with federal workers at VOA who essentially conducted an internal uprising on government time, while NPR made quite clear in its coverage where it stood. NPR's New CEO Is Veteran Media Executive John Lansing : NPR - NPR.org And I still think we have a long way to go. The budget for the new fiscal year is set below last years actual based on our forecasts on continued downward pressure on corporate sponsorship. Last year, the network booked $134 million in such corporate underwriting, a record built on strong growth in podcasting revenue in recent years. No. John Lansing Jr. - Wikipedia Lansing served for ten years as a visiting faculty member at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. NPR has tapped longtime media executive John Lansing to become its next president and CEO. Being selective, having mentors both white and people of color mentors that you can have confidential conversations with and gain some thoughts to help you develop your strategy, standing up for yourself which essentially is what happened at NPR through the climate survey and holding leaders accountable for everything. At a young age, my biggest goal at the time was to someday be a news director for a local TV station. What makes you so open and vocal about the need for diversity? NPR Start Date: Mid October, 2020 For several years, it eliminated salary increases and suspended retirement contributions. He guided the organization in becoming a leading developer of unique content across television, digital, mobile and radio platforms. 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Lansing, who is 62, is. Required fields are marked *. hide caption. They lost their objectivity and are now just pushing leftist ideology. It all goes back to our mission: serving the American public, recognizing the American public is a diverse mosaic that makes America great and strong, and making sure that we're building systems and content that resonates with all Americans. NPR Ever since I've started, I've noticed that you've been very vocal about the need for diversity. Dear NPR President John Lansing, I want to express my heartfelt appreciation for the powerful letter you wrote to NPR staff and the public about the horrific extrajudicial killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. "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. Disclosure: This story was reported by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik under guidance from NPR chief business editor Pallavi Gogoi. Its not a sidebar. Did you know that one day you would become a CEO? Prior to that, Lansing was VP and GM of Scripps ABC affiliates. According to Nielsen data supplied by NPR, its programs and newscasts had an overall audience of 27.4 million in spring 2019. When you first got to NPR, what did you think? 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. NPR Names John Lansing President And CEO : NPR - NPR.org This time, Lansing says he is not confident the money will return anytime soon, so the network and its board have to plan more strategically. Pompeo Interview Dispute With NPR Sends Conflicting Message on - VOA Reliable Sources: NPR names new chief executive | CNN Business Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnlansing. I got this part time job at a TV station to make a little money while I was going to college. It is our work. I just think we have a special and unique thing as a company. Pozen Fellow At the Shorenstein Center. Podtrac, which measures the audiences of podcast publishers, has consistently placed NPR at the top of its monthly rankings. 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 . Faces Of NPR showcases the people behind NPR--from the voices you hear every day on the radio to the ones who work outside of the recording studio. John Lansing, a media executive with government broadcast and cable television experience, has been named by NPR's board to succeed its current chief, Jarl Mohn who announced the plan to step down after his 5-Year term ended. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. Last summer, we definitely had a racial reckoning. Current: Can you be more specific about what that looks like in terms of how you reach people who may not already know about NPRs podcasts?