Lansing: You have to imagine a picture, if you will. Lansing also spoke to Current about the challenges of implementing his DEI plans, the organizations financial outlook and his thoughts about the recent controversies at USAGM. John Lansing, the chief executive officer and director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, will become NPR's CEO in mid-October. Who is the NPR CEO? John Lansing Profile - Public Media Now We are not just putting out regulations or policies and paperwork. Let's say, I was walking out of high school into college, I had no idea what I was going to do. He will now lead the nation's top audio producer and broadcaster. 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. So its an ongoing effort. 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. I think that's where we all wind up. NPR Facebook Post with Comments. Lansing said in an interview with Current Thursday that one of his first observations upon joining NPR was that we needed to double down our efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion. We went from about 900 people a day at headquarters down to about 80 and were virtually broadcasting from peoples homes and offices, in terms of the hosts, almost exclusively beginning in April. A graduate of Bellarmine University, he was named to the Bellarmine University Gallery of Distinguished Graduates in 2010. 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 . "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. That said, Mohn set higher annual expectations for the network in fundraising and agreed to be co-chairman of its 50th-anniversary capital campaign. CEO John Lansing discusses NPR's diversity efforts, budget - Current 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. 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. "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. So I wouldn't create a politics podcast because there are too many, and we have the best one of many already. She really has helped us, and she's brought discipline to a process that in the past might have been people talking past each other a little bit and waiting for things to blow over. 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. Lansing: Were still working on it right now. NPR Selects Voice of America Boss as Its New Leader We did a climate survey of our employees, and we learned about a particular weak spot for us with women of color at NPR who didn't feel it was a place to grow their career, a place to be their whole selves, a place where they are seen and respected. It was a reckoning for all of us together collectively at 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. When asked about his priorities, Lansing invoked what he has called the network's "North Star'' since his arrival in the fall of 2019: a push to ensure the network has a bigger and broader audience base, rooted in younger and more diverse listeners, readers and consumers. Current: Is there a timeline for that process? That was revised as a result. Current: How much were those anonymous gifts? The ratings for our weekend magazine shows are actually slightly greater than they were a year ago pre-pandemic, so thats a bright spot. Fear drives their path. "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 always difficult in these situations, and I don't want to minimize the impact that it will have on our colleagues and in some cases, you know, our ability to do what we do," Lee says. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly. "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. 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. 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. As we got to April of last spring, we saw a massive deficit develop for NPR on the order of about $25 million. But we felt like it was an important investment to make in our member stations to support them during the pandemic. 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. 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. Lansing: Generally, the numbers that we would like to see in terms of the diversity of our audience were still lagging. While they do not broadcast within the U.S., the Voice of America and the other media outfits Lansing has overseen typically adhere to traditional concepts of factual, nonideological journalism, with the frequent exception of Radio Mart historically an anti-Castro and anti-Cuban communist outlet. Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Acting Chief Business Editor Emily Kopp. Scripps Networks But an example of that one that weve already created is the Consider This podcast, which is just a terrific example of taking the national-local partnership into the on-demand future. John F. Lansing : NPR 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. John Lansing, CEO, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC. NPR, the public radio and podcasting giant, has a new leader after years of growth and internal turmoil. Here's what to do in a worst case scenario. September 6, 2019. But we made a firm commitment, as you know, to freeze station dues and fees. 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. Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News. NPR Laying Off 10 Percent of Its Workforce - townhall.com John Gibbs is an American far-right political commentator and politician. 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. What advice would you give to young journalists of color when navigating these white spaces, but attempting to make a change? 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. He made his mark in his current job with stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference. 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. Podtrac, which measures the audiences of podcast publishers, has consistently placed NPR at the top of its monthly rankings. 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. Courtesy of Allison Shelley for NPR. "I don't anticipate that it would be like a haircut across every division, because that's just not management," Lansing says. 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. He soon made DEI the top priority at NPR. Current: NPR and a group of stations started a pilot project around collaborative fundraising in 2019. It's interesting. 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. Were they targeted to specific spending areas or just for general costs? Lansing, who is . Current: NPR has helped stations during the pandemic by delaying planned changes to the dues they pay. "He is a listener and a collaborative leader with a passion for our public service journalistic mission who will help us continue to expand the audience for our storytelling. Apple is reportedly building a podcast subscription service. All rights reserved. ", Lansing, formerly a top television executive for the E.W. 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. Lansing's tenure at the agency has not been without controversy. Arcbazar.com. It's not just what happened this week on the Hill, although that's important. Last year, the network booked $134 million in such corporate underwriting, a record built on strong growth in podcasting revenue in recent years. What makes you so open and vocal about the need for diversity? The staffing cut, which will cost at least 100 people their jobs, comes in response to the "erosion" of advertising revenue, particularly for the network's podcasts, NPR reported. As President, he held strategic and operational oversight of Scripps Networks Digital division and Scripps Networks Interactive, which includes six cable networks: Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, DIY, Cooking Channel and Great American Country. If you had to create a podcast, what would it be about? John Lansing Email & Phone Number - National Pu.. | ZoomInfo (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.). The second pillar is to transform our workplace culture. For July, NPRs 60 active shows among them Planet Money, Fresh Air and Wait Wait Dont Tell Me! were downloaded 141 million times and had nearly 21 million listeners in the United States, according to Podtrac. I think we're moving forward. NPR The newsroom currently stands at just shy of 490 people, while programming has shot up to 230. And I still think we have a long way to go. Pat O'Donnell, the executive director of the union's Mid-Atlantic unit, could not be reached for comment for this story. The first pillar is to expand the power of the national-local partnership into the on-demand future. 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. I'm sure that's true even today. A later report commissioned by the NPR board found that questions had been raised about Oreskes' behavior even before his hiring and that concerns were raised throughout his tenure; the repeated and formal warnings by top executives (including Mohn) to Oreskes to stop the unwanted attention he paid to female colleagues proved ineffective. How cool is it to be at. Will there be another stimulus? People, given the opportunity, will do the right thing in a way that hopefully makes them want to be here for a long time. CEO John Lansing cited the erosion of advertising dollars, particularly for NPR podcasts, and the tough financial outlook for the media industry more generally. Pozen Fellow At the Shorenstein Center. I would enjoy being on a podcast talking about politics. National Public Radio will reduce its workforce by 10 percent as it grapples with what CEO John Lansing says is a "sharp . And its something that I think will strengthen the ability for news programming, marketing and member services to be more responsive and to offer greater service to audiences in a more agile way. The title of your piece, "Now Is A Time For Truth Telling, For Listening, And For Action," takes a bold stand in defending the urgent work of journalists during this . Everybody at NPR knows exactly what you mean when you say, 'What's our North Star?' "We were doing everything we could against the tide and couldn't keep clipping our costs as the revenue kept slipping," Lansing says. Pompeo Interview Dispute With NPR Sends Conflicting Message on - VOA How has that effort been progressing? CEO John Lansing says ad revenue for podcasting shriveled even as general economy seems on mend. We established the top priority [a.k.a. "However, when you think how we look out longer term, right, not just for 20 years, but several years out, it's really about building a sustainable financial future for NPR.". That survey happened in the fall of 2020. 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. The agency has an annual budget of $808 million. Lansing, who is 62, is. 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. John Lansing will begin his term as President and CEO of NPR in October, 2019. Today is a good day to remember the vital role public radio plays in providing the information we all need to fully exercise our rights in our democracy. Their editorial independence is enshrined in federal law, though it sometimes came under attack. Lansing also spent almost 20 years working at Scripps, including eight years as President of Scripps Networks. And the pandemic hit six months later in March of '20. Our DEI efforts at the beginning of 2020 were not a project or an extracurricular activity; it really became our work. Why did you undertake this? I joined in October of '19. But were going to continue to follow up on that going into this year. NPR's New CEO Is Veteran Media Executive John Lansing : NPR - NPR.org If it's not being solved from the top down, it shouldn't be a burden for people just trying to build their career. It has become enshrined in our three-year strategic plan as the centerpiece of all of our work. "Your mobility becomes extremely important to be involved and connected to audiences that are mobile and that tend to be, frankly, younger and, as we think of it at USAGM, future leaders, who can influence the rise of free and open societies.". Lansing: Lets go back in time. A review by the House Foreign Affairs Committee faulted the agency for insufficient oversight but noted that an internal task force was already having an impact. In an interview, Mr. Lansing called the ads a rogue incident and said it had been corrected. Media Exec John Lansing to Become New CEO of NPR - Variety NPR is funded by the CPB/PBS which are funded in part by the U.S. government. 2016 John Lansing leading a moderated a discussion with the members of the International Media Coordinating Council (ICC) about a unified strategy for the future. 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. 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.