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. 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. 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 . 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. He is credited with restoring morale, in part by naming a noted journalist as head of the Voice of America: Amanda Bennett is a former top news executive at the Philadelphia Inquirer who previously held senior newsroom jobs at Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal. The only route to a successful engagement on this issue is to deal with it, to talk about it, and to take action. NPR is funded by the CPB/PBS which are funded in part by the U.S. government. I hear that all the time. This is simply disingenuous. It has become enshrined in our three-year strategic plan as the centerpiece of all of our work. 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. Tech companies that also rely heavily on advertising are undergoing layoffs too. NPR takes only a few million dollars a year from federal sources for its programs. My top goal is to support the women of color at NPR so that they feel like they have more upward mobility.. I subscribe to the notion of leadership as a servant leader, that the role of leaders is to support the team to do their best work. 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. Fear drives their path. That survey happened in the fall of 2020. All of those underlying effects generally lead to whatever effects were going to have in corporate sponsorship. So if you have leaders talking about DEI as a priority, well, then, show me. Lansing also spent almost 20 years working at Scripps, including eight years as President of Scripps Networks. And were pleased to work with them. CEO John Lansing cited the erosion. I am still morning the loss of an objective NPR. I will say in the last three or four weeks weve seen a little bit of an uptick in a positive way on corporate sponsorship. And were happy to see SAG-AFTRA agree with us and to join up. Lansing: That was conducted back in September. 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. But also, what are the larger things that are happening? "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. Since then,. You'll find out about what they do and what they're inspired by on the daily. And be a good listener. 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 still looking at a deficit, but were hopeful that by the time we get into March, well have a pretty clear-eyed view of how the year is going to end up. How do you think that the North Star, the strategic initiative, is going? The roots of the VOA involved providing truthful reports to people under Nazi and Axis power rule during World War II. For the year that ended last September, NPR reported $241 million in expenses. Mr. Mohn was pressed about his leadership in a tense NPR interview and later apologized to employees for not taking action sooner. 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. Current: With broadcast listening declining during the pandemic, what is NPR doing to address and adjust to those trends? "And we finally got to the point where there was nothing really that we could cut big enough to fill a hole like that.". John Lansing is a former Obama appointee who was named president and CEO of NPR on Thursday. It's not an extracurricular activity; it's fundamental to our business. Scripps Networks Mohn fired head of news Michael Oreskes on Halloween 2017. What steps does NPR still need to take in this area? Let's say, I was walking out of high school into college, I had no idea what I was going to do. It really stretched me to understand that flexibility is a good thing. Lansing: Its on social media platforms or YouTube or through media partnerships. We saw a lot of companies react to the [murder of] George Floyd and we did too. So we were pleased to see SAG-AFTRA join our efforts. 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. 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. He served for four years as the SVP, Television for the E.W. If it's not being solved from the top down, it shouldn't be a burden for people just trying to build their career. Weve had a couple of significant anonymous gifts that have helped shore up our forecast for the coming fiscal year. He is. Well, I like NPR Politics a lot. Bellarmine alumnus and former trustee John Lansing, a veteran cable television and government broadcast executive, is the new CEO of NPR. We established the top priority [a.k.a. While serving as chief operating officer, she took on a greater role during two of Mohn's medical leaves and in the aftermath of the sexual harassment scandal. NPR will cut 10% of its workforce, CEO John Lansing said Wednesday. Way back when, I was a news cameraman. Lansing, who is . I just started in May. 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? I just think that somebody's truth is the truth. Lansing: Lets go back in time. 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. 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. 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 thought, wow. The second pillar is to transform our workplace culture. Mohn led NPR through five consecutive years of audience growth and budget surplus. "Nothing is nailed down yet except the principles and what we know we have to reach.". "We were doing everything we could against the tide and couldn't keep clipping our costs as the revenue kept slipping," Lansing says. In late November, the network announced $20 million in cuts, including a near-freeze on hiring, elimination of most travel, and suspension of internships. And the work goes on. A graduate of Bellarmine University, he was named to the Bellarmine University Gallery of Distinguished Graduates in 2010. He made his mark in his current job with stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference. Podcasting in particular allows NPR to reach audiences that are not necessarily tied to a radio., Paul Haaga, the chairman of NPRs board, said in a statement that Mr. Lansing was 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.. So it's kind of inseparable, that coming in as CEO of NPR, and then six months in having the coronavirus, followed by a major economic downturn in the country and for NPR, and then the reckoning that summer. Current: You came to NPR after serving as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Anyone can read what you share. And its tied to the same variables you would know yourselves, which is, how fast can the vaccines be deployed? And it really opened the funnel. 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. 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. Leading the organization through it all is CEO John Lansing, a longtime media executive who has been on the job since October 2019. I can't speak for other people, CEOs. In an interview, Lansing said he wants to build on NPR's successes in broadcast news and entertainment to become even more dominant in podcasting and more prevalent in streaming. advanced degree - political agility. "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. Lansing, who is 62, is. Family Status: Married with 4 Children (Jean Rausch Lansing) Disclosure: This story was reported by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik under guidance from NPR chief business editor Pallavi Gogoi. Current: Is there a timeline for that process? And how's that being measured and accounted for? Lansing: Thats a great question. 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. And I still think we have a long way to go. Lansing says he remains committed to podcasting "1,000 percent," as well as the network's hallmark news magazines, such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered. During that financial crisis, NPR shut down shows and laid off scores of people. I thought, wow. He was previously head of cable TV company Scripps Networks, where he sold $10 million in stock after the company became the target of an SEC probe that was not known to the public. I think you have to be in front of your teams. When will that freeze be lifted? Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. 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. He soon made DEI the top priority at NPR. 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. Applicants to this years fellowship see its cancellation as a setback for journalists of color who want to work in public radio. New podcasts Up First, Consider This and State of Ukraine sit on both sides. And I was very proud of the progress we were making. Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Acting Chief Business Editor Emily Kopp. So I would tell my younger self to be confident, calm down, it's all gonna work out. 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 weve seen some significant success with that. NPR's John Lansing Discusses the Importance of Integrity in Journalism By Nicole Jones - October 30, 2020 0 463 NPR National President and CEO John Lansing joined the Belmont community for a conversation about integrity in journalism, highlighting its importance especially during an election year. Being a changemaker is awesome, but can have its own challenges as you're just trying to improve your career. It goes on to say that Mr. Lansing, 62, is currently the chief executive of the government agency, The U.S. Agency for Global Media, that oversees Voice of America, Radio and Television Marti, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, among others. In what ways do you think NPR has forced you to grow, and in what areas are you growing that you weren't before NPR? 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. It didnt begin in the summer it accelerated in the summer. It was a reckoning for all of us together collectively at NPR. This documentary-style series follows investigative journalists as they uncover the truth. 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. Current: What are some of the highlights of that strategic plan? And probably the most important accountability is that, first of all, I hold myself accountable with my goals that I report to the board. So I think that it has caused me to be more tuned in to hearing and understanding our employees. Lansing: We hope to have that completed within about eight to 10 weeks. NPR Scripps Company, Held senior management positions at Scripps-owned affiliates, including WEWS TV in Cleveland, Ohio and WXYZ TV in Detroit, Michigan, Early in his career Award-winning Photojournalist and Field Producer, Assignment Manager, Managing Editor, and News Director at several television stations. administration regarding the now former managers of his former place of employment (USAGM) but claims the mantle of private citizen to do so. Current. Under his leadership NPR has been reaching new audiences as the country's top podcast publisher and through platforms like smart-speakers and connected cars. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News. NPR stands stronger than it did at the outset of Mohn's five-year term in 2014. "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. Lansing, who is 62, is currently the chief executive of the government agency that oversees Voice of America, Radio and Television Mart and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, among others. John Ten Eyck Lansing Jr. (January 30, 1754 - vanished December 12, 1829), a Founding Father of the United States, was an attorney, jurist, and politician. John Lansing , CEO of NPR NPR President John Lansing '09 is Bellarmine's 2021 commencement speaker, Honorary Degree recipient April 22, 2021 NPR P. How cool is it to be at. Lansing has earned an advanced degree in political agility. Lansing: We arent in a position to answer that until we know for sure when the pandemic is going to subside. It's interesting. We'd like to revisit a story that first broke yesterday and . You have shows like All Things Considered and Morning Edition, which will continue to be broadcasting tent poles, Mr. Lansing said. We are not just putting out regulations or policies and paperwork. Unlike some predecessors, Lansing doesn't face a particularly fraught political landscape. National Public Radio will reduce its workforce by 10 percent as it grapples with what CEO John Lansing says is a "sharp . "I don't anticipate that it would be like a haircut across every division, because that's just not management," Lansing says. "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 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 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. 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. 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. So hes doubling down on lack of diversity, does that mean he wants his audience to reflect the other half of the country, the conservatives in flyover country? NPR, the public radio and podcasting giant, has a new leader after years of growth and internal turmoil. 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. So sad to lose an American institution to propaganda. Certainly in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder on Memorial Day weekend, our efforts accelerated and we doubled down on communication, training and listening. 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. 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. All rights reserved. At the center of a graphic is our commitment to DEI, and all of our work in that circle is surrounded by four pillars. 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. 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. That was revised as a result. 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. He was responsible for strategic and operational oversight and P&L of the $2.5 billion division of Scripps Networks Interactive, including the company's portfolio of six cable networks Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, DIY, Cooking Channel and Great American Country and the $100 million Scripps Networks Digital division. What was it like for you to watch that happen? Prior to joining USAGM, he served for two years as the President and CEO of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), an organization that facilitates collaborative marketing initiatives for its members. How are you working to shore up NPRs place in the podcasting landscape and compete with deep-pocketed tech companies? In recent remarks online, Johnson, who is Black, focused on a more competitive landscape for NPR journalists, including people of color. Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have announced more than 50,000 job cuts combined in just the past few months. 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. Mr. Lansings colleagues attribute the growth to his embrace of digital formats and the understanding of audiences that he gleaned from the private sector. (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.). Essentially, the success of the company falls in your hands. But it was not from a standing start. On an annual budget of roughly $300 million, Lansing says, revenues are likely to fall short by close to $30 million, although that gap could reach $32 million. He spent two decades at Scripps Networks, starting as a station manager in the Detroit, MI affiliate; eventually becoming President of Scripps cable networks company from 2005 to 2013. The newsroom currently stands at just shy of 490 people, while programming has shot up to 230. It puts a filter on that helps us explain even unpopular decisions, how they link to our mission. I joined in October of '19. John Lansing will begin his term as President and CEO of NPR in October, 2019. And I think we have to extend that lead. Then I moved on to manage TV stations and cable networks. Current: How else might NPR assist stations in the coming year? But thats our commitment. Last fall, when announcing the earlier cuts, Lansing said the network would have to make tough choices - and to "do less with less." America needs public radio more than ever. Lansing will begin his term at NPR in October and will succeed Jarl Mohn, who has been Chief Executive Officer and President since 2014. Scripps Co., says whenever an economic slowdown appears imminent, marketing budgets get slashed. 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 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. Share Your Design Ideas, New JerseysMurphy Defends $10 Billion Rainy Day Fund as States Economy Slows, What Led to Europes Deadliest Train Crash in a Decade, This Week in Crypto: Ukraine War, Marathon Digital, FTX. 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. Its a real business with real market dynamics.. Their editorial independence is enshrined in federal law, though it sometimes came under attack. 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. Within a few weeks, Lansing became convinced that projection would be unreachable. NPR Selects Voice of America Boss as Its New Leader, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/business/media/npr-john-lansing.html. In a large part, the digital teams and the divisions will work together to reach a final model. 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. But second, we're mission-driven, and I think everybody in the organization lives and breathes that mission. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. "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. You can't escape that. Learn more at npr.org/about or by following NPR Extra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. It was hard for everyone. Lansing says even that proved overly optimistic. hide caption. Trump has notably praised authoritarian figures, including the leaders of North Korea, the Philippines, Russia and Turkey and has waged his own fight against journalists. We have many miles to go. I would enjoy being on a podcast talking about politics. Harvard Kennedy School. I established DEI as our top priority on Jan. 5 of 2020. CEO John Lansing discusses NPRs diversity efforts, budget deficit and growing podcast competition. NPR draws more than 28 million listeners each week and 40 million unique monthly visitors to its website both represent a rise of several million over those five years. 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. Its not something weve baked and were just going to hand it down. 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. A member of the Republican Party, Gibbs was a software engineer and missionary before entering politics. 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. During the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, NPR was at risk of laying off staff when sponsors canceled their spots on the network, said John Lansing, NPR's chief executive. 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. Weve also seen very positive upticks in development. Or 'How are we doing on the North Star?' NPR's rigorous reporting and unsurpassed storytelling connect with millions of Americans everydayon the air, online, and in person. So mentally, how do you manage that? NPR maintains 17 national bureaus and 17 bureaus abroad. ", "I am thrilled to work with NPR's exceptional management team, staff and journalists," said Lansing. 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. Pack then took a number of actions that raised fears about the independence of the agency, which includes Voice of America. The ratings for our weekend magazine shows are actually slightly greater than they were a year ago pre-pandemic, so thats a bright spot.. Leading the organization through it all is CEO John Lansing, a longtime media executive who has been on the job since October 2019. It is our work our North Star and our work are the same thing. Lansing, who is 62, is. We still remain one of the top, if not the top, podcasters in America. But here, Lansing basically jumps over those disclaimers using the lame attribution of private citizen.. Selected by the NPR board of directors, Lansing will start in October, succeeding outgoing head Jarl Mohn, Current: Did anything else stand out to you in that survey that you believe needed attention and needs attention? 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. Others have waded into the podcast fray with a vengeance. This is an edited transcript of the conversation among Lansing, Current Reporter Tyler Falk and Digital Editor Mike Janssen. What advice would you give to young journalists of color when navigating these white spaces, but attempting to make a change? We established management commitments to the women of color so that we address specifically their concerns. 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. John Lansing, CEO, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC. 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. Lansing will start in his new position in mid-October. We are different from other federal agencies, said Grant K. Turner, the agencys chief financial officer. Lansing's tenure at the agency has not been without controversy. Because when you're all at work, you're all at work, and you go home to your individual situations. 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. At a young age, my biggest goal at the time was to someday be a news director for a local TV station. So its an ongoing effort. 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.