And some stations who had a schedule to go down actually were allowed to go down. Lansing, who is . 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. When you first got to NPR, what did you think? You have shows like All Things Considered and Morning Edition, which will continue to be broadcasting tent poles, Mr. Lansing said. When that happened, it energized us to really double down on understanding where our weak spots were, what we needed to work on. Lansing: Back in May and June, it was an alarming decline in radio ratings. 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. It is our work. An NPR spokeswoman said final decisions on which jobs will be eliminated should occur by the week of March 20. 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. Mr. Lansing will start in October, replacing Jarl Mohn, who has run NPR since 2014. "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. So if you have leaders talking about DEI as a priority, well, then, show me. He promises NPR will build on its mission and values but adds, ""This will be a major loss." My story: npr.org NPR says it's cutting jobs by 10% as ad revenue drops 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. 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. John Gibbs is an American far-right political commentator and politician. 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. 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. He made his mark in his current job with stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference. NPR's Michel Martin asks NPR's CEO, John Lansing, to respond to an All Things Considered interview with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Current. Apple is reportedly building a podcast subscription service. In these comments, John Lansing slides by with a public swipe at the Trump That with a combination of expense cuts, including our employees and our management all taking voluntary pay cuts and benefit cuts, helped close that deficit gap. I am still morning the loss of an objective NPR. It was hard for everyone. Lansing: That was conducted back in September. 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. NPR will cut 10% of its workforce, CEO John Lansing said Wednesday. And our number one goal is to improve our audience diversity. This is simply disingenuous. Lansing also elevated to chief strategy officer a former U.S. State Department staffer who recently pleaded guilty to having defrauded the U.S. Agency for Global Media out of more than $40,000 in government money in 2018, according to federal prosecutors. 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. 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. I think you have to be willing to take hard questions. 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. (Former long time member). 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. Mohn had promised to attract major contributions to NPR before the end of his tenure; to date he has not landed the major eight- and nine-figure donations his stated aspirations suggested. To be a part of creating the future of such an important institution is humbling, exciting, and a distinct honor.". Being a changemaker is awesome, but can have its own challenges as you're just trying to improve your career. According to Nielsen data supplied by NPR, its programs and newscasts had an overall audience of 27.4 million in spring 2019. 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. 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. 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. During 2021, we worked on that with Keith and with Diversity and Inclusion Manager Whitney Maddox. 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. And I think we have to extend that lead. 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. hide caption. Lansing: Everybodys at a different place with DEI depending on where they stand, whether thats a person who is white and doesnt understand how white privilege has improved their standing in their career in a way that persons of color may have not experienced. And its tied to the same variables you would know yourselves, which is, how fast can the vaccines be deployed? So mentally, how do you manage that? Mohn will continue on as President Emeritus & Co-Chair of the 50th Anniversary Campaign. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. He served on the Bellarmine University Board of Trustees from 2010-2016 and was vice-chair 2014-2016. Current: Is there a timeline for that process? Notify me of follow-up comments by email. If you had to create a podcast, what would it be about? Lansing previously held positions overseeing the Scripps Co.'s local television stations and then its national cable channels, which include the Food Network and HGTV, among others. We are different from other federal agencies, said Grant K. Turner, the agencys chief financial officer. The last time NPR faced such stark choices, it was 2008. And its where our focus needs to be right now. John Lansing will begin his term as President and CEO of NPR in October, 2019. Selected by the NPR board of directors, Lansing will start in October, succeeding outgoing head Jarl Mohn, You can't escape that. Live from. 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. Pat O'Donnell, the executive director of the union's Mid-Atlantic unit, could not be reached for comment for this story. 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. Weve had a couple of significant anonymous gifts that have helped shore up our forecast for the coming fiscal year. It did not drive a lot of immediate donations, but there were some. At Colorado Public Radio, I think there was a $300,000 donation that came out of that. And as the year unfolded, we began to develop our three-year strategic plan. How is it a priority? 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. 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. Will there be another stimulus? 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. Board Member. I got this part time job at a TV station to make a little money while I was going to college. I'm kind of a politics junkie. 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. The newsroom currently stands at just shy of 490 people, while programming has shot up to 230. He will now lead the nation's top audio producer and broadcaster. NPRs search for a new CEO is finally over! What was it like for you to watch that happen? 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. Lansing: You have to imagine a picture, if you will. 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. She also has led initiatives to reform hiring practices and to sweep far more temporary positions into permanent slots, often working closely with the network's chief unions to do so. As I said, its hiring, its emphasis on diversity in leadership, diversity in sources, diversity in voices, diversity in the stories we tell, training around our organization. My top goal is to support the women of color at NPR so that they feel like they have more upward mobility.. Were working with them to create regional newsrooms in Texas and California and the Midwest and in the Gulf. NPR faces financial pressures from two fronts. administration regarding the now former managers of his former place of employment (USAGM) but claims the mantle of private citizen to do so. NPR Start Date: Mid October, 2020 Applicants to this years fellowship see its cancellation as a setback for journalists of color who want to work in public radio. We can share resources and story ideas, and we can help organize and support those efforts. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. 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. John Lansing, the chief executive officer and director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, will become NPR's CEO in mid-October. All rights reserved. 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. NPR has tapped longtime media executive John Lansing to become its next president and CEO. 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. NPR Start Date: Mid October, 2020 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. And as a CEO, and also as a white man, I want to know, how did you handle it when all eyes were on you? 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. Its not a sidebar. 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. This is essentially the DEI work writ large, but also our culture of respect, safety, upward mobility, training and making NPR a world-class organization for which to work. What advice would you give to young journalists of color when navigating these white spaces, but attempting to make a change? "Bloomberg Opinion" columnists offer their opinions on issues in the news. Podtrac, which measures the audiences of podcast publishers, has consistently placed NPR at the top of its monthly rankings. He took over a troubled organization beset by infighting and bureaucratic inefficiency. I thought, wow. 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. John Lansing , CEO of NPR NPR President John Lansing '09 is Bellarmine's 2021 commencement speaker, Honorary Degree recipient April 22, 2021 NPR P. Lansing: Were still working on it right now. 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. John Lansing is taking over for outgoing CEO Jarl Mohn, who has led the organization for . Pack then took a number of actions that raised fears about the independence of the agency, which includes Voice of America. He held off a push by House Republicans to spin off Voice of America into a nongovernmental broadcaster. Fearing a tepid economy, Lansing and his corporate team projected that revenue would stay flat for the fiscal year that began October 1. Its pretty clear to me that the ratings decline in radio is driven by commuting patterns. I dont know if youve been on the highway recently, but theres a lot more traffic on the highway today than there would have been last May and June. 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. National Public Radio will reduce its workforce by 10 percent as it grapples with what CEO John Lansing says is a "sharp . Doing that just requires that were putting more emphasis on the diversity of our decision makers, our leadership, our story selection, our source selection. hide caption. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Current is an editorially independent, nonprofit service of the American University School of Communication. "The combination of his health issues plus the situation with Mike Oreskes did derail his plans.". And our work began then. A member of the Republican Party, Gibbs was a software engineer and missionary before entering politics. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. 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 . "Jarl would be the first to say that it is the area where he feels that his work was not complete," Sheikholeslami said. We're funded by your subscriptions, your donations, advertising, and a generous grant from the Wyncote Foundation. So sad to me. "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. Scripps Co., says whenever an economic slowdown appears imminent, marketing budgets get slashed. The ratings for our weekend magazine shows are actually slightly greater than they were a year ago pre-pandemic, so thats a bright spot.. Our DEI efforts at the beginning of 2020 were not a project or an extracurricular activity; it really became our work. 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 . "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. Its something that we certainly support. 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. Ever since I've started, I've noticed that you've been very vocal about the need for diversity. We had begun a lot of work under [Chief Diversity Officer] Keith Woods' leadership to really move us forward. 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. Did you know that one day you would become a CEO? "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.". 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. CEO John Lansing says ad revenue for podcasting shriveled even as general economy seems on mend. 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. 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. And probably the most important accountability is that, first of all, I hold myself accountable with my goals that I report to the board. Obviously, this job that you have as a CEO of NPR is a really huge responsibility. For the year that ended last September, NPR reported $241 million in expenses. When will that freeze be lifted? 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 . It began to improve a little bit as we moved into August and September, as corporate sponsorships began to recover a little bit. Lansing, who is 62, is. August 20, 2022 August 20th is National Radio Day. For several years, it eliminated salary increases and suspended retirement contributions. A graduate of Bellarmine University, he was named to the Bellarmine University Gallery of Distinguished Graduates in 2010. That said, Mohn set higher annual expectations for the network in fundraising and agreed to be co-chairman of its 50th-anniversary capital campaign. We have many miles to go. NPR's search for a new CEO is finally over! So I brought in Michael Smith as our new chief marketing officer almost a year ago. Current: With broadcast listening declining during the pandemic, what is NPR doing to address and adjust to those trends? Mr. Lansings colleagues attribute the growth to his embrace of digital formats and the understanding of audiences that he gleaned from the private sector. Family Status: Married with 4 Children (Jean Rausch Lansing) As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Disclosure: This story was reported by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik under guidance from NPR chief business editor Pallavi Gogoi. Mike Morgan/Mike Morgan 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. 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. Were they targeted to specific spending areas or just for general costs? 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. Lansing: I guess my head turns first to the journalism of our member stations. If we don't get this right, then our audience of the next 50 years will lack the diversity that would give it the ability to grow and thrive and prosper and even survive. 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. It was a reckoning for all of us together collectively at NPR. 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. We couldnt be more proud of the quality and the depth of the journalism thats coming from the member stations, and it really has strengthened the entire system enormously. Lansing: They were for general. So that would be mine. 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. So at the end of the day, its a commitment, but this also has to be accountability. We discovered in our most recent climate survey that that was an area that we needed to put more effort into. John F. Lansing (he/him) oversees one of the country's most iconic news organizations, whose rigorous reporting and unsurpassed storytelling connects with millions of Americans every day on the air, online, and in person. At a young age, my biggest goal at the time was to someday be a news director for a local TV station. So I would tell my younger self to be confident, calm down, it's all gonna work out. You have stated that DEI is your top priority at NPR. NPR has a new CEO. And I still think we have a long way to go. We've made some good forward progress around hiring, with requiring that our hiring panels be diverse, requiring that our finalists have diverse representation at a minimum, but of course there's no maximum, in terms of a list of finalists. Or 'How are we doing on the North Star?' NPR will cut 10% of its workforce, CEO John Lansing said Wednesday. How cool is it to be at. It really stretched me to understand that flexibility is a good thing. Its not something weve baked and were just going to hand it down.
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