NPR will cut 10% of its workforce, CEO John Lansing said Wednesday. Live from. I had no idea what was out there. And be a good listener. 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 . "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.". 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. And I was very proud of the progress we were making. We discovered in our most recent climate survey that that was an area that we needed to put more effort into. I just think we have a special and unique thing as a company. So we took that very, very seriously. CEO John Lansing cited the erosion. Doing that just requires that were putting more emphasis on the diversity of our decision makers, our leadership, our story selection, our source selection. The varied broadcasters also offered jazz and other music to appeal to people under communist regimes using a soft form of diplomacy. 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. 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. The various challenges everybody's having from working at home, for example, you realize that everybody's situation is different when you're working. ", "It's 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. And its where our focus needs to be right now. In 2019, Joshua Johnson left 1A, a nationally syndicated public affairs show produced by WAMU in Washington, D.C., and distributed by NPR, for MSNBC. NPR Lansing is a media executive with a deep understanding of journalism, having spent two decades as an award-winning journalist, successful newsroom leader and major market local media executive before becoming a global chief executive officer. Everybody at NPR knows exactly what you mean when you say, 'What's our North Star?' He is. What makes you so open and vocal about the need for diversity? He served for four years as the SVP, Television for the E.W. 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. 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. 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. You have shows like All Things Considered and Morning Edition, which will continue to be broadcasting tent poles, Mr. Lansing said. 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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. Current: What challenges have you faced in implementing your DEI plans? Vox Media cut jobs by 7%; Gannett and Spotify by 6%. In May 2020, four NPR female hosts of color Garcia-Navarro, King, All Things Considered host Ailsa Chang and Weekend All Things Considered host Michel Martin sent a letter to Lansing . I have read and agree to the terms & conditions, Senior Vice President for Television in the broadcasting division of the E.W. John Lansing is a former Obama appointee who was named president and CEO of NPR on Thursday. Current: Did anything else stand out to you in that survey that you believe needed attention and needs attention? Oh wait. Did you know that one day you would become a CEO? Mr. Mohn led the push into podcasting and helped stabilize the organization after years of management turnover and budget deficits. 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. "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.". "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. The union represents 570 people at NPR. Disclosure: This story was reported by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik under guidance from NPR chief business editor Pallavi Gogoi. 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. Current: How have your priorities for NPR changed since you became CEO? Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly. It did not drive a lot of immediate donations, but there were some. August 20, 2022 August 20th is National Radio Day. "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. NPR maintains 17 national bureaus and 17 bureaus abroad. I think as a white man, I know and have experienced that feeling of trepidation on discussions on issues of race, because there's an inherent fear that somebody is going to have a negative point of view about you. In an interview on Friday, Mr. Lansing, 62, praised NPR as a home of high-quality journalism and audio production, and said that in addition to supporting traditional radio broadcasting he wanted to help NPR further its expansion into areas like podcasts, where the radio network has already been a leader. Mohn will continue on as President Emeritus & Co-Chair of the 50th Anniversary Campaign. Apple is reportedly building a podcast subscription service. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. Obviously, this job that you have as a CEO of NPR is a really huge responsibility. So were now into the new fiscal year. Lansing also spent almost 20 years working at Scripps, including eight years as President of Scripps Networks. NPR's president of operations, Loren Mayor, was the leading internal candidate for the chief executive position. 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. 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. "What we've shown with podcasting is that we can take some of our core journalistic assets and we can create new formats and new programs around them and actually reach new audiences. John Gibbs is an American far-right political commentator and politician. That was revised as a result. Were they targeted to specific spending areas or just for general costs? I was very pleased to see Code Switch named as Apples top podcast of the year. Well, I like NPR Politics a lot. "Management is about committing to strategy, making tough decisions.". 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. That survey happened in the fall of 2020. So we were pleased to see SAG-AFTRA join our efforts. 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. 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. NPR Press Release. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. 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. 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. 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. 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. How are you working to shore up NPRs place in the podcasting landscape and compete with deep-pocketed tech companies? How is it a priority? Were working with them to create regional newsrooms in Texas and California and the Midwest and in the Gulf. Government support for the public radio system isn't in any immediate jeopardy. Lansing: Were still working on it right now. Others have waded into the podcast fray with a vengeance. Lansing: They were for general. Since then,. 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. 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. administration regarding the now former managers of his former place of employment (USAGM) but claims the mantle of private citizen to do so. No. And I still think we have a long way to go. ", "I am thrilled to work with NPR's exceptional management team, staff and journalists," said Lansing. Lansing: We arent in a position to answer that until we know for sure when the pandemic is going to subside. hide caption. Current: NPRs budget also took a hit because of the pandemic. 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. Will there be another stimulus? We have many miles to go. A member of the Republican Party, Gibbs was a software engineer and missionary before entering politics. So I wouldn't create a politics podcast because there are too many, and we have the best one of many already. Just be tuned into our folks. Lansing says even that proved overly optimistic. 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. At Colorado Public Radio, I think there was a $300,000 donation that came out of that. The budget for the new fiscal year is set below last years actual based on our forecasts on continued downward pressure on corporate sponsorship. "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. 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. That's something that perceptive journalists should be able to pick up pretty quickly. Last summer, we definitely had a racial reckoning. 5 takeaways from the massive layoffs hitting Big Tech right now, the network announced $20 million in cuts, NPR to impose near-freeze on hiring but avoids layoffs as budget cuts loom, NPR chief news executive Nancy Barnes to depart as network reshapes top ranks, January is often a big month for layoffs. For several years, it eliminated salary increases and suspended retirement contributions. NPR Selects Voice of America Boss as Its New Leader, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/business/media/npr-john-lansing.html. I, and the management team, all of us, we determined that was going to be a priority for the year 2021. "Jarl would be the first to say that it is the area where he feels that his work was not complete," Sheikholeslami said. 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. The second pillar is to transform our workplace culture. And weve seen that really help them grow. NPR will cut 10% of its workforce, CEO John Lansing said Wednesday. Weve had a couple of significant anonymous gifts that have helped shore up our forecast for the coming fiscal year. 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. 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. 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. Or persons of color who are in our organization that are hearing [about] a lot of activity but arent experiencing what they believe they should be experiencing in terms of a workplace where they feel like they can grow and improve their work and improve their careers. NPR's total workforce has grown by about 50 percent since before that crisis. "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, CEO, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC. But also, what are the larger things that are happening? Family Status: Married with 4 Children (Jean Rausch Lansing) And our work began then. I think we're moving forward. Such distinctions between news and programming are tricky, however, as programming oversees podcasts, including those that perform journalistic functions, such as Code Switch, It's Been A Minute, Planet Money, and Throughline. "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. "The combination of his health issues plus the situation with Mike Oreskes did derail his plans.". ", He continued: "Citizens in countries from Russia to China, from Iran to North Korea, have been victimized for decades. 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 probably the most important accountability is that, first of all, I hold myself accountable with my goals that I report to the board. Were working with them to do joint investigative reporting. It's interesting. NPR has tapped longtime media executive John Lansing to become its next president and CEO. 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. 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. 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. Were finishing up in the next two to three weeks the specific lists of actions and activities under these pillars.
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