Its something that we certainly support. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Current is an editorially independent, nonprofit service of the American University School of Communication. And now in our budgeting were shifting some revenue for Michael to use that to promote and support our podcasts as they compete, as you note, with other large commercial businesses. Pozen Fellow At the Shorenstein Center. Being a changemaker is awesome, but can have its own challenges as you're just trying to improve your career. Doing that just requires that were putting more emphasis on the diversity of our decision makers, our leadership, our story selection, our source selection. Current: How else might NPR assist stations in the coming year? That was revised as a result. "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.". Lansing: They were for general. "Bloomberg Opinion" columnists offer their opinions on issues in the news. And be a good listener. The other is the fight for donors. 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. 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. He won praise for doing so and says he informed leaders of SAG-AFTRA on Tuesday about the impending job cuts. So mentally, how do you manage that? Mayor is said to be staying on at the network as a top executive and deputy to Lansing, retaining the enhanced portfolio she took on after Mohn's health crises. "The combination of his health issues plus the situation with Mike Oreskes did derail his plans.". 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. NPR has tapped longtime media executive John Lansing to become its next president and CEO. Well, I like NPR Politics a lot. Lansing: Lets go back in time. 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, John, Jr., (Uncle of Gerrit Yates Lansing), a Delegate from New York; born in Albany, N.Y., January 30, 1754; studied law in Albany and in New York City; was admitted to the bar in 1775; secretary to General Schuyler 1776 and 1777; engaged in the practice of law in Albany in 1778; member of the State assembly 1781-1784, 1786, and 1789, and served as speaker in 1786 and 1789; Member of . "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. The first pillar is to expand the power of the national-local partnership into the on-demand future. 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. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. 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 . Well, what we're doing right now, I think communication. I have read and agree to the terms & conditions, Senior Vice President for Television in the broadcasting division of the E.W. 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. Just be tuned into our folks. 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. My top goal is to support the women of color at NPR so that they feel like they have more upward mobility.. "When we say we are eliminating filled positions, we are talking about our colleagues - people whose skills, spirit and talents help make NPR what it is today," Lansing wrote in a memo to staff today. So Im pleased to see that that short era is over. NPR's president of operations, Loren Mayor, was the leading internal candidate for the chief executive position. It did not drive a lot of immediate donations, but there were some. August 20, 2022 August 20th is National Radio Day. NPR stands stronger than it did at the outset of Mohn's five-year term in 2014. NPR Selects Voice of America Boss as Its New Leader, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/business/media/npr-john-lansing.html. That content executive position has not yet been filled; its creation led to the departure of then-NPR chief news executive Nancy Barnes. "We're not seeing signs of a recovery in the advertising market," Lansing says in an interview. John Lansing testifying before a House Appropriations subcommittee in July. Lansing said he took pride in maintaining conventional broadcasts while appealing to new audiences, reaching about 25% more people each week. In a private meeting on Thursday President Biden informed Senate Democrats that he will not use his veto power to block a GOP-led effort to repeal D.C.'s new crime law. Current: You came to NPR after serving as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. So I would tell my younger self to be confident, calm down, it's all gonna work out. NPR faces financial pressures from two fronts. 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? Current: NPRs budget also took a hit because of the pandemic. NPR has also been the nation's leading producer of podcasts since Podtrac started measuring audiences. Scripps Networks ", "I am thrilled to work with NPR's exceptional management team, staff and journalists," said Lansing. 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. It's not an extracurricular activity; it's fundamental to our business. NPR undertook a strategic reorganization last fall, reinstating the position of a chief content officer overseeing both the newsroom and the programming division. Government support for the public radio system isn't in any immediate jeopardy. 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. 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 . 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. Four years ago, Lansing was named by President Barack Obama to be the first chief executive of the broadcasting outfit that was renamed the U.S. Agency for Global Media. Mike Morgan/Mike Morgan ", He continued: "Citizens in countries from Russia to China, from Iran to North Korea, have been victimized for decades. Weve seen a gradual comeback. Its my expectation that that will expand throughout the organization, so that everybody understands its everybodys job, and the accountability is going to be something that we measure and transparently report back out. 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. So at the end of the day, its a commitment, but this also has to be accountability. Learn more at npr.org/about or by following NPR Extra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. "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.". Lansing: SAG-AFTRA came out with their letter around our September board meeting in 2020. 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. Talk about a force of nature. "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. National Public Radio will reduce its workforce by 10 percent as it grapples with what CEO John Lansing says is a "sharp . Copyright 2023. I would enjoy being on a podcast talking about politics. So we took that very, very seriously. Current: Why are NPR and its partners looking to sell the Pocket Casts podcast app? The union represents 570 people at NPR. NPR has a new CEO. 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. "This will be a major loss.". 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, the public radio and podcasting giant, has a new leader after years of growth and internal turmoil. But now we're seeing authoritarian regimes expanding around the globe, with media repression in places like Turkey and Venezuela, Cambodia and Vietnam.". I think leaders are accountable for walking the walk, for doing what they say they're going to do. New podcasts Up First, Consider This and State of Ukraine sit on both sides. Lansing also spent almost 20 years working at Scripps, including eight years as President of Scripps Networks. As we moved through the summer, that deficit remained at about $25 million. Lansing: I guess I would comment just as a citizen watching from outside. 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. 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. 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. Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have announced more than 50,000 job cuts combined in just the past few months. All of those underlying effects generally lead to whatever effects were going to have in corporate sponsorship. That survey happened in the fall of 2020. So I brought in Michael Smith as our new chief marketing officer almost a year ago. Michael A. McCoy for NPR A federal inspector general's investigation has exonerated six government executives who were suspended last year after raising red flags about actions taken by. promoting Keith Woods to chief diversity officer, regional newsrooms in Texas and California and the Midwest and in the Gulf, I brought in Michael Smith as our new chief marketing officer, looking to sell the Pocket Casts podcast app, Suspension of NPRs Kroc fellowships disrupts talent development, career plans of student journalists. Current: Is there a timeline for that process? 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. Weve also seen very positive upticks in development. Follow Bloomberg reporters as they uncover some of the biggest financial crimes of the modern era. "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. Networks like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty are meant to counter disinformation from foreign governments by broadcasting objective reports, although they have always been dogged by an accusation that they are a form of American propaganda. 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.. 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. What is the outlook for the rest of the fiscal year? 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 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. 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. administration regarding the now former managers of his former place of employment (USAGM) but claims the mantle of private citizen to do so. The budget for the new fiscal year is set below last years actual based on our forecasts on continued downward pressure on corporate sponsorship. Current. Board Member. But here, Lansing basically jumps over those disclaimers using the lame attribution of private citizen.. Were working with member stations on topic teams for, say, political reporting or criminal justice reporting across the system. An NPR spokeswoman said final decisions on which jobs will be eliminated should occur by the week of March 20. 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. ", Lansing, formerly a top television executive for the E.W. I think the work Keith has been doing long before I got here on diversity in tracking sources and the storytelling that we're doing around the company has really been effective in the area of DEI on radio, podcasting, and digital. 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 sad to me. It has become enshrined in our three-year strategic plan as the centerpiece of all of our work. David Westin speaks with top names in finance about the week's biggest issues on Wall Street. We established management commitments to the women of color so that we address specifically their concerns. Your email address will not be published. Were working with them to create regional newsrooms in Texas and California and the Midwest and in the Gulf. Born and raised in Albany, New York, Lansing was trained as a lawyer, and was long involved in politics and government.During the American Revolution he was military secretary to General Philip Schuyler. 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. When that happened, it energized us to really double down on understanding where our weak spots were, what we needed to work on. CEO John Lansing cited the erosion of advertising dollars, particularly for NPR podcasts, and the tough financial outlook for the media industry more generally. Were working with them to do joint investigative reporting. We can share resources and story ideas, and we can help organize and support those efforts. 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. I had been gone for the better part of a year or so. And I still think we have a long way to go. Mr. Lansing rejected that accusation, saying that the agency was independent by law. Courtesy of Allison Shelley for NPR. 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. 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 . NPR Start Date: Mid October, 2020 He took over a troubled organization beset by infighting and bureaucratic inefficiency. I just think that somebody's truth is the truth. So were now into the new fiscal year. "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. 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. Fearing a tepid economy, Lansing and his corporate team projected that revenue would stay flat for the fiscal year that began October 1. So I think that it has caused me to be more tuned in to hearing and understanding our employees. We saw a lot of companies react to the [murder of] George Floyd and we did too. 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. Current: Do you have any examples of how digital operations would be integrated into divisions throughout the organization? I just think we have a special and unique thing as a company. Mohn will continue on as President Emeritus & Co-Chair of the 50th Anniversary Campaign. He is passionate about NPR's public service mission and the role of a free and independent media in a strong democracy. "Management is about committing to strategy, making tough decisions.". I thought, wow. Oh wait. America needs public radio more than ever. 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. They lost their objectivity and are now just pushing leftist ideology. 2017-2022. 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. Were consulting with digital media, were consulting with the division heads, and were doing it as an all-hands project so that we get it right. CEO John Lansing says ad revenue for podcasting shriveled even as general economy seems on mend. There are over 1000 NPR Member Station signals broadcasting across the United States John Lansing, CEO, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC. You have shows like All Things Considered and Morning Edition, which will continue to be broadcasting tent poles, Mr. Lansing said. To be a part of creating the future of such an important institution is humbling, exciting, and a distinct honor.". 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. 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. The various challenges everybody's having from working at home, for example, you realize that everybody's situation is different when you're working. Apple is reportedly building a podcast subscription service. Lansing started his news industry career at age 17 as a studio technician and cameraman at WPSD TV, Paducah, KY, where he was promoted to news photographer after two years. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. Because when you're all at work, you're all at work, and you go home to your individual situations. 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. NPR will cut 10% of its workforce, CEO John Lansing said Wednesday. It might come from my journalistic roots, and I think other journalists would say the same thing, I deal [with] and honor the truth. 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. We're funded by your subscriptions, your donations, advertising, and a generous grant from the Wyncote Foundation. Experts say the behavior could have constituted insider trading. He made his mark in his current job with stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference. Lansing: When I came in in 2019, my earliest observation was that our biggest issue was the lack of diversity in our audience, and I felt that we needed to double down our efforts in DEI throughout our organization in order to fulfill the promise to reflect the entire American public in terms of what America looks like. NPR's chief executive announced the network would lay off roughly 10% of its . NPR's rigorous reporting and unsurpassed storytelling connect with millions of Americans everydayon the air, online, and in person. 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. "And we finally got to the point where there was nothing really that we could cut big enough to fill a hole like that.". "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. 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. Last year, President Trump appointed Michael Pack as USAGMs CEO. What would you go back and tell your younger self? NPR has a new CEO. In late November, the network announced $20 million in cuts, including a near-freeze on hiring, elimination of most travel, and suspension of internships. 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. And the work goes on. 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. Live from. And some stations who had a schedule to go down actually were allowed to go down. In 2017, Michael Oreskes, NPRs senior vice president for news, left after two women accused him of unwanted physical advances in the 1990s, when he was the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times. Ever since you started, you've been very vocal about it. Diversity is the North Star of a newly implemented strategic plan, Lansing said, because it filters through everything that we do with all of our work.. Today, those individual situations are happening in the background when everybody's working, whether it's kids that are school age, or kids that are toddlers, or elder care, or spouses working in the same room or in the same apartment. 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. 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 . (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.). Current: What challenges have you faced in implementing your DEI plans? The layoffs are in keeping with an increasingly grim landscape for media companies over recent months. 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. Lansing has earned an advanced degree in political agility. So if you have leaders talking about DEI as a priority, well, then, show me. NPR's search for a new CEO is finally over! The network's fight for listeners' time has become more feverish. 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. advanced degree - political agility. Leading the organization through it all is CEO John Lansing, a longtime media executive who has been on the job since October 2019. How do you think that the North Star, the strategic initiative, is going? 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. 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. What do you think are some characteristics of good leadership? Lansing says he does not yet know who within NPR will be affected, but said the job cuts would not fall evenly across the organization. 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. How has that effort been progressing? Lansing, who is 62, is. For the year that ended last September, NPR reported $241 million in expenses. During that financial crisis, NPR shut down shows and laid off scores of people. How does the economy react to all of that? And its where our focus needs to be right now. Lansing: I guess my head turns first to the journalism of our member stations. Fear drives their path. 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. Lansing was most recently the CEO of USAGM, a $800 million dollar independent federal agency that operates on multiple platforms reaching an average weekly audience of 345 million in 61 languages. If you had to create a podcast, what would it be about? Last year, the network booked $134 million in such corporate underwriting, a record built on strong growth in podcasting revenue in recent years. The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, eliminated its Sunday magazine and a handful of other jobs. He served on the Bellarmine University Board of Trustees from 2010-2016 and was vice-chair 2014-2016. According to Nielsen data supplied by NPR, its programs and newscasts had an overall audience of 27.4 million in spring 2019. I'm from Minneapolis, and my parents are buried about six blocks from where George Floyd was killed. 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. So its a constant commitment to communication, to training, to accountability. No. 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. Ever since I've started, I've noticed that you've been very vocal about the need for diversity. Not exactly. He also vowed to make sure job cuts do not fall disproportionately on employees of color. 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.
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