What makes you so open and vocal about the need for diversity? 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. U.S. Agency for Global Media We had begun a lot of work under [Chief Diversity Officer] Keith Woods' leadership to really move us forward. Lansing: We arent in a position to answer that until we know for sure when the pandemic is going to subside. There were three of them, each for $1 million. You can't escape that. NPR Start Date: Mid October, 2020 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. 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. How has that effort been progressing? ", "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. hide caption. John Lansing, a media executive with government broadcast and cable television experience, has been named by NPRs board to succeed its current chief, Jarl Mohn who announced the plan to step down after his 5-Year term ended. Oh wait. I think you have to be transparent and be able to explain what you're doing, even if it's unpopular. Mr. Lansing rejected that accusation, saying that the agency was independent by law. John Lansing , CEO of NPR NPR President John Lansing '09 is Bellarmine's 2021 commencement speaker, Honorary Degree recipient April 22, 2021 NPR P. And I was very proud of the progress we were making. 2017-2022. Mohn fired head of news Michael Oreskes on Halloween 2017. 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. That said, Mohn set higher annual expectations for the network in fundraising and agreed to be co-chairman of its 50th-anniversary capital campaign. NPR's chief executive announced the network would lay off roughly 10% of its . Mr. Lansing will start in October, replacing Jarl Mohn, who has run NPR since 2014. I'm sure that's true even today. And as the year unfolded, we began to develop our three-year strategic plan. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. 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. Current: NPRs budget also took a hit because of the pandemic. The roots of the VOA involved providing truthful reports to people under Nazi and Axis power rule during World War II. Prior to that, Lansing was VP and GM of Scripps ABC affiliates. Lansing: I guess my head turns first to the journalism of our member stations. (Former long time member). NPR Start Date: Mid October, 2020 Lansing: SAG-AFTRA came out with their letter around our September board meeting in 2020. Its an inclusive process. 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. I have read and agree to the terms & conditions, Senior Vice President for Television in the broadcasting division of the E.W. 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. The ratings for our weekend magazine shows are actually slightly greater than they were a year ago pre-pandemic, so thats a bright spot.. You go to college and all the sudden you're like 'wait a minute, I've got to do something when this is over.' NPR faces financial pressures from two fronts. To be a part of creating the future of such an important institution is humbling, exciting, and a distinct honor.". Why did you undertake this? I think you have to be willing to take hard questions. She really has helped us, and she's brought discipline to a process that in the past might have been people talking past each other a little bit and waiting for things to blow over. It all goes back to our mission: serving the American public, recognizing the American public is a diverse mosaic that makes America great and strong, and making sure that we're building systems and content that resonates with all Americans. NPR has also been the nation's leading producer of podcasts since Podtrac started measuring audiences. He won praise for doing so and says he informed leaders of SAG-AFTRA on Tuesday about the impending job cuts. 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. John Lansing is a former Obama appointee who was named president and CEO of NPR on Thursday. At Colorado Public Radio, I think there was a $300,000 donation that came out of that. How does the economy react to all of that? Current: How else might NPR assist stations in the coming year? Yet the tech and media industries' prospects stand at odds with a tight labor market and low unemployment more broadly. "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. When you first got to NPR, what did you think? Were they targeted to specific spending areas or just for general costs? Lansing, who is 62, is. Fear drives their path. The various challenges everybody's having from working at home, for example, you realize that everybody's situation is different when you're working. How do you think that the North Star, the strategic initiative, is going? 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. "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. Your email address will not be published. "The combination of his health issues plus the situation with Mike Oreskes did derail his plans.". Mr. Mohn led the push into podcasting and helped stabilize the organization after years of management turnover and budget deficits. The work of those pillars will be done through the lens of improving our efforts on DEI. Leading the organization through it all is CEO John Lansing, a longtime media executive who has been on the job since October 2019. 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. hide caption. CEO John Lansing says ad revenue for podcasting shriveled even as general economy seems on mend. 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.. Lansing: They were for general. Video Snippet 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. The ratings have tanked because all they talk about is race. So sad to lose an American institution to propaganda. I hear that all the time. And the pandemic hit six months later in March of '20. "And we finally got to the point where there was nothing really that we could cut big enough to fill a hole like that.". 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 is funded by the CPB/PBS which are funded in part by the U.S. government. For the year that ended last September, NPR reported $241 million in expenses. So mentally, how do you manage that? While they do not broadcast within the U.S., the Voice of America and the other media outfits Lansing has overseen typically adhere to traditional concepts of factual, nonideological journalism, with the frequent exception of Radio Mart historically an anti-Castro and anti-Cuban communist outlet. He also vowed to make sure job cuts do not fall disproportionately on employees of color. 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. Listeners consider public radio an enriching and enlightening companion; they trust NPR as a daily source of unbiased independent news, and inspiring insights on life and the arts. He was promoted to news photographer after two years, then moved on to managing editor, news director, and leadership of commercial television affiliates around the country. 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. If it's not being solved from the top down, it shouldn't be a burden for people just trying to build their career. 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. Let's say, I was walking out of high school into college, I had no idea what I was going to do. 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. What is the outlook for the rest of the fiscal year? And it gives the lie to NPRs claim, through disclaimers, that it is simply reporting on its own the implication of the disclaimer being that there is no editorial control or direction from the CEO. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly. Lansing: Back in May and June, it was an alarming decline in radio ratings. He began his career in media at age 17 when he was hired as a studio technician and cameraman for WPSD TV in Kentucky. Current: You came to NPR after serving as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. He soon made DEI the top priority at NPR. And so that was the way I looked at the future for me. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 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. That was due largely to reductions in corporate sponsorship and also additional expenses we were incurring in supporting our employees with paid time off, as we adjusted to the new working arrangements and the stresses that we were all under and also the additional expense of cleaning the headquarters multiple times a day on certain occasions. Anyone can read what you share. So its a constant commitment to communication, to training, to accountability. Board Member. As we moved through the summer, that deficit remained at about $25 million. NPR, the public radio and podcasting giant, has a new leader after years of growth and internal turmoil. "I have been an avid fan of NPR for many years. It did not drive a lot of immediate donations, but there were some. And it really opened the funnel. "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. 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. 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. Current. Its a real business with real market dynamics.. Scripps Co., says whenever an economic slowdown appears imminent, marketing budgets get slashed. 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. "We're not seeing signs of a recovery in the advertising market," Lansing says in an interview. Current (https://current.org/2021/02/ceo-john-lansing-discusses-nprs-diversity-efforts-budget-deficit-and-growing-podcast-competition/). How is it a priority? But were going to continue to follow up on that going into this year. 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. Current: When was the climate survey conducted? After becoming part of Warner Bros. And its something that I think will strengthen the ability for news programming, marketing and member services to be more responsive and to offer greater service to audiences in a more agile way. 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. It is our work our North Star and our work are the same thing. Were working with member stations on topic teams for, say, political reporting or criminal justice reporting across the system. 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. How cool is it to be at NPR? Ever since you started, you've been very vocal about it. 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. No. We still remain one of the top, if not the top, podcasters in America. The network had run deficits in six of the seven previous years; under Mohn, it has achieved a slight surplus for each year during his tenure, even as the annual budget grew by more than 40%. Ever since I've started, I've noticed that you've been very vocal about the need for diversity. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. 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. 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. The layoffs are in keeping with an increasingly grim landscape for media companies over recent months. Government support for the public radio system isn't in any immediate jeopardy. Not exactly. And I still think we have a long way to go. 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. Current: How much were those anonymous gifts? 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. NPR has tapped longtime media executive John Lansing to become its next president and CEO. Last year, President Trump appointed Michael Pack as USAGMs CEO. Were finishing up in the next two to three weeks the specific lists of actions and activities under these pillars. "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. He served on the Bellarmine University Board of Trustees from 2010-2016 and was vice-chair 2014-2016. Last fall, when announcing the earlier cuts, Lansing said the network would have to make tough choices - and to "do less with less." 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 broadcasters like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He held off a push by House Republicans to spin off Voice of America into a nongovernmental broadcaster. August 20, 2022 August 20th is National Radio Day. Lansing: About 11 months ago, in February, a pilot group of 15 stations got together and put together an 18-month plan to begin the process. hide caption. Current: How have your priorities for NPR changed since you became CEO? So that would be mine. Lansing: I dont know how long that may or may not take, but our emphasis right now is on our own internal digital strategy, digital production, digital storytelling. It might come from my journalistic roots, and I think other journalists would say the same thing, I deal [with] and honor the truth. The network's fight for listeners' time has become more feverish. 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. Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News. 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. I remember we had several all-staff discussions about a variety of issues that branched off of that, including the Code of Conduct, for example, as it relates to NPR employees at public demonstrations. "We were doing everything we could against the tide and couldn't keep clipping our costs as the revenue kept slipping," Lansing says. I think leaders are accountable for walking the walk, for doing what they say they're going to do. The streaming platform Spotify paid nearly a quarter-billion dollars to buy the podcast producer Gimlet, founded by former staffers of NPR and other public radio outlets. He will be the 11th permanent president or chief executive in the radio network's nearly 50-year history. This time, Lansing says he is not confident the money will return anytime soon, so the network and its board have to plan more strategically. 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 . And some stations who had a schedule to go down actually were allowed to go down. The varied broadcasters also offered jazz and other music to appeal to people under communist regimes using a soft form of diplomacy. John Lansing, the chief executive officer and director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, will become NPR's CEO in mid-October. 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. CEO John Lansing discusses NPRs diversity efforts, budget deficit and growing podcast competition. 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. As President, he held strategic and operational oversight of Scripps Networks Digital division and Scripps Networks Interactive, which includes six cable networks: Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, DIY, Cooking Channel and Great American Country. NPR strives to create a more informed publicone challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, and cultures. How cool is it to be at. But here, Lansing basically jumps over those disclaimers using the lame attribution of private citizen.. 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. That content executive position has not yet been filled; its creation led to the departure of then-NPR chief news executive Nancy Barnes. 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. John F Lansing, National Public Radio Inc: Profile and Biography - Bloomberg Markets Live Now Bloomberg TV+ Bloomberg Daybreak Middle East Bloomberg Daybreak Middle East. 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. Mohn will continue on as President Emeritus & Co-Chair of the 50th Anniversary Campaign. 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 were happy to see SAG-AFTRA agree with us and to join up. 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. We are not just putting out regulations or policies and paperwork. "Bloomberg Opinion" columnists offer their opinions on issues in the news. 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. 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 . Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have announced more than 50,000 job cuts combined in just the past few months. Required fields are marked *. Theres no question about it. Lansing describes himself as a citizen watching from the outside A private citizen? NPRs search for a new CEO is finally over! Lansing: You have to imagine a picture, if you will. Selected by the NPR board of directors, Lansing will start in October, succeeding outgoing head Jarl Mohn, 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. Scripps Networks September 5, 2019; Washington, D.C. - The NPR Board of Directors announced today that it. Now with the magazine shows on weekdays were about 20% behind last year, which is a significant improvement over where we were about eight months ago. At the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Lansing championed a free press even as leaders of many nations move against it. Scripps Company, where he managed the company's portfolio of ten broadcast television stations across the country. It's not just what happened this week on the Hill, although that's important. It is intended to align the strategy of its often fractious member stations with one another and NPR itself and to allow NPR, for the first time, to raise money digitally from its audience in concert with those stations. A member of the Republican Party, Gibbs was a software engineer and missionary before entering politics. So if you have leaders talking about DEI as a priority, well, then, show me. It was about a $3 million cost to NPR for the fiscal year. NPR Press Release. You'll find out about what they do and what they're inspired by on the daily. Its not a sidebar. I'm from Minneapolis, and my parents are buried about six blocks from where George Floyd was killed. I'm just passionate about how good leadership can lead to good outcomes, and that led me here. Now, he says, it must drum up more creative income sources, like the licensing of the popular show How I Built This to Amazon's streaming services, which he says generates $8 million annually. Will there be another stimulus? 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. For two years, he served as the president and CEO of a cable trade group called the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing. 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.