john lansing npr political party john lansing npr political party

Were working with them to do joint investigative reporting. John Lansing , CEO of NPR NPR President John Lansing '09 is Bellarmine's 2021 commencement speaker, Honorary Degree recipient April 22, 2021 NPR P. 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. Were working with member stations on topic teams for, say, political reporting or criminal justice reporting across the system. Lansing: We hope to have that completed within about eight to 10 weeks. Well, I like NPR Politics a lot. I have read and agree to the terms & conditions, Senior Vice President for Television in the broadcasting division of the E.W. 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. Were certainly not over, were not at a finish line. 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. An NPR spokeswoman said final decisions on which jobs will be eliminated should occur by the week of March 20. 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. ", "I am thrilled to work with NPR's exceptional management team, staff and journalists," said Lansing. Its a real business with real market dynamics.. Theres no question about it. "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. The ratings have tanked because all they talk about is race. 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 NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. Video Snippet 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. That content executive position has not yet been filled; its creation led to the departure of then-NPR chief news executive Nancy Barnes. Well, what we're doing right now, I think communication. Being a changemaker is awesome, but can have its own challenges as you're just trying to improve your career. John Lansing, CEO, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC. You'll find out about what they do and what they're inspired by on the daily. 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. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. administration regarding the now former managers of his former place of employment (USAGM) but claims the mantle of private citizen to do so. 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. 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? So were now into the new fiscal year. Experts say the behavior could have constituted insider trading. The emphasis, he says, must be on drawing in "the future audience to make NPR sustainable for the next 50 years. Weve seen a gradual comeback. 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. Lansing, who is 62, is. But thats our commitment. So those are the four pillars that rotate around the centerpiece, we call it the North Star, of our commitment to DEI. And its where our focus needs to be right now. NPR, the public radio and podcasting giant, has a new leader after years of growth and internal turmoil. I'm sure that's true even today. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly. This is just dishonest, especially since NPR became what amounted to a voice of the opposition in its coverage of this dysfunctional federal agency. Lansing has won plaudits from journalists for his rousing defense of a free press even while serving in the Trump administration, which has been notably hostile to traditional notions of the role of journalism in civic life. A 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. 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. Disclosure: This story was reported by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik under guidance from NPR chief business editor Pallavi Gogoi. U.S. Agency for Global Media 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. Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Acting Chief Business Editor Emily Kopp. 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. Last summer, we definitely had a racial reckoning. And so that was the way I looked at the future for me. Lansing: Lets go back in time. Lansing: Generally, the numbers that we would like to see in terms of the diversity of our audience were still lagging. 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. Weve had a couple of significant anonymous gifts that have helped shore up our forecast for the coming fiscal year. 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. 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. Its not something weve baked and were just going to hand it down. NPR will cut 10% of its workforce, CEO John Lansing said Wednesday. It is our work. While serving as chief operating officer, she took on a greater role during two of Mohn's medical leaves and in the aftermath of the sexual harassment scandal. NPR, the public radio giant that employs hundreds of journalists, is about to get a new chief executive. 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 . 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. Scripps Company, Held senior management positions at Scripps-owned affiliates, including WEWS TV in Cleveland, Ohio and WXYZ TV in Detroit, Michigan, Early in his career Award-winning Photojournalist and Field Producer, Assignment Manager, Managing Editor, and News Director at several television stations. Current: NPR has helped stations during the pandemic by delaying planned changes to the dues they pay. 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. 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. Then I moved on to manage TV stations and cable networks. CEO John Lansing discusses NPRs diversity efforts, budget deficit and growing podcast competition. 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. John Lansing, CEO, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC. Current: Is there a timeline for that process? 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. Chief Executive Officer and Director of the, Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, Florangela Davila to Become KNKX News Director, NPR Hires Noelle LaCharite As VP Digital Technology. He served for four years as the SVP, Television for the E.W. 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. Leading the organization through it all is CEO John Lansing, a longtime media executive who has been on the job since October 2019. Did you know that one day you would become a CEO? Lansing will start in his new position in mid-October. There were three of them, each for $1 million. I think you have to be transparent and be able to explain what you're doing, even if it's unpopular. 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. John Lansing is taking over for outgoing CEO Jarl Mohn, who has led the organization for . CEO John Lansing says ad revenue for podcasting shriveled even as general economy seems on mend. 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. hide caption. Others have waded into the podcast fray with a vengeance. Well, I'm fortunate that we have a terrific executive committee and leadership team, so we all share the daily ins and outs of managing a big organization. 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 did a climate survey of our employees, and we learned about a particular weak spot for us with women of color at NPR who didn't feel it was a place to grow their career, a place to be their whole selves, a place where they are seen and respected. Its an inclusive process. Its pretty clear to me that the ratings decline in radio is driven by commuting patterns. September 5, 2019; Washington, D.C. The NPR Board of Directors announced today that it selected John Lansing to become its next President and Chief Executive Officer. I think there's an awareness, like in the way you asked the question about 'our North Star.' We can share resources and story ideas, and we can help organize and support those efforts. Mr. Lansing, who began his career as a teenage cameraman at a television station in Kentucky, spent two decades at Scripps Networks. It was about a $3 million cost to NPR for the fiscal year. Discovery, CNN cut hundreds of jobs and killed off its brand-new streaming service, CNN+. 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. So sad to me. You have stated that DEI is your top priority at NPR. Oh wait. We established the top priority [a.k.a. Copyright 2023. 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. The last time NPR faced such stark choices, it was 2008. What was it like for you to watch that happen? 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. America needs public radio more than ever. hide caption. 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. Why did you undertake this? NPR's rigorous reporting and unsurpassed storytelling connect with millions of Americans everydayon the air, online, and in person. He held off a push by House Republicans to spin off Voice of America into a nongovernmental broadcaster. Lansing: Back in May and June, it was an alarming decline in radio ratings. (Former long time member). Lansing, who is 62, is. 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. NPR has also been the nation's leading producer of podcasts since Podtrac started measuring audiences. Bellarmine alumnus and former trustee John Lansing, a veteran cable television and government broadcast executive, is the new CEO of NPR. NPR's total workforce has grown by about 50 percent since before that crisis. Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have announced more than 50,000 job cuts combined in just the past few months. "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. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images John Lansing, the chief executive officer and director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, will become NPR's CEO in mid-October. Today, we feature John Lansing, CEO of NPR. So I would tell my younger self to be confident, calm down, it's all gonna work out. Lansing: Thats a great question. NPR's chief executive announced the network would lay off roughly 10% of its . Current: Companies like Spotify and Amazon have been pouring big money into podcasting. Every time I hear it, I think that's a success by itself because we all have that as our guiding light. Board Memberships & Affiliations. I think leaders are accountable for walking the walk, for doing what they say they're going to do. 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. So I brought in Michael Smith as our new chief marketing officer almost a year ago. 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. NPR stands stronger than it did at the outset of Mohn's five-year term in 2014. Will there be another stimulus? Yet Lansing also takes over an institution riven by a scandal that hit its top reaches, with a chief news executive toppled over #MeToo complaints of inappropriate conduct toward female subordinates and colleagues. How cool is it to be at. First, we're a nonprofit. So I think that it has caused me to be more tuned in to hearing and understanding our employees. "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. 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. How do you think that the North Star, the strategic initiative, is going? Live from. Podtrac, which measures the audiences of podcast publishers, has consistently placed NPR at the top of its monthly rankings. It's not just what happened this week on the Hill, although that's important. Current: How much were those anonymous gifts? Way back when, I was a news cameraman. The agency has an annual budget of $808 million. Board Member. 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. Government support for the public radio system isn't in any immediate jeopardy. It didnt begin in the summer it accelerated in the summer. Did you plan for this or did it kind of just happen? He began his career in media at age 17 when he was hired as a studio technician and cameraman for WPSD TV in Kentucky. Apple is reportedly building a podcast subscription service. Current: Can you be more specific about what that looks like in terms of how you reach people who may not already know about NPRs podcasts? He also vowed to make sure job cuts do not fall disproportionately on employees of color. Lansing has also put significant stock into what he calls the NPR Network, which calls for greater unity of coverage and digital initiatives, such as newsletters, streaming, podcasts and more. 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. Current: How else might NPR assist stations in the coming year? And the work goes on. NPRs search for a new CEO is finally over! NPR's president of operations, Loren Mayor, was the leading internal candidate for the chief executive position. I would enjoy being on a podcast talking about politics. Being selective, having mentors both white and people of color mentors that you can have confidential conversations with and gain some thoughts to help you develop your strategy, standing up for yourself which essentially is what happened at NPR through the climate survey and holding leaders accountable for everything. I thought, wow. NPR's programming division, which produces its industry-leading podcasts, has more than doubled since 2019. He will now lead the nation's top audio producer and broadcaster. Lansing: I guess I would comment just as a citizen watching from outside. He is passionate about NPR's public service mission and the role of a free and independent media in a strong democracy. NPR Start Date: Mid October, 2020 NPR takes only a few million dollars a year from federal sources for its programs. The work of those pillars will be done through the lens of improving our efforts on DEI. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. You have shows like All Things Considered and Morning Edition, which will continue to be broadcasting tent poles, Mr. Lansing said. Our DEI efforts at the beginning of 2020 were not a project or an extracurricular activity; it really became our work. NPR Start Date: Mid October, 2020 So I wouldn't create a politics podcast because there are too many, and we have the best one of many already. Let's say, I was walking out of high school into college, I had no idea what I was going to do. We are not just putting out regulations or policies and paperwork. The budget for the new fiscal year is set below last years actual based on our forecasts on continued downward pressure on corporate sponsorship. Lansing's tenure at the agency has not been without controversy. What advice would you give to young journalists of color when navigating these white spaces, but attempting to make a change? 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. 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. Lansing: That was conducted back in September. And the pandemic hit six months later in March of '20. 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. Scripps Co., says whenever an economic slowdown appears imminent, marketing budgets get slashed. Weve also seen very positive upticks in development. This is simply disingenuous. ", He continued: "Citizens in countries from Russia to China, from Iran to North Korea, have been victimized for decades. How has that effort been progressing? 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. And were happy to see SAG-AFTRA agree with us and to join up. But my goals also go to all of my direct reports. "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. It really stretched me to understand that flexibility is a good thing. What do you think are some characteristics of good leadership? Pat O'Donnell, the executive director of the union's Mid-Atlantic unit, could not be reached for comment for this story. Lansing describes himself as a citizen watching from the outside A private citizen? 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 . Mike Morgan/Mike Morgan He joined NPR after serving as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. John Lansing will begin his term as President and CEO of NPR in October, 2019. Not exactly. Harvard Kennedy School. NPR will cut 10% of its workforce, CEO John Lansing said Wednesday. 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. 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David Westin speaks with top names in finance about the week's biggest issues on Wall Street. The ratings for our weekend magazine shows are actually slightly greater than they were a year ago pre-pandemic, so thats a bright spot.. Current: Did anything else stand out to you in that survey that you believe needed attention and needs attention? 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. The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, eliminated its Sunday magazine and a handful of other jobs. Lansing says even that proved overly optimistic. 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. So we were pleased to see SAG-AFTRA join our efforts. 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. Within a few weeks, Lansing became convinced that projection would be unreachable. You can't escape that. Ever since I've started, I've noticed that you've been very vocal about the need for diversity. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. 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. 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. What makes you so open and vocal about the need for diversity? The union represents 570 people at NPR. And so I had a very visceral reaction to that happening in my hometown, and that it was so egregious the murder of an innocent person captured on video, on a phone. 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. 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. "Nothing is nailed down yet except the principles and what we know we have to reach.". So hes doubling down on lack of diversity, does that mean he wants his audience to reflect the other half of the country, the conservatives in flyover country? It began to improve a little bit as we moved into August and September, as corporate sponsorships began to recover a little bit. At Colorado Public Radio, I think there was a $300,000 donation that came out of that. And weve seen that really help them grow. 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. 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. And our number one goal is to improve our audience diversity. It might come from my journalistic roots, and I think other journalists would say the same thing, I deal [with] and honor the truth. And weve seen some significant success with that. Current: How have your priorities for NPR changed since you became CEO? Courtesy of Allison Shelley for NPR. Current: When was the climate survey conducted? When will that freeze be lifted? As we got to April of last spring, we saw a massive deficit develop for NPR on the order of about $25 million. So sad to lose an American institution to propaganda. 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. There are over 1000 NPR Member Station signals broadcasting across the United States For the year that ended last September, NPR reported $241 million in expenses. Lansing: When we look at our strategic plan and our commitment to growing our audience of the future, its clear to us that every corner of NPR has a digital on-demand initiative thats critical to our success and that it makes more sense to have the digital assets closer to the work thats influencing our audiences and growing our audiences. Here's what to do in a worst case scenario. 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.