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. I think that's where we all wind up. I established DEI as our top priority on Jan. 5 of 2020. But my goals also go to all of my direct reports. Were certainly not over, were not at a finish line. Well, what we're doing right now, I think communication. And how's that being measured and accounted for? NPR joins a number of top media companies, including The Washington Post as well as CNN, that have been slashing their workforces amid economic woes and financial uncertainty. Way back when, I was a news cameraman. NPR only takes a few million dollars a year from federal sources for its programs. 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. The budget for the new fiscal year is set below last years actual based on our forecasts on continued downward pressure on corporate sponsorship. And some stations who had a schedule to go down actually were allowed to go down. 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. Mohn led NPR through five consecutive years of audience growth and budget surplus. Last year, President Trump appointed Michael Pack as USAGMs CEO. We saw a lot of companies react to the [murder of] George Floyd and we did too. It's not an extracurricular activity; it's fundamental to our business. 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. NPR, the public radio and podcasting giant, has a new leader after years of growth and internal turmoil. So at the end of the day, its a commitment, but this also has to be accountability. For two years, he served as the president and CEO of a cable trade group called the Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing. How has that effort been progressing? And be a good listener. He soon made DEI the top priority at NPR. Government support for the public radio system isn't in any immediate jeopardy. That was revised as a result. 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. It's interesting. And so that was the way I looked at the future for me. I think there are interesting trends to follow and try to understand. Why did you undertake this? Current: When was the climate survey conducted? While member stations on average receive about 10 percent of their funding from the federal government, fees from the stations make up a significant part of the NPR budget. Current: NPR has helped stations during the pandemic by delaying planned changes to the dues they pay. 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. 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 cut short the unwanted attention he paid to female colleagues proved ineffective. That said, Mohn set higher annual expectations for the network in fund-raising and agreed to be co-chairman of its 50th anniversary capital campaign. June 1, 20203:52 PM ET. During 2021, we worked on that with Keith and with Diversity and Inclusion Manager Whitney Maddox. Lansing: Thats a great question. After Lansing hopped over to NPR from USAGM in 2019, NPR had to be prompted by outside critics to include disclaimers on its USAGM/VOA stories to note Lansings past USAGM role. NPR faces financial pressures from two fronts. He made his mark in his current job with stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference. 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. hide caption. Experts say the behavior could have constituted insider trading. That said, Mohn set higher annual expectations for the network in fundraising and agreed to be co-chairman of its 50th-anniversary capital campaign. And theyre all expected to articulate a DEI goal thats measurable, actionable, and that they can be held accountable for and will be. Mohn placed an emphasis on fostering a more collaborative dynamic with the public radio stations that NPR serves, and was given credit for making progress on that score. Were working with them to create regional newsrooms in Texas and California and the Midwest and in the Gulf. The second pillar is to transform our workplace culture. 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. John Lansing is a former Obama appointee who was named president and CEO of NPR on Thursday. NPR Names Veteran Media Executive John Lansing As Its New CEO, News That Matters, Delivered To Your Inbox. ", He continued: "Citizens in countries from Russia to China, from Iran to North Korea, have been victimized for decades. Current: Last year, the SAG-AFTRA union called out NPRs previous failures on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion and asked management to commit to accountability measures. The message below was sent by NPR's President and CEO John Lansing to all staff: As a . 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. NPR's president of operations, Loren Mayor, was the leading internal candidate for the chief executive position. No. You want to know what is really going on these days, especially in Colorado. People, given the opportunity, will do the right thing in a way that hopefully makes them want to be here for a long time. In these comments, John Lansing slides by with a public swipe at the Trump Lansing said he took pride in maintaining conventional broadcasts while appealing to new audiences, reaching about 25% more people each week. Current: How much were those anonymous gifts? Our third pillar is to optimize content and meet audiences where they are. She also has led initiatives to reform hiring practices and to sweep far more temporary positions into permanent slots, often working closely with the networks chief unions to do so. Lansing: That was conducted back in September. John Lansing, CEO, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC. Live from. Lansing: Its on social media platforms or YouTube or through media partnerships. Because when you're all at work, you're all at work, and you go home to your individual situations. 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. Apple is reportedly building a podcast subscription service. This is an edited transcript of the conversation among Lansing, Current Reporter Tyler Falk and Digital Editor Mike Janssen. But second, we're mission-driven, and I think everybody in the organization lives and breathes that mission. That's the way I think about leadership here. The ratings for our weekend magazine shows are actually slightly greater than they were a year ago pre-pandemic, so thats a bright spot.. 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. "We managed to get through that year, tough as it was, and to end the year break even," Mr. Lansing said. Our newsletters bring you a closer look at the stories that affect you and the music that inspires you. Mohn fired head of news Michael Oreskes on Halloween 2017. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. In an interview, Lansing said he wants to build on NPR's successes in broadcast news and entertainment to become even more dominant in podcasting and more prevalent in streaming. Were finishing up in the next two to three weeks the specific lists of actions and activities under these pillars. Courtesy of Allison Shelley for NPR. There was one the year before I was here, then this was the follow-up. But now were seeing authoritarian regimes expanding around the globe, with media repression in places like Turkey and Venezuela, Cambodia and Vietnam.. Lansing says the agency referred Haroon Ullahs 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. John Gibbs is an American far-right political commentator and politician. Its pretty clear to me that the ratings decline in radio is driven by commuting patterns. department of treasury austin texas 73301 phone number; wii sports club unable to acquire data; randolph high school track and field; huntley ritter parents NPRs president of operations, Loren Mayor, was the leading internal candidate for the chief executive position. 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.. 2023 Colorado Public Radio. So its an ongoing effort. 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. Lansing will start in his new position in mid-October. "Jarl would be the first to say that it is the area where he feels that his work was not complete," Sheikholeslami said. 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. 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. I had no idea what was out there. Not exactly. 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. He served on the Bellarmine University Board of Trustees from 2010-2016 and was vice-chair 2014-2016. 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. 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. 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. All rights reserved. Its new president and chief executive is John Lansing, a former cable . (Former long time member). A graduate of Bellarmine University, he was named to the Bellarmine University Gallery of Distinguished Graduates in 2010. 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. At the U.S. Agency for Global Media, Lansing championed a free press even as leaders of many nations move against it. He held off a push by House Republicans to spin off Voice of America into a nongovernmental broadcaster. 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. Weve also seen very positive upticks in development. 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. I'm kind of a politics junkie. Ever since you started, you've been very vocal about it. 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. The roots of the VOA involved providing truthful reports to people under Nazi and Axis power rule during World War II. Jarl would be the first to say that it is the area where he feels that his work was not complete, Sheikholeslami said. Michael was a senior marketing executive at Scripps for Food Network and HGTV and really brings a lot of media marketing expertise. We can share resources and story ideas, and we can help organize and support those efforts. Current: NPRs budget also took a hit because of the pandemic. Copyright 2023. Lansing also spent almost 20 years working at Scripps, including eight years as President of Scripps Networks. 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. 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. He joined NPR after serving as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. John Lansing, the chief executive officer and director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, will become NPR's CEO in mid-October. Did you plan for this or did it kind of just happen? John Lansing will begin his term as President and CEO of NPR in October, 2019. And weve seen that really help them grow. 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. As we got to April of last spring, we saw a massive deficit develop for NPR on the order of about $25 million. Theres no question about it. 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. NPR takes only a few million dollars a year from federal sources for its programs. NPR strives to create a more informed publicone challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, and cultures. Scripps Networks September 5, 2019; Washington, D.C. - The NPR Board of Directors announced today that it. Its an inclusive process. 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. NPR has tapped longtime media executive John Lansing to become its next president and CEO. Current (https://current.org/2021/02/ceo-john-lansing-discusses-nprs-diversity-efforts-budget-deficit-and-growing-podcast-competition/). 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. I would enjoy being on a podcast talking about politics. In recent remarks online, Johnson, who is Black, focused on a more competitive landscape for NPR journalists, including people of color. We established the top priority [a.k.a. Lansing: I guess I would comment just as a citizen watching from outside. So sad to lose an American institution to propaganda. 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. 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. But here, Lansing basically jumps over those disclaimers using the lame attribution of private citizen.. "The result, I believe, is a war on truth. What steps does NPR still need to take in this area? He will be the 11th permanent president or chief executive in the radio network's nearly 50-year history. Ever since I've started, I've noticed that you've been very vocal about the need for diversity. [1] [2] Born and raised in Albany, New York, Lansing was trained as a lawyer, and was long involved in politics and government. How are you working to shore up NPRs place in the podcasting landscape and compete with deep-pocketed tech companies? And as the year unfolded, we began to develop our three-year strategic plan. Four years ago, Lansing was named by President Obama to be the first chief executive of the broadcasting outfit that was renamed the U.S. Agency for Global Media. And our work began then. We're funded by your subscriptions, your donations, advertising, and a generous grant from the Wyncote Foundation. 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. 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. The varied broadcasters also offered jazz and other music to appeal to people under Communist regimes using a soft form of diplomacy. So Im pleased to see that that short era is over. You can't escape that. Essentially, the success of the company falls in your hands. And the pandemic hit six months later in March of '20. Last summer, we definitely had a racial reckoning. The ratings have tanked because all they talk about is race. Instead, Whitney really helped us to buckle down with discipline, understand what's going on, and meet with women of color [in the organization], as we're doing tonight in our executive committee meeting, which we do regularly now. So I wouldn't create a politics podcast because there are too many, and we have the best one of many already. The other is the fight for donors. 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. It really stretched me to understand that flexibility is a good thing. Pack then took a number of actions that raised fears about the independence of the agency, which includes Voice of America. 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. So were now into the new fiscal year. 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. Prior to that, Lansing was VP and GM of Scripps ABC affiliates. NPR Facebook Post with Comments. John F Lansing, National Public Radio Inc: Profile and Biography - Bloomberg Markets Live Now Bloomberg TV+ Bloomberg Daybreak Middle East Bloomberg Daybreak Middle East. I want to hear the ideas that are bubbling underneath right now and what people are excited about what theyre looking forward to developing, Lansing said Thursday. How does the economy react to all of that? 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. From John Lansing: Now Is A Time For Truth Telling, For Listening, And For Action. National Public Radio will reduce its workforce by 10 percent as it grapples with what CEO John Lansing says is a "sharp . It did not drive a lot of immediate donations, but there were some. Lansing has earned an advanced degree in political agility. This is just dishonest, especially since NPR became what amounted to a voice of the opposition in its coverage of this dysfunctional federal agency. 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. 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. I had been gone for the better part of a year or so. 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. Bloomberg Markets European Close. So its a constant commitment to communication, to training, to accountability. I dont know if youve been on the highway recently, but theres a lot more traffic on the highway today than there would have been last May and June. 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. 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