Every time I hear it, I think that's a success by itself because we all have that as our guiding light. Current. We established management commitments to the women of color so that we address specifically their concerns. In setting NPR's earlier rounds of budget cuts a couple months ago, Lansing consulted ahead of time with leaders of the unions representing workers at NPR with an eye to avoiding any layoffs. This is simply disingenuous. He is passionate about NPR's public service mission and the role of a free and independent media in a strong democracy. He made his mark in his current job with stirring defenses of journalism, free from government interference. 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. And our work began then. 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. That survey happened in the fall of 2020. When you first got to NPR, what did you think? John Lansing '09, former Scripps executive, is new CEO of NPR We are not just putting out regulations or policies and paperwork. Just be tuned into our folks. So we were pleased to see SAG-AFTRA join our efforts. NPR has also been the nation's leading producer of podcasts since Podtrac started measuring audiences. Lansing, who is 62, is. But we made a firm commitment, as you know, to freeze station dues and fees. I hear that all the time. 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. Lansing will start in his new position in mid-October. John Lansing - Quick Profile. At Colorado Public Radio, I think there was a $300,000 donation that came out of that. 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. Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Acting Chief Business Editor Emily Kopp. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Current is an editorially independent, nonprofit service of the American University School of Communication. That's the way I think about leadership here. And as the year unfolded, we began to develop our three-year strategic plan. It didnt begin in the summer it accelerated in the summer. Weve seen a gradual comeback. 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. Harvard Kennedy School. Because when you're all at work, you're all at work, and you go home to your individual situations. And weve seen that really help them grow. Were finishing up in the next two to three weeks the specific lists of actions and activities under these pillars. New podcasts Up First, Consider This and State of Ukraine sit on both sides. We saw a lot of companies react to the [murder of] George Floyd and we did too. 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. NPR takes only a few million dollars a year from federal sources for its programs. 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. 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. 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. Mr. Lansing, who began his career as a teenage cameraman at a television station in Kentucky, spent two decades at Scripps Networks. 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%. Family Status: Married with 4 Children (Jean Rausch Lansing) Lansing said in an interview with Current Thursday that one of his first observations upon joining NPR was that we needed to double down our efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion. John Lansing is taking over for outgoing CEO Jarl Mohn, who has led the organization for . 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. As we got to April of last spring, we saw a massive deficit develop for NPR on the order of about $25 million. 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. NPR has a new CEO. I had no idea what was out there. "And we finally got to the point where there was nothing really that we could cut big enough to fill a hole like that.". August 20, 2022 August 20th is National Radio Day. NPR Facebook Post with Comments. hide caption. Lansing blamed a slowdown in advertising dollars. Lansing: You have to imagine a picture, if you will. What advice would you give to young journalists of color when navigating these white spaces, but attempting to make a change? advanced degree - political agility. 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. The work of those pillars will be done through the lens of improving our efforts on DEI. The ratings for our weekend magazine shows are actually slightly greater than they were a year ago pre-pandemic, so thats a bright spot.. At the center of a graphic is our commitment to DEI, and all of our work in that circle is surrounded by four pillars. 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. Leading the organization through it all is CEO John Lansing, a longtime media executive who has been on the job since October 2019. Were working with them to do joint investigative reporting. NPR faces financial pressures from two fronts. John Lansing, CEO, photographed for NPR, 22 January 2020, in Washington DC. ", "I am thrilled to work with NPR's exceptional management team, staff and journalists," said Lansing. 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. Lansing served for ten years as a visiting faculty member at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. "Your mobility becomes extremely important to be involved and connected to audiences that are mobile and that tend to be, frankly, younger and, as we think of it at USAGM, future leaders, who can influence the rise of free and open societies.". 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. It really stretched me to understand that flexibility is a good thing. Selected by the NPR board of directors, Lansing will start in October, succeeding outgoing head Jarl Mohn, 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. A member of the Republican Party, Gibbs was a software engineer and missionary before entering politics. We're funded by your subscriptions, your donations, advertising, and a generous grant from the Wyncote Foundation. Within a few weeks, Lansing became convinced that projection would be unreachable. NPR CEO Jarl Mohn To Step Down After 5-Year Term Ends In June, Tensions Build In NPR Newsroom Over Handling Of Sexual Harassment Allegations, NPR Announces Newsroom Job Cuts Amid Restructuring. NPR announces layoffs, cutting jobs by 10% as ad revenue drops : NPR We are different from other federal agencies, said Grant K. Turner, the agencys chief financial officer. 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. Lansing: Back in May and June, it was an alarming decline in radio ratings. What steps does NPR still need to take in this area? 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 Well, I like NPR Politics a lot. This documentary-style series follows investigative journalists as they uncover the truth. 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. Lansing: Generally, the numbers that we would like to see in terms of the diversity of our audience were still lagging. Doing that just requires that were putting more emphasis on the diversity of our decision makers, our leadership, our story selection, our source selection. Since then,. NPR hosts' departures fuel questions over race. The full story is Age: 62, Born on July 31, 1957, in Minneapolis He will now lead the nation's top audio producer and broadcaster. Current: What challenges have you faced in implementing your DEI plans? Our DEI efforts at the beginning of 2020 were not a project or an extracurricular activity; it really became our work. But my goals also go to all of my direct reports. John Lansing will begin his term as President and CEO of NPR in October, 2019. 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. Mike Morgan/Mike Morgan 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. But thats our commitment. Discovery, CNN cut hundreds of jobs and killed off its brand-new streaming service, CNN+. So we took that very, very seriously. But after the pandemic hit in mid-March, we got together with our cohort and said, Why wait 18 months? 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. Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News. Pat O'Donnell, the executive director of the union's Mid-Atlantic unit, could not be reached for comment for this story. 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. "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. I just think we have a special and unique thing as a company. Lansing: That was conducted back in September. They lost their objectivity and are now just pushing leftist ideology. Essentially, the success of the company falls in your hands. He joined NPR after serving as CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. "A really important strategic vector that we'll be talking about more within the company going forward is maximizing the value of the content wherever it can live and wherever the audience demands it," NPR Chief Operating Officer Will Lee says in an interview. How does the economy react to all of that? 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. 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. "This will be a major loss.". 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. I think you have to be willing to take hard questions. 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. "Bloomberg Opinion" columnists offer their opinions on issues in the news. But here, Lansing basically jumps over those disclaimers using the lame attribution of private citizen.. 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. 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. Yet the tech and media industries' prospects stand at odds with a tight labor market and low unemployment more broadly. Courtesy of Allison Shelley for NPR. Lansing: Thats a great question. Again, I think it's about getting it intertwined into everything we do. So its a constant commitment to communication, to training, to accountability. 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. Disclosure: This story was reported by NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik under guidance from NPR chief business editor Pallavi Gogoi. The title of your piece, "Now Is A Time For Truth Telling, For Listening, And For Action," takes a bold stand in defending the urgent work of journalists during this . For the year that ended last September, NPR reported $241 million in expenses. 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. Learn more at npr.org/about or by following NPR Extra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. 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. Board Member. 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 . "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.". The ratings for our weekend magazine shows are actually slightly greater than they were a year ago pre-pandemic, so thats a bright spot. 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. Obviously, this job that you have as a CEO of NPR is a really huge responsibility. 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. So at the end of the day, its a commitment, but this also has to be accountability. Or 'How are we doing on the North Star?' hide caption. 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 Names Juana Summers as Co-Host of 'All Things Considered' John F Lansing, National Public Radio Inc: Profile and Biography John Lansing testifying before a House Appropriations subcommittee in July. 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 CEO Defends Journalist After Pompeo Lashes Out Over Ukraine John Gibbs (government official) - Wikipedia John Lansing Email & Phone Number - National Pu.. | ZoomInfo I think you have to be in front of your teams. I am still morning the loss of an objective NPR. "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. National Public Radio will reduce its workforce by 10 percent as it grapples with what CEO John Lansing says is a "sharp . I think we're moving forward. So I brought in Michael Smith as our new chief marketing officer almost a year ago. You go to college and all the sudden you're like 'wait a minute, I've got to do something when this is over.' Mike Morgan/Mike Morgan When you first got to NPR, what did you think? So I think thats being offset by some listening through smart speakers and even online, and thats helping to offset some of the reduction in listening within vehicles. We established the top priority [a.k.a. Lansing: Were still working on it right now. This is an edited transcript of the conversation among Lansing, Current Reporter Tyler Falk and Digital Editor Mike Janssen. So mentally, how do you manage that? John F Lansing, National Public Radio Inc: Profile and Biography - Bloomberg Markets Live Now Bloomberg TV+ Bloomberg Daybreak Middle East Bloomberg Daybreak Middle East. Lansing: I guess I would comment just as a citizen watching from outside. He began his career in media at age 17 when he was hired as a studio technician and cameraman for WPSD TV in Kentucky. Lansing, who is 62, is. The last time NPR faced such stark choices, it was 2008. (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.). Here's what to do in a worst case scenario. Oh wait. ", "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. Lansing is a media executive with a deep understanding of journalism, having spent two decades as an award-winning journalist, successful newsroom leader and major market local media executive before becoming a global chief executive officer. But it was not from a standing start. I'm kind of a politics junkie. President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speak to reporters as they depart the Senate Democrat policy luncheon at the Capitol on March 2. 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. 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. "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. I subscribe to the notion of leadership as a servant leader, that the role of leaders is to support the team to do their best work. NPR's search for a new CEO is finally over! And the fourth one is to diversify and grow our revenue models so that were not overly reliant on one or two revenue streams to help strengthen our future financials. I just started in May. If it's not being solved from the top down, it shouldn't be a burden for people just trying to build their career. Lansing also spent almost 20 years working at Scripps, including eight years as President of Scripps Networks. 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. 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. He took over a troubled organization beset by infighting and bureaucratic inefficiency. Inquiry Exonerates USAGM Executives Suspended By Trump Appointee - NPR And its where our focus needs to be right now. Its pretty clear to me that the ratings decline in radio is driven by commuting patterns. NPR Names Veteran Media Executive John Lansing As Its New CEO What is the outlook for the rest of the fiscal year? Considering the demise of local newspapers around the country and the growth of our member stations newsrooms around the country, were really working hard to support their local journalism, because its so important to us. Mohn will continue on as President Emeritus & Co-Chair of the 50th Anniversary Campaign. 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. He is credited with restoring morale, in part by naming a noted journalist as head of the Voice of America: Amanda Bennett is a former top news executive at the Philadelphia Inquirer who previously held senior newsroom jobs at Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal. So I would tell my younger self to be confident, calm down, it's all gonna work out. In Mr. Mohns first full year on the job, NPR operated in the black after having run a deficit for five of the six preceding years. 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. So sad to me. And it really opened the funnel. Why did you undertake this? Follow Bloomberg reporters as they uncover some of the biggest financial crimes of the modern era. 2016 John Lansing leading a moderated a discussion with the members of the International Media Coordinating Council (ICC) about a unified strategy for the future. John Lansing will begin his term as President and CEO of NPR in October, 2019. So if you have leaders talking about DEI as a priority, well, then, show me. NPR will cut 10% of its workforce, CEO John Lansing said Wednesday. September 6, 2019. In recent remarks online, Johnson, who is Black, focused on a more competitive landscape for NPR journalists, including people of color. 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. The layoffs are in keeping with an increasingly grim landscape for media companies over recent months. 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.. Current (https://current.org/2021/02/ceo-john-lansing-discusses-nprs-diversity-efforts-budget-deficit-and-growing-podcast-competition/). Then I moved on to manage TV stations and cable networks. And I think we have to extend that lead. Their editorial independence is enshrined in federal law, though it sometimes came under attack. "I don't anticipate that it would be like a haircut across every division, because that's just not management," Lansing says. I have a negative reaction to what is fundamentally unfair in life, whether it be pay equity, promotions and advancement, training and hiring, or making sure leadership represents people of color and our staff. And be a good listener. We had begun a lot of work under [Chief Diversity Officer] Keith Woods' leadership to really move us forward. The ratings have tanked because all they talk about is race. 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. NPR strives to create a more informed publicone challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas, and cultures. Podtrac, which measures the audiences of podcast publishers, has consistently placed NPR at the top of its monthly rankings. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly. Vegas PBS General Manager, Tom Axtell, announces his retirement. Did you plan for this or did it kind of just happen? 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? Last year, the network booked $134 million in such corporate underwriting, a record built on strong growth in podcasting revenue in recent years. At the same time, we have to think creatively. NPR chief news executive Nancy Barnes to depart as network reshapes top Were they targeted to specific spending areas or just for general costs? Current: How have your priorities for NPR changed since you became CEO? Mr. Lansings colleagues attribute the growth to his embrace of digital formats and the understanding of audiences that he gleaned from the private sector. 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.