NPR Names Lansing President & CEO
• The NPR Board of Directors has selected John Lansing as its next President and Chief Executive Officer. Lansing, 62, 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 CEO.
“We are delighted to welcome John, whose deep experience as a media industry executive and practicing journalist make him ideally suited to lead NPR into its next chapter,” said Paul Haaga, Chair of the NPR board. “He 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.”
Lansing was most recently CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), an $800 million dollar independent federal agency that oversees Voice of America, Radio and Television Martí and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, among others. 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. He went on to spend two decades at Scripps Networks, starting as a station manager in the Detroit, MI affiliate and rising through the ranks to become President of Scripps cable networks company from 2005 to 2013. 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.
“I am thrilled to work with NPR’s exceptional management team, staff and journalists,” said Lansing. “I have been an avid fan of NPR for many years. To be a part of creating the future of such an important institution is humbling, exciting, and a distinct honor.”
Lansing begins his term at NPR next month and will succeed Jarl Mohn, who has served as President & CEO since 2014. Mohn will continue on as President Emeritus & Co-Chair of NPR’s 50th Anniversary Campaign. [Photo credit: Scripps Networks]
