NPR News Chief Barnes Gives Notice
• Nancy Barnes, NPR’s SVP of News & Editorial Director announced Friday that she would be leaving the network, a move prompted by NPR CEO John Lansing‘s decision to create a new executive role above her. That news was shared by NPR’s own news staff in a story posted online. “As many of you have noted to me and others, there is increasingly overlap between the News and Programming divisions,” Barnes wrote in a Friday afternoon staff memo. “Now is the right time for me to pursue some other opportunities.” Barnes called her decision “bittersweet,” but wrote that she supported Lansing’s decision and asked that the staff give him their support as well, as she said, “NPR is a national gem. The work we do is critically important, now more than ever.”
The news of Barnes’ imminent departure now means NPR will be searching for two top news executives at the same time. Lansing’s remarks in an initial memo to staff about the new executive job released Friday morning ahead of Barnes’ revelation suggested that the network’s search for a new chief content officer was driven by strategic aims and financial pressures. It reflected the changing nature of the media business, and the need to fight for audiences.
“We are funneling our international, national and local journalism into all available platforms to reach younger and more diverse audiences where they are,” Lansing wrote. “We are also facing unprecedented competitive pressures from commercial media in all those spaces and the reality of our limited resources as a non-profit.” Lansing announced a national search for the Chief Content Officer, led by NPR Chief People Officer Selyn Hong with the search consulting firm Russell Reynolds Associates.
Barnes joined NPR in November 2018, after serving as Executive Editor for Hearst Texas Newspapers and the Houston Chronicle. She previously served as Executive Editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune Media Company from 2007 to 2013, leading the newsroom to a Pulitzer Prize in local reporting, as well as other national awards. Barnes’ memo did say that she would stay until at least late November. [Photo credit: Wanyu Zhang]
