NPR, the public radio giant that employs hundreds of journalists, is about to get a new chief executive.
John Lansing is taking over for outgoing CEO Jarl Mohn, who has led the organization for the past five years.
Mohn announced his plan to step down late last year, but the search for his successor took longer than expected. He will officially hand off to Lansing in mid-October.
Lansing is currently the head of the US Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA, Radio Free Europe, and other government-funded media outlets outside the United States.
Paul Haaga, chair of the NPR board, said Lansing’s “deep experience as a media industry executive and practicing journalist make him ideally suited to lead NPR into its next chapter.”
NPR’s media correspondent David Folkenflik spoke with Lansing, who said NPR and its member stations across the country provide “journalism as a public service, not tied to a profit motive.” Lansing said he defined NPR’s mission as “serving the public with information and an excellence and quality about it that makes it ‘must see’ on a variety of platforms.”
