He joined NPR in 2019 during a “turbulent” time
Former National Public Radio CEO John Lansing has died, according to an NPR statement on August 16. He was 67 years old.
NPR reported that Lansing died Wednesday at his home in Wisconsin, just six months after leaving his job at the station.
Lansing resigned from his position as CEO last spring and retired after what NPR calls a “turbulent four-and-a-half-year tenure.”
His successor, NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher, responded to the news of Lansing’s death on Friday.
“John had a tremendous impact on the workplace culture at NPR and led the organization through some of its most difficult times,” Maher wrote in a statement. “His commitment to improving NPR’s audience and staff diversity has left an indelible positive impression.”
She continued, “John understood the importance of NPR’s mission to support democracy by informing the American public and led the organization to meet the challenge of an unprecedented global pandemic.”
In another statement, Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, said Lansing’s contributions to public broadcasting have left a lasting impact.
“John led NPR through a turbulent period when the news world was changing rapidly,” Harrison wrote. “His steady leadership ensured that NPR’s coverage stayed on the air even during the early days of the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
Before joining NPR in 2019, Lansing served as head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, a government agency that oversees state-funded international broadcasters such as Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.
Prior to that, he was CEO of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), a marketing association that includes 90 of the largest U.S. and Canadian cable companies and television programming providers. Lansing also served as president of Scripps Networks for nine years, according to his biography.
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