John Lansing, Former NPR CEO, Dies – Radio World

He joined NPR in 2019, leading the network through a tumultuous period

Former National Public Radio CEO John Lansing has died, according to an announcement from NPR on Aug. 16. He was 67.

NPR reports that Lansing died at his home in Wisconsin on Wednesday, just six months after he relinquished his role at the network.

Lansing stepped down from his post as CEO this past spring, retiring after what NPR calls “a turbulent four-and-a-half year stint.”

His successor, NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher, responded to the news of Lansing’s passing on Friday.

“John had a tremendous impact on NPR’s workplace culture and led the organization through some of its most difficult times,” wrote Maher in a statement. “His commitment to improving NPR’s audience and staff diversity has left an indelible positive impact.”

She continued: “John understood the importance of NPR’s mission to support democracy by informing the American public, and led the organization to rise to 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 radio have left a lasting impact.

“John led NPR through a tumultuous period, which included a rapidly changing news environment,” wrote Harrison. “His steady leadership kept NPR’s reporting on the air during the early days of the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

Before joining NPR in 2019, Lansing was chief of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, the government outfit that oversees federally-funded international broadcasters such as the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia.

Before that, he served as CEO of Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), a marketing association comprised of 90 of the top U.S. and Canadian cable companies and television programmers. Lansing also spent nine years as president of Scripps Networks, according to his bio.

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