Former NPR CEO John Lansing, who oversaw the organization through the pandemic before stepping down in the spring, died Wednesday at age 67.
Lansing joined the network in 2019, and his four-year tenure was marked by numerous challenges that included the COVID pandemic, a nationwide racial reckoning and mass layoffs. His successor, current NPR president and CEO Katherine Maher, credited him with leading the network “through some of its most difficult times.”
“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,” Maher wrote in a statement. “His speed and decisiveness during that difficult period enabled NPR to maintain uninterrupted, high-quality programming at a moment when trustworthy news was a lifeline to Americans.”
One of Lansing’s priorities was diversity, equity and inclusion. NPR public editor Kelly McBride said that when Lansing hired her in early 2020, he told her he wanted to diversify NPR’s staff and content and expand its audience so that it was more reflective of the entire United States.
Under Lansing, NPR created a DEI office and appointed a chief diversity officer. People of color made up 40% of the executive team and 42% of the entire staff in 2023, up from 9% and 33%, respectively, in 2019. However, his tenure also saw high-profile resignations of several women of color, who were top NPR hosts.
Like many of his peers at other news organizations, Lansing had to make major cuts to contend with industry-wide financial challenges. In late 2022, NPR froze hiring and cut back spending due to a drop in sponsorship revenue. A few months later, it laid off more than 100 people, roughly 10% of staff.
Lansing ultimately decided to step down several months before his term was set to end. McBride, who is also Poynter’s senior vice president and the chair of its Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, said that despite setbacks like the layoffs, she credits him with keeping NPR on air during a challenging time and remaining committed to diversity despite financial difficulties.
“I just had so much respect for his integrity and his style of leadership,” McBride said. “He was a really, really good guy, and that is not always the case with media executives. Many of them are smart, and they’re very good journalists or they’re very good businessmen. But he just was a really good guy also, in addition to being those other things.”
Prior to NPR, Lansing served as the CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media. He got his start in journalism at the age of 17 when he worked for WPSD-TV in Paducah, Kentucky, as a studio technician and cameraman. From there, he worked his way up the ranks and eventually held a number of leadership positions, including president of Scripps Networks.
Lansing’s cause of death has not yet been reported. He is survived by his wife and four children.
Correction, August 16, 2024: This article was amended to include the correct location of WPSD-TV.
