NPR President & CEO Gary Knell announced a new executive structure for the organization’s content operations designed “to create a shared vision and greater alignment across all content areas.” Leading this collaborative strategy will be Kinsey Wilson, who has been promoted to the new role of Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer.
Wilson will set the direction and oversee the operations for all of NPR’s content areas: news, programming and digital media. Margaret Low Smith will permanently lead NPR News as Senior Vice President, a position she has been acting in since January 2011.
“This is a time of great opportunity for NPR and our Member stations,” said Knell. “In Kinsey and Margaret, we have two journalists, strategists and leaders with a keen understanding of the craft that distinguishes NPR – and how we must continue to innovate and evolve. Our collective aim is to work with stations to become an unrivaled leader in news and cultural coverage that reaches all Americans, no matter how they tune in.”
The announcement said the new structure will allow for closer coordination of NPR’s news, digital and programming strategies and a more seamless integration of its news operations.
Wilson has driven digital innovation at NPR since 2008, when he joined the organization as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Digital Media. He led the development of NPR’s industry-leading web and mobile platforms, implemented successful local-national editorial partnerships with Member stations, and spearheaded editorial initiatives that combined radio and digital delivery. Wilson has led both online and converged newsrooms at three organizations, and was a reporter for the first half of his 30-year career.
Over the past 13 months, Smith has led NPR News through a succession of extraordinary news events: from the Arab Spring, to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, to the death of Osama Bin Laden. As Senior Vice President, Smith will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations of the News division and its staff of nearly 400, including more than 100 reporters and correspondents based in 17 foreign and 18 domestic bureaus and offices. Smith first joined NPR 30 years ago. Before stepping in to run the News division, she was Vice President for Programming beginning in 2000.
Eric Nuzum, who has served as Acting Vice President for Programming since January 2011, will officially move into that role. He will continue to lead program innovation and development; oversee the relationships with NPR’s 17 acquired programs such as “Fresh Air,” “Snap Judgment” and “Car Talk”; and manage NPR’s international and satellite services.
Knell also announced an expanded role for Keith Woods, Vice President of Diversity in News & Operations. Woods will broaden his collaborative work with Member stations to support public radio’s push for greater diversity in its audience, staffing and content. To have a direct line into NPR’s work with its community of stations, Knell will have Woods and Joyce MacDonald, Vice President for Membership and Audience Partnership, report to him.
NPR says it reaches 27 million listeners each week, and nearly 23 million people monthly on digital platforms. It is affiliated with more than 900 independent public radio stations nationwide.
