NPR President/CEO John Lansing has begun the consolidation of its news and content teams as previously reported following the upcoming resignation of Senior Vice President of Programming and Audience Development Anya Grundmann.

Edith Chapin, who was promoted last month to SVP/News and Editor in Chief will serve as interim Chief Content Officer while NPR continues a search for a permanent candidate. The CCO will oversee all of NPR’s editorial output and content business operations. This will allow for clearer decision-making and better integration of our strategies across broadcast, podcast and digital.

Lansing shared the following memo:

Today we’re taking the first step in unifying our content divisions under one editorial vision and structure. Effective September 11, 2023, News and Programming will become a single Content Division. This new unified division will include more than 600 people working together to support all aspects of content production for NPR.

I’m pleased to announce Edith Chapin has agreed to serve as our interim Chief Content Officer (CCO) while we continue a national search to permanently fill this role. The CCO will oversee all of NPR’s editorial output and content business operations. This will allow for clearer decision-making and better integration of our strategies across broadcast, podcast and digital.

We’re grateful to Edith for taking on this temporary role to help set in motion the unification of our editorial vision and content strategy. She will have the support of many talented leaders who are already in place, some of whose roles will expand or change slightly. And we’re grateful to Anya Grundmann, who will be available until the end of the year to help with this transition.

In this new structure, effective September 11, the following roles will report to the Chief Content Officer:

• Senior Vice President, Editor in Chief, Edith Chapin
• Senior Vice President, Podcasting Growth & Franchise Development (New position leading podcast strategy, created from existing headcount)
• Vice President, Content – Cultural Programming, Yolanda Sangweni (New title to more accurately reflect the scope of Yolanda’s responsibilities)
• Vice President, Visuals & Music, Keith Jenkins
• Vice President, Content Operations, Sharahn Thomas
• Vice President, Content Business Strategy & Operations, Meg Brennan (Expanded role replacing News Chief of Staff to manage the business strategy and operations of the Content Division)
• Senior Director, Platform Integration, Beth Donovan (Revised job title as Beth takes on new responsibilities for ensuring the successful day-to-day integration of News and Programming)
• Managing Editor, Content Talent Strategy & Development, Shirley Henry
• Chief of Staff to the Chief Content Officer, Laura Hogan (Laura takes on expanded responsibilities reporting to the CCO)

More details about these changes will be communicated directly to impacted teams this week. What I want to make very clear is there is no addition or subtraction to headcount with this unification of the content divisions.

Our organization and workplace continue to change, as does our industry and the habits of our audience. What hasn’t changed is how invaluable your work is, and how vital the NPR Network is to audiences. This new structure will ensure we’re more united than ever in our efforts to strengthen our network and succeed in our mission to reach our current and future audiences wherever they consume NPR content.

Onward,

John