In a corporate reorganization, NPR is unifying its news and programming divisions into one vertical stack: NPR content. Chief Executive John Lansing spelled out details in a note republished on the NPR website.
The news comes on the heels of Anya Grundmann’s resignation; she is SVP, Programming and Audience Development, and will depart the network at end of year. Grundmann held her executive role for eight years, and has been a leader of podcast development. She helped create the morning news program Up First, as well as Code Switch and the Indicator.
She’s really legendary in the world of public media,” Lansing says, noting that Grundmann “led the podcasting revolution in many ways, and has been just an invaluable partner for me in my four years here.”
Under Grundmann’s watch, NPR’s programming division more than doubled in size, rising from 100 employees in 2019 to 231 in January. At the same time, a general pullback of advertising dollars created a revenue shortfall estimated to be $31-million for this fiscal year.
NPR withstood a 10% workforce reduction earlier this year.