NPR CEO Ken Stern Forced OutThis is certainly not a step in the correct direction for NPR.
Media: NPR CEO Ken Stern Forced Out
NPR's board of directors announced Thursday that CEO Ken Stern is leaving. He has been the CEO since Oct. 1, 2006.
NPR.org, March 7, 2008 by David Folkenflik: NPR's corporate board has forced out the organization's chief executive after less than a year and a half in the top job.
Ken Stern joined NPR back in 1999, becoming its chief operating officer. He is a numbers cruncher and lawyer who helped stabilize NPR after years of rocky finances.
[…]
In addition, Stern led a major push in digital ventures. It stemmed from his often-repeated conviction that the old way of doing business wouldn't work. Other diversions — such as cable television, online news sources, iPods, books on tape, video games and social networks — are siphoning audiences away from traditional broadcasters, including public radio stations. Stern argued that NPR shows and news and cultural segments increasingly had to be available on whatever platforms people wanted to hear them.
NPR is considered a leader in news and music podcasts. And under Stern it has also struck deals to deliver its content new ways, such as through cell phones.
But that push has aggravated anxiety among local stations about their relationship to the network. NPR member stations rely heavily on popular shows, particularly Morning Edition, to generate donations. But if people can listen to them through NPR's Web site or even their own cell phones, why would they stay loyal to stations still reliant on pledge drives?
Read the entire article here: NPR CEO Ken Stern Forced Out
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