All kinds of content
When Gary E. Knell took over as CEO of NPR in 2011, his assignment was clear, if daunting: “to provide an economically sustainable platform for journalists.” Knell, who spoke at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism on Monday, joined NPR at a time when the organization faced not only internal strife, but also a business environment still reeling from a decade of digital disruption. His response was that of a realist. “You can’t stop technology. People will demand programming when and where they want it,” Knell said. “To not be in the digital space means you’ll be replaced. And you’ll never come back.” To kick-start development of a “content depot,” Knell hired a chief content officer to wrangle all of NPR under one content roof. He stressed that NPR will always be radio first, but that consumers are demanding more. “Radio is from where we came, and it’s where we’ll go,” he said. But...