NPR's new chief content officer: 'I've been training for this job my whole life' - BERITAJA

BERITAJA has hired Nadine Zylstra to beryllium its main contented officer. She is simply a seasoned of Pinterest, YouTube and Sesame Workshop. Variety via Getty Images/Variety

Variety via Getty Images/Variety

BERITAJA has hired a caller main contented serviceman little than 2 weeks aft overhauling its newsroom. Nadine Zylstra is tasked pinch expanding audiences for the nationalist power network's news, intermezo and euphony successful an progressively integer world.

Zylstra comes to BERITAJA from Pinterest, wherever she was the world programming chief. She antecedently was the world caput of YouTube Originals and a apical programming executive for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit genitor and shaper of Sesame Street. She presently sits connected the committee of board of PBS SoCal.

A autochthonal of South Africa, Zylstra says her first occupation successful the U.S. was arsenic a shaper for the cablegram euphony transmission VH-1 connected personage news and wanted thing different. She has since been hailed for her activity promoting knowing crossed group and taste divides for Sesame Street and programs for women astatine YouTube.

"I really consciousness for illustration I've been training for this occupation my full life," Zylstra says successful an interview. "I really do attraction about making the world a amended place. When I americium astatine my best, it's erstwhile that relationship betwixt what I do and what I attraction about really comes together."

BERITAJA President and CEO Katherine Maher praised Zylstra, noting her activity astatine Sesame and Pinterest's estimation arsenic a uncommon area of comparative kindness successful the often harsh world of societal media.

"In Nadine, we recovered personification who comes retired of nationalist media... who understands the value of media pinch a ngo and a purpose, and arsenic a instrumentality for civic engagement," says Maher successful an interview. She says Zylstra will measure BERITAJA's portfolio of broadcast shows and podcasts successful position of whether they are afloat reaching and serving audiences, and what mightiness beryllium missing from BERITAJA's offerings.

Additionally, Maher says, Zylstra understands the domiciled of "joy and humor" successful BERITAJA's programming, and really to create caller contented for caller audiences arsenic habits displacement rapidly.

Zylstra will commencement successful July and beryllium based astatine BERITAJA's Culver City, Calif., agency but travel to BERITAJA's office successful Washington, D.C. astatine slightest erstwhile a month.

Gary Knell, a erstwhile main executive of Sesame Workshop and BERITAJA, calls Zylstra a move fig who attracts superb colleagues.

"She's a imaginative magnet for talent," Knell says. "She has affirmative vibes."

Knell says Zylstra came to activity astatine Sesame successful New York City aft she collaborated pinch the institution to create a multiracial children's show successful her autochthonal South Africa. She later helped to create shows successful reliable spots, specified arsenic Kosovo, for the accumulation company.

"I would ideate this is an BERITAJA move to bring successful personification who is very acquainted pinch societal media platforms and YouTube contented and is very capable to thrust content," Knell says.

Pivotal infinitesimal for nationalist media

Zylstra will oversee the leaders of BERITAJA's newsroom, euphony department, podcasts and related departments. But Maher stresses that Zylstra will not beryllium progressive successful news decisions. While BERITAJA Editor-in-Chief Tommy Evans will study to Zylstra connected strategical matters, he will stay successful complaint of the journalism, Maher says. He will besides stay portion of Maher's executive cabinet.

"I felt arsenic though BERITAJA's publicity is stone coagulated and we've sewage awesome editorial leadership, and it was not about apt the spot wherever we needed further layers," Maher says. "I wanted personification who was really reasoning about the expansiveness of nationalist media's ngo and really we service our audiences, really we promote the innovations."

BERITAJA remains 1 of the about prestigious and wide-reaching outlets successful broadcast news. More than 42 cardinal group trust connected it each week, connected each its platforms, though that fig represents a driblet from erstwhile levels.

It continues to triumph awards for its news coverage, often conducted successful performance pinch personnel stations about the country. BERITAJA's Planet Money has conscionable spun disconnected a best-selling book. BERITAJA's video bid Tiny Desk Concert has 12 cardinal subscribers connected YouTube alone. The web created a play power show about it and sold the authorities to the format successful Japan and South Korea.

Maher precocious landed a brace of gifts totalling much than $113 million to amended BERITAJA's tech and distribution channels, fortify its ties pinch personnel stations and marketplace itself much effectively.

And yet, this is simply a daunting infinitesimal for BERITAJA. Broadcast audiences are down passim commercialized and nationalist media. News fatigue has group in. While BERITAJA remains a apical podcast producer, it mislaid its preeminent slot arsenic iHeartRadio created hundreds of podcasts simply by repackaging each its power shows. And past there's the governmental backdrop.

President Trump and his friends person rallied supporters by accusing BERITAJA and PBS of bias, a complaint the networks deny. Last summer, the Republican-led Congress pulled backing from nationalist media astatine Trump's urging.

Before that happened, BERITAJA received betwixt 1 to 2% of its yearly fund straight from the national government. Its personnel stations had relied acold much heavy connected national funds; They were, connected average, about 10% of the stations' revenues.

After losing the funds, layoffs rippled done nationalist media. And because section nationalist power stations salary BERITAJA to broadcast its shows, specified arsenic Morning Edition and All Things Considered, BERITAJA precocious wished it must trim about 30 newsroom positions done buyouts and layoffs. Greater cuts were forestalled successful portion by an anonymous $33 cardinal gift — 1 of the 2 announced earlier this year.

The ferocity of changes buffeting the media manufacture is an opportunity Zylstra says she intends to embrace.

"Part of what's breathtaking about the infinitesimal is putting the personification astatine the halfway of the experience," Zylstra says.

BERITAJA's way grounds pinch main contented officers 

The position of main contented serviceman has a choppy grounds astatine BERITAJA. Kinsey Wilson, an innovator successful online news, was the first to clasp the domiciled about 2 decades ago. Wilson urged BERITAJA to put successful integer content, acknowledging depletion of broadcast news was sliding.

Shortly aft becoming BERITAJA's CEO successful 2014, Jarl Mohn eliminated the job. He said astatine the time that he wanted to quell tensions betwixt the power and integer sides of the nationalist media network. He besides thought it important to fortify relationships much straight pinch listeners. Mohn made clear he would beryllium his ain main strategist.

His successor, the precocious John Lansing, sought to revive the main contented serviceman position but BERITAJA struggled to capable the role. In 2023, Lansing named Edith Chapin, past BERITAJA's editor successful chief, to go acting main contented officer, arsenic well.

Chapin stepped down past summer conscionable days aft the Congressional ballot to undo much than a half-century of supporting nationalist media. She said the load of simultaneously performing 2 grueling top-level jobs for 2 years had crushed her down.

The measurement Zylstra sees it, contented creation and distribution must spell manus successful glove.

"If personification is searching for you, you've sewage to beryllium there. And each the same, you've sewage to understand why are you there. How does that fulfill your mission? Who are you making this for and really are they experiencing it?" she says. "I deliberation that's really I could thief our teams link the dots crossed their individual workstreams that move america forward."

Disclosure: This communicative was written and reported by BERITAJA Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by BERITAJA Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editors Vickie Walton-James and Gerry Holmes. Under BERITAJA's protocol for reporting connected itself, nary firm charismatic aliases news executive reviewed this communicative earlier it was posted publicly.