Vivian Schiller, the head of the New York Times’ online division has left her job to become the new President and CEO of NPR (National Public Radio). She replaces Dennis Haarsager, who’s been the interim CEO since former CEO Ken Stern left.
Schiller assumes her new position on January 5th. At the Times, she was the general manager of NYTimes.com, so she obviously has a great deal of experience and know-how when it comes to operating a successful web presence for a news organization. Rafat Ali at PaidContent.org notes:
Also recently, Kinsey Wilson, the executive editor of USA Today and previously the editor of USAToday.com, left the paper and joined NPR as its digital head. With two digital vets at NPR, its already formidable online presence and reputation should grow, if only they can prevent getting mired in all the politics at the company and its member stations.
Schiller has over 20 years of experience in the media industry. Apart from leading day-to-day operations of NYTimes.com, the largest newspaper website on the Internet, and overseeing product, technology, marketing, classifieds, strategic planning and business development, she has spent 4 years as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Discovery Times Channel, a joint venture of The New York Times and Discovery Communications.
According to the release about Schiller’s appointment, the Discovery Times Channel tripled its distribution while achieving critical acclaim for its award winning journalistic programming while it was under her management. She was also previously Senior Vice President of CNN Productions.
The Times has not yet found a replacement for her yet, and from the sounds of it, that will be no easy task.
