Lunch at Michael’s with NPR CEO Jarl Mohn

amp8220I knew at 12 that I wanted to be a disc jockey and I knew that my name Jarl Mohn would not workamp8221 he told Jack Myers and me over a recent lunch at Michaelamp8217s restaurantamp160 amp8220You had to have a catchy nameamp160 When I was 12 or 13 I created the name Lee Mastersamp160 It sounded big and powerfulamp160 I used it for yearsamp8221amp160 Jarl pictured top right with Jack wasnamp8217t kidding amp8211 he was known as Lee Masters throughout most of his career from young deejay to radio station owner to programming executive at MTV Networks and E to CEO of Liberty Digitalamp8220My parents said amp8216whateveramp8217amp8221 he recalled continuing the story of how he launched his career taking him from his first deejay job in his hometown to radio stations in towns and cities all over the countryamp160 amp8220I had to get my FCC licenseamp160 I got my First Class license when I was 15amp160 I had three jobs amp160I saved up my money and I bought a train ticket to Sarasota Fla where I paid for tuition for a fiveweek cram courseamp160 I went there by myself lived in a motel for five weeksamp8221amp160 His parents were cool with it sending him off with their blessingamp160 amp8220They never got in my wayamp160 They said amp8216Yeah okay if thatamp8217s what you want go aheadamp8217 amp160I would never let a 15yearold kid do thatamp8221 he laughedamp8220I was mesmerized by radio I fell in love with itamp8221 Jarlamp160said as he recounted the fullcircle story of starting out as a deejay in small town radio stations landing a sweet onair gig in New York City at WNBC moving through executive positions at television networks and media companies and ultimately landing in his current role at the helm of NPRamp160 amp8220Most of the people I know who stayed as disc jockeys have not fared particularly wellamp160 I was very lucky to move up into managementamp8221That luck began when Jarl was working for amp8220a big top40 stationamp8221 in Louisville where the competition was fierce with another leading stationamp160 amp8220A friend of mine from another market got a job at the competitor and needed a place to stay for a couple weeksamp8221 heamp160explainedamp160 amp8220I said amp8216Why donamp8217t you crash at my house and look for an apartmentamp160 You just canamp8217t tell anybody that youamp8217re staying hereamp160 My boss would kill meamp8220One night he was out working or something and the phone ringsamp8221 heamp160continuedamp160 amp8220I pick it up and it was Bob Pittmanamp160 Bob knew this guy and was calling to talk to him so I took the number down and Bob and I just started talkingamp160 He told me to stay in touchamp160 I sent him one of my air checksamp160 Heamp8217s from Mississippi and told me he drove through Louisville all the time when he was going to visit his folksamp160 One time he drove through town we had dinner and drinks together amp160We became friendsamp160 He went to Chicago and tried to hire me at WMAQ and WKQXamp160 I didnamp8217t go amp160Later he went to New Yorkamp160 He kept calling me wanting recommendations for disc jockeys for WNBCamp160 At this point I was off the airamp160 I wanted to do programmingamp8221Jarl supplied Pittman with many names but Pittman rejected them allamp160 And then it happenedamp160 Pittman said he wanted Jarl to come and work in New York as an afternoon radio personality on WNBCamp160 amp8220I was 25 at the timeamp8221 Jarl saidamp160 amp8220My goal when I started was to be on the air in New York by that ageamp8221Jarl left WNBC in 1978 and acquired a radio station in El Paso Texasamp160 amp8220In early 1979 I bought the AMFM in El Paso and I moved down thereamp8221 he saidamp160 amp8220A 26yearold Jew from New York going to El Paso amp160I was single and I had more fun in El Paso than I had in New York amp160In one year we were No 1 in the market doing country music amp160I sold the station a couple years later and bought another oneamp160in Louisville and moved there amp160Ultimately thatamp8217s where Bob hired me for MTVamp160 He had launched MTV and he wanted me to be the first program director amp160He wanted me to be part of the original teamamp160 I became head of programming at VH1 amp160That was my first gigamp8221With his gig at MTV came a memorable first impression people talk about to this dayamp160 amp8220I hadnamp8217t been there three weeks and we had a sales retreat in Boca Ratonamp8221 he recalledamp160 amp8220It was a typical MTV function and Iamp8217m the new guyamp160 We had dinneramp160 After dinner people were drinkingamp160 They were doing flaming tequilaamp160 Theyamp8217re blowing them out and drinking themamp160 I had spent years in El Pasoamp160 I knew how to do a flaming shooteramp160 So I said to everybody amp8216Let me show you how itamp8217s doneamp8217amp160 I remember everyone standing around in a semicircle and I threw this thing back and at that moment there was dead silenceamp160 I had thrown lit flaming tequila onto my beardamp160 It caught fire and I was going up in flamesamp160 I put it out and they yelled and screamedquotJarlamp8217s fleeting moment as a human torch proved to be the best icebreaker in the worldamp160 Pittman had not been there so an embarrassed Jarl got up very early the next morning to call him and apologizeamp160 But Pittman had already heard about itamp160 amp8220He said amp8216Are you kidding meamp160 Youamp8217re a god to these peopleamp8217amp160 And thatamp8217s how I began at MTV a place where if you were not accepted as one of the cool kids you were deadamp8221At that time Jarl reported to Tom Freston then the Executive Vice President and GM of MTV and VH1amp160 Three months after starting there Jarl recalled rumors were flying that CEO Pittman was going to leave amp160Jarl was concerned because Bob had brought him into the companyamp160 amp8220I called Tom and asked if I should be worriedamp160 Tom started laughingamp160 He said amp8216Iamp8217m going to promote you to my jobamp8217amp160 He was being promoted to Bobamp8217s positionamp160 amp8216Do you want my gigamp8217 he askedamp160 amp8216Itamp8217s yoursamp8217amp160 He thought it was pretty funnyamp8221After MTV Jarl moved on to a network then known as Movietime and oversaw its conversion to E in 1990amp160 Eight years later he became CEO of Liberty Digitalamp160 He had originally been approached by Liberty to run Fox Sports which Liberty owned 50 percent of at the time amp160quot39I think that would be a mistake39amp160I told them amp16039I donamp8217t know anything about sportsamp160 I donamp8217t care about sports39 amp160They came back to me with two or three different ideasamp160 Then Liberty Digital The Internet Interactive TVamp160 I said amp8216Iamp8217m inamp8217amp8221Jarl said he amp8220lovedamp8221 working with the legendary and formidable John Maloneamp160 amp8220Unlike most corporate environments the only thing that mattered to John was how well you were doingamp8221 he explainedamp160 amp8220It was all numbers to himamp160 You didnamp8217t have to be politically correct or be niceamp160 It wasnamp8217t about his relationship with youamp160 The guy is brilliantamp160 He has a great sense of humor amp160Most people donamp8217t know it because theyamp8217re scared to death of him amp160Everybody is trying to be the second smartest guy in the room because heamp8217s so smart amp160I thought amp8216Iamp8217m not going to win that one so Iamp8217m going to go for funnyamp8217amp8221It was after he left Liberty that Jarl decided to stop using the name Lee Mastersamp160 amp8220I didnamp8217t need to change itamp8221 he saidamp160 amp8220When I got into the cable TV business people knew me as Lee and when I went to Liberty it was the same thingamp160 When I left I started going on public boardsamp160 I remember reading a proxy statement and it said Jarl Mohn aka Lee Masters and Iamp8217m thinking amp8216That does not look goodamp160in an SEC filing39 amp160So because I wanted to be on public boards and invest I made the decision that I would go to my legal name amp160I was never legally Lee Mastersamp8220It took about two or three years for the rebrand to takeamp8221 he laughedOne of Jarlamp8217s great passions is collecting artamp160 amp8220I was always interested in artamp8221 he said noting that his late father amp8220vocationally taught English literature at the University of Pennsylvania but would define himself as a poetamp8221 and that his mother is an artistamp8220Collectors always ask each other amp8216What was the very first art that you boughtamp8217 and people are always stunned when I tell them amp8216You may know him from the movie business amp8230 Larry Clarkamp8221 he continuedamp160 amp8220One of his first series was called amp8216Tulsaamp8217 amp160I was attracted to that because I had lived in Tulsa amp160It was one of my many stops amp160He took these amazing raw photographs of junkies that he lived with in Tulsa amp160I bought three photographsamp160 One is Larry Clark sitting on a bed shirtless with a revolver in his hand amp160Another is a picture of a pregnant woman sitting in a rocking chair with a window behind her and sheamp8217s got a syringe and sheamp8217s shooting up amp160The other is a baby being buried presumably the baby amp160Everything about it looks staged amp160Everything about the scene looks bad except the baby a beautiful babyamp8220I bought those and I brought them home and my wife Pam said amp8216Are you out of your mindamp160 Are you insaneamp160 You cannot hang them in the houseamp8217amp160 Our two daughters were really young at the time amp160I couldnamp8217t hang it at the office amp8211 at the time I was at Eamp8221amp160 The photos found a home at the ACLU of Southern California where Jarl served as Chairman for 13 years amp160amp8220They sat in the ACLU for probably ten years and the punchline to this story is when Katrina my oldest daughter went off to graduate school in Chicago and had her first really nice apartment she said she would like to have those photographs amp160Now she lives in Los Angeles and those three photographs are in her houseamp8221 amp160Katrina is an editor for Pearson Education and writes for arts magazinesamp160 Youngest daughter Larkin is in the graduate program at Columbia studying bio statisticsJarl has two collections one historic which he defines as amp8220minimalism California Light and Space movements in the amp821660s and amp821670samp8221 the other work by emerging LA artists amp160amp8220I think LA is the creative center of the world not just the United States in terms of the visual artsamp8221 he explainedamp160 amp8220There are more art schools and there are more artists working in the city of Los Angeles than any city in the world by faramp8220The Mohn Family Foundation helps toamp160underwriteamp160a biennial event at the Hammer Museum at UCLA called Made in LAamp8221 he continuedamp160 amp8220Every other year we put on a massive show with 35 or 40 young emerging artists amp160Weamp160underwrite the prize the Mohn Award which in the art world is a big numberamp160 100000 cash unrestricted for whatever they want for a great artistic breakthrough and we publish a book just for that artist amp160Weamp8217ve already launched three careers out of the showamp8220I hang all my LA art in New Yorkamp8221 he notedamp160 amp8220I have tours for international collectors so they can see whatamp8217s happening in LA in a noncommercial environmentamp8221Reflecting on his long and varied career Jarl said amp8220Each of the brands that I have been involved with had at that moment deeply loyal fans which really accounted for the success of those organizations at the timeamp160 Thatamp8217s one thing we have at NPRamp160 We understand what matters to people and what they are absolutely passionate about and we make sure that we donamp8217t violate that trustamp160 I see an incredible analogy with MTV in the amp821680s and NPR in 2017amp160 What could they possibly have in commonamp160 We wereare in both cases very very conscious of not doing anything that would in any way harm the brand and the way people feel about itamp8221Click the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Lunch at Michael’s with NPR CEO Jarl Mohn

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