John Lansing launched a successful career spanning more than 30 years in local television two days after graduating from high school.  He then transitioned into the cable arena, where he rose to the position of president of Scripps Networks.  He went on to serve for four years as CEO and director of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), effectively reporting at first to Barack Obama and then to Donald Trump.  He is now at the helm of NPR, where as CEO his primary goals are to grow and diversify its audience and continue building what has already become the No. 1 distributor of podcasts in the country and to continue to support and defend the NPR newsroom as they set their sights on investing in more enterprise and investigative reporting.  Over the last few years Lansing has been a vocal advocate for the critical importance of truthful, professional journalism during an era when legitimate journalists are under threat from some of the highest corners of our government.