NPR Chief Ousted

NPR CHIEF, IN OFFICE SINCE 2006, WILL DEPART
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Elizabeth Jensen]
The board of National Public Radio announced Thursday that the chief executive, Ken Stern, 44, was leaving after less than 18 months in the job. The board said the departure was “by mutual agreement.” Mr. Stern was executive vice president from 1999 until he was promoted in October 2006. Just Wednesday, he announced plans for a new 10-story NPR headquarters in Washington. During his tenure, NPR stabilized its finances and doubled its audience to some 26 million listeners a week. But like other media groups, NPR has grappled with enhancing its presence online, without alienating the radio stations that make up its membership and that derive their income from listener pledges and corporate sponsorship.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/business/07npr.html?ref=todayspaper
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* NPR Leader Out After Board Clash
People at NPR said that Stern and the organization's 17-member board had clashed repeatedly over several of Stern's initiatives, including NPR's expansion into new media. Those initiatives often riled station managers, who saw them coming at the expense of serving the hundreds of public stations that pay dues annually to NPR. NPR's board, which includes 10 members from station groups, declined to renew Stern's contract yesterday. Stern will be replaced on an interim basis by the board's chairman, Dennis L. Haarsager, while the board conducts a search for a permanent replacement. Haarsager, who is general manager of Northwest Public Radio, a 13-station group in Washington state, said in an interview that he "did not anticipate" taking the job permanently.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/06/AR200803...