October 16, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
New job: Gary E. Knell, 57, is the new chief executive of NPR, starting December 1.
Background: Mr. Knell has been chief executive of the Sesame Workshop since 2000, after serving as its chief operating officer. Previously, he was the managing director of Manager Media International, a print and multimedia publishing company in Asia.
Why he’s taking over: Mr. Knell will succeed Vivian Schiller, who resigned in March amid controversy over an NPR fund raiser’s videotaped comments to conservative activists posing as potential donors.
Why he wanted to work at NPR: “Over the past 40 years, it’s grown from an inspired idea to one of the world’s most respected and leading providers of news, music, and cultural programmings,” Mr. Knell says of NPR. “This is media with a deeply held mission, compelling history, and boundless future.”
Challenge he anticipates: Mr. Knell said that he hopes to better articulate that NPR is an unbiased source of news. “It’s really not about a liberal or a conservative voice, it’s a voice which Americans of all political stripes should rely on for news and information.”
Education: He holds a law degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and a bachelor’s degree in political science and journalism from the University of California at Los Angeles.
His favorite ‘Sesame Street’ character: “Grover, because he’s a little witty but sees the bigger picture. And he drives everyone a little mad.”
