National Public Radio Editor-in-Chief Edith Chapin said Tuesday she will step down by the end of the year.
Though her announcement came mere days after Congress voted to rescind public broadcasting’s federal funding for at least the next two years, Chapin said that wasn’t a factor in her decision. She had caught NPR CEO Katherine Maher by surprise with the news two weeks ago, Chapin added.
“I have had two big executive jobs for two years, and I want to take a break,” Chapin, who also serves as acting chief content officer, told NPR’s David Folkenflik. “I want to make sure my performance is always top-notch for the company.”
Nonetheless, her planned departure in September or October roughly coincides with the Oct. 1 effective date of the $1.1 billion Congress stripped last week from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funnels funds to NPR, PBS and their member stations. The overall cuts were part of a package taking back $9 billion in previously allocated funds, $7 billion of it in foreign aid, at the behest of President Trump.
While NPR itself does not rely on that funding, the cuts will hobble many of its member TV and radio stations, especially in rural areas such as New York State’s North Country and northern California. In Colorado alone, 52 stations are losing as much as 20-30% of their overall funds, The Colorado Sun reported Monday.
Chapin joined NPR in 2012 to helm the international news desk after 25 years at CNN, where she started as an intern and worked her way up to vice president. At NPR, she held a variety of roles before being named interim editor-in-chief in 2022 and then made permanent in 2023.
In a staff memo, Maher called Chapin an “indispensable partner” and “steady leader” as well as a “fantastic collaborator” on the executive team. She said she would release details about interim leadership and succession at a later date.
With News Wire Services