One is a veteran TV executive. The other emerged from the world of digital media. Both are now chief executives of major public media organizations appearing before Congress on Wednesday, where they will face tough questioning from lawmakers.
Here’s a look at their backgrounds.
Katherine Maher
C.E.O., NPR
Ms. Maher, 41, has spent much of her career leading digital media organizations. She joined NPR last year after serving as chief executive of Web Summit, an organization that holds technology events around the world. Before that, she was the chief executive of The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that supports the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Ms. Maher joined NPR at a tricky time for the public radio network. Shortly after she started, a longtime senior editor resigned after making allegations of liberal bias at NPR. Around the same time, conservative critics unearthed social media posts from Ms. Maher in which she embraced progressive causes.
Since then, Ms. Maher has taken steps to address concerns from NPR’s conservative critics. Last week, Ms. Maher said that she had visited members of Congress over the last year to hear their views, explaining that she believed NPR should be “representative of the diversity of views and beliefs in our nation.” On her watch, NPR has also voided language pertaining to diversity in a union contract, a notable departure from the D.E.I. focus under her predecessor.
“I was brought in to bring a new energy, focus, and ambition to our work,” Ms. Maher said. “I believe it is essential that NPR reaches a broader audience that reflects the nation, and I’m investing in the tools and practices to let us better understand and serve audiences based on what they need from public media, and where they listen, read, and watch.”
Paula Kerger
C.E.O., PBS
Paula Kerger, 67, is the longest-serving chief executive in PBS’s history. She joined the network in 2006 from Thirteen, a PBS member station serving the greater New York area. Before making the transition to public media, Ms. Kerger was a fund-raising executive at the Metropolitan Opera, the nation’s largest performing arts institution.
Ms. Kerger’s biggest challenge as chief executive of PBS has been the slow but steady erosion of traditional TV and the rising power of direct-to-consumer streaming. Like her peers at commercial traditional media organizations, Ms. Kerger has sought to expand the distribution of her network’s programming on streaming services, striking a deal with YouTube TV and starting a subscription service called PBS Passport.
Ms. Kerger will probably be asked about programming tied to PBS that has come under fire from conservatives. One program that has been singled out by critics is “Drag Queen Story Hour,” a digital series created for PBS LearningMedia, a kind of online classroom. PBS has since taken that program offline.
