The former NPR chief reflects on her two years at the helm of public radio’s top news organization, including the stormy final months of her presidency, in the latest edition of American Journalism Review.
Leading NPR through the political crises that began with the Juan Williams dismissal strengthened her as a chief executive, Schiller says: “You develop a certain toughness and clarity of thinking about what matters and what is just a lot of noise. It would have been easy for me to get distracted, but too many people were depending on me for leadership. And so I discovered a strength I didn’t even know I had.”
“I made a few mistakes back in October, which I’ve publicly acknowledged many times,” she says. “But beyond that, I’m proud of what my colleagues and I accomplished while I was with NPR. There’s not much I would change.”
Schiller signs on as chief digital officer of NBC News next month. “My background is in television news, so in many ways I feel like I’m coming home,” she says.