Will Lee was hired as COO for NPR.
Lee starts the job in March. He most recently worked as SVP and head of digital for the entertainment group at the Meredith Corp., which oversees People, People en Español, PeopleTV and Entertainment Weekly.
“Will is a creative and successful digital media leader who has spent his career transforming legacy media brands by expanding and growing audience engagement and revenue. He understands that to serve NPR’s critical public service mission we must meet audiences where they are — on the radio, and on other on-demand platforms and devices,” said NPR CEO John Lansing in a news release. “Will is also keenly aware of the unique competitive advantages of NPR, most notably the scale and strength of our 252 Member stations.”
Loren Mayor was NPR’s most recent COO until she became president of operations in 2018. Mayor left NPR for the World Wildlife Fund in 2020.
Lee joined Meredith in 2018. He has also been a group digital director of entertainment, sports and style for Time Inc. and a VP of digital content and programming for the Hollywood Reporter.
“NPR is a media force and a news institution like no other in the world. Its journalistic mission is more essential and critical to the American public than ever before,” Lee said in the release. “I’m truly honored to join this incredible team and work closely with NPR’s remarkable network of Member stations to ignite and drive continued growth, transformation, and brand momentum to reach new and more diverse audiences everywhere they encounter NPR.”