USC Annenberg Center on Public Diplomacy Advisory board member named NPR CEO

Gary Knell, Center on Public Diplomacy advisory board member and CEO of Sesame Workshop, has been named the new president and CEO of NPR. Knell's resume includes: Managing Director of Manager Media International, development of the monthly business magazine Asia Inc., Senior Vice President and General Counsel at WNET/Channel 13 in New York,  Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary and Governmental Affairs Committees and working in the California State Legislature and Governor's Office. He is also the "only CEO in America who has to demonstrate the 'Potty Time Elmo' in front of his board of directors and get paid to do it," NPR wrote. Knell hopes to "depoliticize" partisan debate over the future of public radio, said the Oct. 2 NPR article announcing the change. Knell will officially assume his new roles on Dec. 1. Read more Read the Associated Press article