NPR Hires New Chief Content Officer

NPR has hired Nadine Zylstra, a senior Pinterest executive with deep experience in public media and children’s content, as its new Chief Content Officer (CCO). The network announced the appointment Monday.  She will join NPR on July 6.

At Pinterest, Zylstra serves as global head of programming and original content. She previously held senior creative roles at YouTube, including global head of YouTube Originals and head of kids and learning originals, and spent more than 11 years at Sesame Workshop, most recently as vice president of production and programming and supervising producer. She also sits on the PBS SoCal board.

Madine Zylstra

“I feel like I have been in training for this role my whole career,” Zylstra said in NPR’s press release. “At Sesame Street, I learned how content can change the way people understand the world around them. At YouTube I learned to put the user at the center of the storytelling. Finally, at Pinterest I learned that there is a business to build around positivity. I am humbled by the work NPR journalists and storytellers do and eager to learn all the ways in which I can help move our mission forward.”

NPR CEO Katherine Maher described Zylstra as bringing “an extraordinarily rare blend of creative foresight, business acumen, and deep personal commitment to mission-driven storytelling.”

“She is the right leader at the right time to ensure NPR’s journalism and cultural programming find new ways of serving and enlivening American discourse,” Maher said.

Zylstra will oversee leaders of the newsroom as well as NPR’s music and podcast departments, but she will not be involved in news decisions, according to media correspondent David Folkenflik.