NPR CEO Jarl Mohn to talk at KCLU event

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Aug. 31, 2016) The president and CEO of National Public Radio will speak at California Lutheran University on Friday, Sept. 16.

Jarl Mohn, who took the helm of Washington, D.C.-based NPR two years ago, will speak at 7 p.m. in Samuelson Chapel on the Thousand Oaks campus in an event presented by KCLU Radio, a community service of Cal Lutheran. He will discuss the news business and the future of NPR.

Mohn oversees the nonprofit multimedia organization’s strategy to create a more informed public by working with member stations across the country including KCLU. Nearly 1,000 member stations serve about 30 million weekly listeners.

In his career, Mohn has helped a variety of media businesses on different platforms respond to rapid changes in audience trends. He created E! Entertainment Television and served as its president and CEO from January 1990 to December 1998. From 1986 to 1990, he was executive vice president and general manager of MTV and VH1, where he introduced the long-form programming strategy at the heart of the networks today and diversified audiences by developing innovative programming around alternative music formats. He was also the founding president and CEO of Liberty Digital, a public company that invested in cable networks, the internet and online businesses.

Mohn spent almost 20 years in radio, many of them as a disc jockey at stations including WNBC in New York. In addition to his on-air work in radio, he served as a programmer, general manager and owner of a group of radio stations.

Prior to joining NPR in 2014, Mohn served on the board of trustees of Southern California Public Radio for more than a decade, including two years as chairman. He spent over 12 years on the board of the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, including six years as its chair. He has also been a corporate director and adviser to a number of media companies, making direct early-stage angel and seed investments in digital media/technology ventures. Since 2008, he has served on the board of Scripps Networks Interactive.

He and his wife, Pamela, created The Mohn Family Foundation in 2000. The Santa Monica-based nonprofit has donated to public radio stations, children’s charities, human rights advocacy groups, healthcare organizations and art museums.

KCLU provides NPR and local news programming in Ventura County at 88.3 FM, Santa Barbara County at 102.3 FM and 1340 AM, Santa Maria at 89.7 FM, San Luis Obispo at 92.1 and online at kclu.org. 

Tickets are $20. To purchase, call KCLU at 805-493-3900.