Published on Current.org, April 20, 2011
By Mike Janssen

Kling’s successor at American Public Media and MPR: Jon McTaggart

“American Public Media Group, parent of American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio, announced April 20 that Chief Operating Officer Jon McTaggart will succeed Bill Kling as president and c.e.o.

The unanimous choice of the APMG Board, McTaggart has worked for MPR since 1983, save for two three-year stints in other fields. His promotion July 1 will conclude Kling’s 44-year tenure as the media organization’s first and only leader.

APMG operates 42 stations, including Southern California Public Radio and Classical South Florida, and produces and distributes public radio staples including Marketplace, A Prairie Home Companion and The Splendid Table.

McTaggart, 50, has worked closely with Kling since becoming his second-in-command in 2003. His other jobs at APMG and its subsidiaries have included v.p. of business development, senior v.p. for new media and senior v.p. of content and media.

The Minnesota native joined MPR as founding g.m. of its station in Bemidji, Minn., at the age of 23. That also happened to be Kling’s age when he was hired to start KSJN, the small college-owned station that would be the seed of his media empire.

McTaggart went on to serve as g.m. of MPR’s multistation group based in Collegeville in the late ’80s, at a time when the broadcaster started building its two-service network across the state. In 1998 he was named senior v.p. of new media, playing a formative role as MPR and the rest of public radio ventured into the Internet era.

His hiring caps a search process that began last fall when Kling announced his plans to retire. The outgoing leader worked with APMG’s trustees to define the criteria that would define his successor: strategic agility, business acumen, vision, and commitment to the organization’s mission.

The search was international in scope, according to board members, and led to a pool of finalists who were interviewed first by a succession committee and then the full board. “Jon really distinguished himself in terms of both experience and vision,” said Ian Friendly, chair of the board’s succession committee.

“Jon is a remarkable leader who has been responsible for a great portion of our success over the years,” Kling said in a press release. “I’m very happy with the board’s decision, and I’m confident Jon will ensure that APMG continues to lead the way in public media’s ongoing evolution.”

“Bill has been a true friend and a mentor to me,” McTaggart said of his longtime boss. The new leader said Kling taught him the importance of creative talent within the organization and of thinking big about APMG’s future. He also learned from Kling about listening to radio with a keenly critical ear, he said.

McTaggart acknowledged that he enters his new job at a time of significant challenges to public media, citing the weak economy and the rapid emergence of new technologies that are capturing the attention of the organization’s audiences. But he emphasized that he sees these innovations as opportunities, pointing out that in 2007, listeners downloaded about 1.5 million podcasts of APM programs a month. That has grown to 8 million.

“That tells us that audiences are eager to engage with us in ways beyond radio and are still in love with the content,” he said.
McTaggart’s jobs away from MPR allowed him leadership roles in two other fields, health care and academia. From 1986 to 1989 he served as executive director of the Reading Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation, joining his father in the business of nursing-home administration. In the mid ’90s he held the position of v.p. of university relations and advancement at La Sierra University in Riverside, Calif.

McTaggart now holds a seat on the NPR Board. His term expires in September, and he said he will consult with the APMG Board about whether to continue in that position.”

Copyright 2011 American University