BBG Watch Commentary
As predicted first and reported exclusively by BBG Watch last week, Andrew R. Lack, age 66, also known as Andy, will be CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), the federal agency in charge of U.S. international media outreach.
Andy Lack has had a distinguished career in television journalism before becoming a highly successful media executive. He is currently Chairman of Bloomberg Media Group, Bloomberg L.P..
The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has confirmed in a news release today (Tuesday, September 23, 2014) that Andy Lack was named by the bipartisan BBG Board as CEO of U.S. international media outreach and will serve in that position once his appointment is finalized.
The final structure of the BBG and the scope of the CEO’s job may be ultimately decided through the bipartisan U.S. international broadcasting reform legislation, H.R. 4490, the United States International Communications Reform Act, which is currently pending action in the U.S. Senate after unanimous passage in a voice vote in the House of Representatives. The H.R. 4490 bill was introduced by Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Ranking Member Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY).
“Andy Lack has an unmatched record as a journalist and media executive, and he has successfully steered large organizations through changes in competitive media environments,” BBG Chair Jeff Shell said. “We are incredibly excited that Andy has decided to serve his country and lead the BBG as it fulfills its critical mission in this ever-changing and more complicated world.”
“Andy is a great leader, a great communicator, and a great journalist,” said Richard Stengel, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, who serves as the delegate to the Board for Secretary of State John Kerry. “He is the perfect person – and I really mean the perfect person – to be this organization’s first CEO in the 21st century. We are lucky to have him, and we at State look forward to working with him.”
Speaking on behalf of the Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting, (CUSIB – cusib.org), CUSIB Executive Director Ann Noonan has congratulated Andy Lack for accepting the position of CEO for the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG).
“As a non-profit organization whose mission is to support independent journalism, media freedom and human rights, CUSIB is acutely aware of the potential your new office has for improving the operation of the BBG,” Ann Noonan and CUSIB Director Ted Lipien said. “You will now have the potential to provide a degree of focus and oversight that has been sadly missing,” their statement said.
SEE: Bloomberg’s Andy Lack eyed for U.S. broadcasting CEO job at BBG, BBG Watch, September 18, 2014
SEE: Shifting the news agenda with Andy Lack, Bloomberg man eyed for CEO of U.S. media outreach at BBG, BBG Watch, September 18, 2014
SEE: EXCLUSIVE Broadcasting Board of Governors voted to offer CEO job to Andy Lack of Bloomberg, BBG Watch, September 20, 2014
“U.S. international broadcasting and new media outreach will be in the hands of an executive with some of the most impressive journalistic and corporate media credentials,” former Voice of America acting associate director Ted Lipien said. Lipien is a co-director of the Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting, an NGO which supports U.S. outreach to nations without free media and keeps an eye on the BBG operations with additional help from Free Media Online, a California-based 501 c 3 organization formed to strengthen media freedom abroad.
“But Mr. Lack will have a very challenging job in dealing with the government bureaucracy and in finding ways of expanding impact and audience through mission-consistent high quality public service journalism,” Lipien added. Free Media Online, supports BBG Watch.
The day before Andy Lack’s selection was announced, the collapse of news reporting, web handling, social media outreach and management standards at the Voice of America was once again demonstrated when VOA’s main English news website had on its homepage as a top Europe news the headline of the Reuters report on the opening of the Shakespeare theatre in Gdansk, Poland, which happened the previous week, instead of a VOA correspondent’s report on the massive anti-Putin and anti-war demonstration in Moscow the previous day. VOA had not posted its report on Sunday’s demonstrations in Russia until early Monday morning Moscow time. VOA then promptly removed it from its homepage and downgraded it on its Europe news page in favor of other less timely news and the Reuters feature report from Poland.
SEE: Shakespeare in Gdansk instead of anti-Putin rally in Moscow – What the heck?, Voice of America, BBG Watch, September 23, 2014
The BBG has a budget of over $700 million through Congressional appropriations. It oversees the Voice of America (VOA), program support unit and bureaucracy of the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) which accounts for 34% of the BBG budget, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB – Radio and TV Marti), Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Radio Free Asia (RFA), and Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN – Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa). VOA, OCB, and IBB are federal government entities, as is the BBG. RFE/RL, RFA, and MBN are 501 c 3 publicly-funded organizations reporting to the BBG and funded from the BBG budget through individual appropriations.
Mr. Lack would be running the agency described by Hillary Clinton as “practically defunct” in its capacity to engage with audiences abroad on behalf of the United States. As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was ex officio member of the BBG, as is now Secretary of State John Kerry. The BBG board is bipartisan. Its current chairman is Jeff Shell, chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment and previously chairman of NBC Universal International from 2011-2013 and president of Comcast Programming Group from 2005 to 2011. Mr. Shell is reported to have high confidence in Andy Lack’s ability to turn the BBG agency around. His job in addition to managing the agency will be to articulate successfully its mission to key constituencies, particularly in the U.S. Congress, and to inspire journalists and other employees to embrace change.
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BBG NEWS RELEASE
BBG Names Andy Lack CEO
SEPTEMBER 23, 2014
Respected Executive to Lead U.S. International Media
WASHINGTON – The Broadcasting Board of Governors announced today that it intends to hire respected journalist and media executive Andrew Lack as Chief Executive Officer of the federal agency that oversees the five networks and broadcasting operations of U.S. international media. Those networks include Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio and TV Martí, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.
“Andy Lack has an unmatched record as a journalist and media executive, and he has successfully steered large organizations through changes in competitive media environments,” BBG Chair Jeff Shell said. “We are incredibly excited that Andy has decided to serve his country and lead the BBG as it fulfills its critical mission in this ever-changing and more complicated world.”
Once his appointment is finalized, Lack will serve as the first-ever CEO of U.S. international media. Creating the position of a CEO has been a key objective of the agency’s governing board and the Administration.
Lack’s selection follows an extensive search process launched in October 2013, when the Board formed a special committee on the creation of a CEO. Earlier this year, the agency engaged an executive search firm to identify candidates.
“Andy is a great leader, a great communicator, and a great journalist,” said Richard Stengel, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, who serves as the delegate to the Board for Secretary of State John Kerry. “He is the perfect person – and I really mean the perfect person – to be this organization’s first CEO in the 21st century. We are lucky to have him, and we at State look forward to working with him.”
Chairman of the Bloomberg Media Group for the past year, Lack joined Bloomberg in October 2008 as CEO of its Global Media Group. In this position, he was responsible for expanding television, radio, magazine, conference and digital businesses. Under his leadership, Bloomberg LP has enhanced the quality of its media properties, expanded internationally, and built out services to bring information to more people, in more places, on more platforms than ever before.
Prior to joining Bloomberg, Lack was Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, where he led the company’s roster of prominent international artists and vast catalog of recorded music from around the world. Before joining Sony Music Entertainment, he was president and chief operating officer of NBC, where he oversaw entertainment, news (including MSNBC and CNBC), NBC stations, sales and broadcast and network operations. He was responsible for expanding the Today show to three hours and creating the show’s street-side studio in New York’s Rockefeller Center.
From 1993 to 2001, Lack was president of NBC News, which he transformed into America’s most-watched news organization through NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press, Today and Dateline NBC.
Before going to NBC, Lack spent much of his television career at CBS News. After joining in 1976, within a year, he became a prominent producer for 60 Minutes and subsequently, senior executive producer of CBS Reports. Lack’s broadcasts at CBS earned numerous honors, including 16 Emmy Awards and 4 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Journalism Awards.
Lack received a bachelor’s degree from the College of Fine Arts at Boston University, where he is currently a trustee.
He lives in Bronxville, NY with his wife, Betsy, and their two sons.