Stephen George announced Thursday he will be leaving Louisville Public Media after nine years with the nonprofit, most of which he spent as president and CEO.
“Running a public media organization or working for a public media organization – you know, we are just temporary stewards of a service that came well before us and will outlive us,” he told LPM News. “I view it as a continuum. I hopped on about nine years ago, and it’s time to hop off in a few months now.”
George will officially exit the organization in January and begin a new job as the American Journalism Project’s head of emerging markets. He told LPM he’ll mainly focus on identifying “communities around the country that are ripe for new philanthropic investment in their local news ecosystems.”
He’ll still live in Louisville.
Because he’s leaving LPM, George said he also must also step down from NPR’s board of directors.
George joined LPM in August 2015 as executive editor in the newsroom, helping fellow journalists produce award-winning reporting. He officially has been the organization’s top leader since July 2018, after initially assuming the position in an interim role that January.
In announcing his departure and looking back on his tenure here, George noted how LPM has greatly increased the amount of local reporting it produces, expanded local hosting on its music stations and offered a growing number of live events across the city.
George's time as CEO wasn't without difficulties. Earlier this year, LPM laid off eight employees as part of a budgetary decision to cut the organization's operating expenses by about 10%.
Now, as he prepares to leave LPM, George said he's confident in the organization's future.
“Today, as we enter our 75th year of service in 2025, LPM is stronger than ever,” he said in his public announcement Thursday. “And there is much to be excited about on the horizon: a new local news talk show and podcast from WFPL, a regional news hub in which LPM is partnering with NPR and other stations to expand coverage of regional news that matters, expanded areas of coverage from our local newsroom, new features and community presence from our music stations.”
This story has been updated.
