Schiller
Former NPR exec Vivian Schiller has joined NBC News as chief digital officer, overseeing digital strategy at NBC News and MSNBC. She will begin working at the Peacock in mid-July and will report to divsiion chief Steve Capus.The appointment is a potentially polarizing one: Schiller left NPR in March after the org's board determined that political controversies around fundraiser Ron Schiller (no relation) and news analyst Juan Williams (who departed for Fox News) had given the company's critics grounds to push for the elimination of its federal funding.
Schiller's ouster was part of a chain reaction at publicly funded media organizations around the country as conservatives, mostly in the House of Representatives, pushed to cut or eliminate their funding.
At NBC News, Schiller will have the advantage of working at an autonomous news org that justifies expenditures to shareholders, rather than the government. But MSNBC is well acquainted with charges of liberal bias, and the broadcast news division has recently and publicly made a point of demonstrating that its house is in order.
Earlier this year, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann departed the network after it became clear that he had violated internal policy by making political donations without informing his bosses; the division subsequently censured Joe Scarborough for a similar infraction.
In a statement from the network today, Capus said that Schiller's digital chops weren't in doubt. ""Her background in journalism, combined with expertise in the digital space will add a strong new pillar to the NBC News leadership team," he said. Previously, the exec worked at the New York Times Company as senior v.p. and g.m. of NYTimes.com; she also helped launch Discovery/Times joint venture Discovery Times Channel (now Investigation Discovery). Contact Sam Thielman at news@variety.com
