Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Katy Perry sold her music catalogue for $225 million to Litmus Music, a new survey found that one in ten women were violated sexually at work in the past three years, and PBS’s CEO learned the importance of stakeholder management.
– All in this together. As the CEO of PBS, Paula Kerger oversees a federated organization of 330 individual stations. Those stations are owned, operated, and governed in communities across the U.S. Managing that complex structure is an “interesting challenge,” she admits.
But the experience has taught her a lot about stakeholder management—a skill that is becoming ever more relevant for business leaders in all industries who manage the expectations of employees, customers, and shareholders. Kerger discusses leading PBS in the latest episode of Fortune’s podcast Leadership Next with FortuneCEO Alan Murray and editor-at-large Michal Lev-Ram.
“It’s classic stakeholder management,” she says of her role. “It’s understanding that to make any change, people have to have trust in you.”
Kerger has led PBS, which reaches 80% of U.S. households, for 15 years. She’s spent much of her time visiting stations across the country. That investment has paid off as she’s led a digital transformation of the organization. “If people feel heard, even if they feel you’re asking them to do things that are painful, they’ll give you a bit more latitude,” she says.
PBS, which airs documentaries, children’s programming, and more, was “created as a space to do all the things that the marketplace wasn’t going to be able to sustain,” Kerger says. That mission hasn’t changed. What has changed is the market. “There has to be a space where you can bring forward ideas that may not be hugely popular,” she says.
Listen to her full interview on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Emma Hinchliffe
[email protected]
@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
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- Rolling crisis. Rolling Stone cofounder Jann Wenner is in hot water after saying last week that no female rock star was “articulate enough on this intellectual level” to make it into his new book of interviews titled The Masters. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame responded by removing Wenner from its board. Wenner has since apologized for what he says were "badly chosen words." CNN
- Devil in the data. One in ten women experienced sexual assault or harassment at work in the past three years, according to a new survey, and women are twice as likely as men to report being discriminated against by their health care providers. The 19th
- Putting money on it. Société Générale, one of France’s largest banks, announced plans to spend €100 million ($106.9 million) to shrink the gender pay gap among its employees. The bank also intends to place women in 35% of its senior leadership roles by 2026. Bloomberg
- The songs that got away. Katy Perry recently sold the rights to her music catalogue, composed of the five albums she released between 2008 and 2020, to Litmus Music for $225 million. Perry has slowed down her musical releases in recent years to spend time with her family and focus on her Las Vegas residency. Variety
- Retiring a fighter. When Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) was diagnosed with Parkinson’s this past spring, she was determined to continue serving her constituents. What was thought to be Parkinson’s, however, has now been identified as an incurable neurological condition, and Wexton, despite her hopes, will not seek reelection. Washington Post
MOVERS AND SHAKERS: Remezcla hired Jemilly Castro as vice president of strategy. Quility appointed Jennifer Yaross as chief financial officer and promoted Danielle Conklin as chief information officer. Atlassian named Zeynep Ozdemir as chief marketing officer.
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The cofounder of ScaleAI jet sets on 24-hour trips and jumps out of planes, but never stops working. Here is her daily routine Fortune
As Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner split, it’s time to spin New York Times
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"I am the queer community–it's allowed me to just feel queer, feel like a queer person and feel freedom in that. It's allowed me to feel safe on stage with the audience."
—Up-and-coming pop star Chappell Roan on being able to express herself fully by embracing a "drag version" of herself on stage
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