Just shy of a year since leaving NBC Universal to take a top post at social media juggernaut Twitter, Vivian Schiller said she is stepping down so new Global Media head Katie Stanton can reorganize the unit.
According to reports, Schiller will be replaced by Adam Sharp, who previously ran Twitter’s government unit, in a new position that will include government and news partnerships.
Schiller left NBCU, where she was chief digital officer, in late October 2013 to become Head of News for Twitter, in charge of developing relationships with more traditional news outlets in cable, broadcast, newspapers and radio.
Her departure is one of several at the social media company this year, including chief operating officer Ali Rowghani and North American media head Chloe Sladden, who was replaced by Stanton earlier this year. In a memo obtained by technology website Re/Code, which first broke the story, Stanton said the reorganization is being made to streamline the media team and make operations more efficient.
In a trio of tweets Wednesday night, Schiller said she was “stepping down so new global media lead @katies [Stanton] can reorganize as she sees fit. Wish everyone at twitter nothing but the best.”
Schiller had a long history in the cable business. She served as a top executive at CNN productions in 2000 and joined the New York Times in 2002 as senior vice president and general manger for its Discovery Times Channel. Schiller later rose to SVP television and radio for the Times and EVP and GM for the network in 2005. In 2006, Schiller was named SVP and GM of NYTimes.com, heading up the paper’s digital initiatives and in 2009 joined National Public Radio as CEO, resigning in March 2011 after a series of political missteps at the public broadcaster. She was named chief digital officer at NBC News in July 2011, responsible for leading the digital strategy of the broadcast network as well as cable properties like MSNBC.
