NPR boss Terence Samuel hired to run USA Today

USA Today has hired NPR chief Terence Samuel as its next top editor.

The national newspaper’s parent company, Gannett, announced Friday that Samuel will oversee its flagship publication and shape content that serves what the company said is more than 75 million readers monthly.

Samuel most recently served as vice president and executive editor of NPR News, where he oversaw all news gathering for the broadcast network before stints at The Washington Post and National Journal.

“Terry will accelerate our transformation of USA Today, embracing our role and our roots as America’s newspaper with the core mission of being nothing less than essential to the readers, viewers and listeners we serve nationwide,” Gannett Chief Content Officer Kristin Roberts said in a statement.

Samuel takes over for Nicole Carroll, who departed as editor in April and has not publicly commented on what led to her leaving the outlet.

News of a new editor at USA Today comes as Gannett deals with threats of a work stoppage strike next week by journalists at some of the nation’s largest metro daily newspapers that the company owns and operates.

The company told The Hill on Thursday it is “focused on investing in local newsrooms and monetizing our content” and said a potential work stoppage would cause “no disruption to our content or ability to deliver trusted news.”

Samuel is slated to take over at USA Today on July 10.