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Public radio listeners asking, 'What about Bob?'
by Bob Collins, Minnesota Public Radio
April 1, 2004

Bob Edwards, a native of Louisville, Ky., joined NPR in 1974 and became co-host of All Things Considered before moving to Morning Edition. (National Public Radio)

St. Paul, Minn. — National Public Radio scrambled this week to defuse listener backlash in the wake of the planned removal of longtime Morning Edition host Bob Edwards from the program. NPR executives say the move was made to provide more "freshness and spontaneity" to the program.

However, a planned boycott of local NPR affiliates appears to have fizzled after an organizer said many of the stations support the group's efforts to keep Edwards in the position he's held for nearly 30 years.

Edward Chapman of Atlanta, Ga., who started the Save Bob Edwards Web site ( http://www.savebobedwards.com), says, instead, the group plans to organize a boycott against NPR underwriters in an effort to pressure the Washington-based network to reverse the decision, and the group plans to lobby against continued government funding for NPR.

Jay Kernis, NPR's senior vice president for programming, and Bruce Drake, NPR's vice president for news, announced Edwards' removal in a March 23rd letter to stations. They said he would be "taking on a new assignment as senior correspondent.... expanding his news reporting presence across NPR news programs." But Edwards fueled speculation that the switch in show hosts is being made over his objections during an appearance on On the Media, a weekly program examining journalism.

"Maybe they feel that even though we've doubled the audience in the last 10 years, it could have been tripled, quadrupled? And maybe it will yet. I hope so, if that's the case, and if I can make that happen by going away, hey --I'll take the hit," Edwards said.

This is one of the best news organizations in all of journalism and it has to continue to thrive and grow and prosper. - Bob Edwards, NPR host

NPR Executive Vice President Ken Stern confirmed the non-voluntary transfer, but cited the replacement of Susan Stamberg as host of All Things Considered as precedent. Stamberg, like Edwards, became a senior correspondent.

Many fans of Morning Edition aren't buying it.

"What can NPR be thinking? A listener increase of over 40 percent and they need to fix Morning Edition? What do they want? Bob Edwards is the primary reason NPR is the only way to start the day, as reading the paper in the shower presents a challenge," wrote one listener in the MPR Forum, a bulletin board on the MPR Web site.

"It's time to stand up," wrote Paul Scott of Minneapolis. "I have been a member for many years. I volunteer to answer phones on the pledge drives, I enjoy it. I am giving back to something I care about and value. I even have a bumper sticker on my car that says Minnesota Public Radio. Well, no more. Turn off the radios; discontinue and don't renew the memberships, stop volunteering, remove the bumper stickers. There are plenty of worthy causes that could make terrific use our collective money and time. For if we continue to support NPR/MPR, we support discrimination, and if there is one bunch that I don't think would do that, it's the listeners of these once great networks."

Minnesota Public Radio, Member Listener Services Associate Mark Jungmann, described the reaction of listeners as "very strong." "Most of the calls we've received have been 'How could you?' How dare you?' and we encourage them to contact National Public Radio. They're upset, and this is a big change."

But Jungmann says Minnesota Public Radio is not planning to pressure NPR. "We tell them we feel this is an internal employment decision between NPR's management and Bob Edwards. We both (NPR and MPR) believe in the autonomy of the newsrooms and no corporation, group, or anyone else should have influence over those hiring decisions," he said.

For some, however, the issue is far from internal. Linda Ellerbee, the former NBC News host suggested the removal is a pattern of age discrimination in a medium seeking a younger audience. "I don't agree with the simple-minded thinking that says a younger audience will accept the news only if a younger person delivers it. That was used against the first female broadcast journalists, of which I was one. Men won't believe the news if it comes from a woman, they said. They were wrong," she wrote in a nationally syndicated column this week. Ellerbee suggested listeners withhold support of local stations. "We, the audience, are the principal 'advertisers' of NPR, its funders, or so it tells us every pledge drive. OK. Next time it comes calling, some of us might be feeling too old to rummage around for our checkbooks," she said.

"Absolutely the wrong way to go," countered Edwards. "This is one of the best news organizations in all of journalism and it has to continue to thrive and grow and prosper. I've been part of building this up for over 30 years and to have it come tumbling down over me is very distressing."

NPR's Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne will serve as interim co-hosts starting in May until a permanent successor to Edwards is named. Edwards says he hopes to contribute "profiles of people worthy of our attention."

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