Bob Edwards

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Image:Bedwards140.jpg Robert Alan Edwards (born May 16, 1947 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American radio broadcaster. He gained fame as the first host of National Public Radio's flagship program, Morning Edition, and can currently be heard on XM Satellite Radio.


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Personal life and early career

Edwards is married to Sharon Edwards and has two daughters, Eleanor and Susannah, and a stepson, Brean. He is a graduate of the University of Louisville and began his radio career at a small radio station in New Albany, Indiana. Afterwards, Edwards served in the U.S. Army, producing and anchoring TV and radio news programs for the armed forces from Seoul. Following his army service, he went on to anchor news for WTOP-AM, a CBS affiliate, in Washington, D.C. He also earned an M.A. in Communication from American University in Washington D.C. Edwards joined NPR in 1974. Before hosting Morning Edition, Edwards was a co-host of All Things Considered.


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Host of Morning Edition

Edwards hosted NPR's flagship program, Morning Edition, from the show's inception in 1979 until 2004. After Edwards' 24 1/2 years on the program, Arbitron ratings show that with 13 million listeners, it is the second highest rated radio broadcast in the country, behind only Rush Limbaugh's AM show. Prior to his departure, he was incredibly popular among both listeners and critics.

When Morning Edition won a George Foster Peabody Award) in 1999, the Peabody committeelauded Edwards as "a man who embodies the essence of excellence in radio. His reassuring and authoritative voice is often the first many Americans hear each day. His is a rare radio voice: informed but never smug; intimate but never intrusive; opinionated but never dismissive. Mr. Edwards does not merely talk, he listens."

Edwards' skills as an interviewer have been widely praised. NPR's omsbudsman, Jeffer Dvorkin, said, "If I were his producer, I would think of Edwards as NPR's version of Charlie Rose." The New York Daily News called him "an institution among Morning Edition listeners for his interviewing skills and his calm, articulate style." It is estimated that Edwards conducted over 20,000 interviews for NPR; his subjects ranged from major politicians to authors and celebrities. One fondly remembered feature from Morning Edition is his weekly call-in chats with retired sportscaster Red Barber. The chats were supposedly about sports, but often digressed into topics like the Gulf War, what kind of flowers were blooming at Barber's Tallahassee, Florida home, or other non-sport subjects. Barber would call Edwards "Colonel Bob", referring to Edwards' Kentucky Colonel honor from his native state. Barber passed away in 1992, and the following year Edwards based his first book, Fridays with Red: A Radio Friendship (ISBN 0671870130), on the weekly interviews.

Edwards' critics are few and far between, although the conservative weekly newspaper Human Events did complain in 2003, "On the October 17 'Morning Edition,' host Bob Edwards launched into a long 'news' report on the flaws of the Bush foreign policy, observing: 'Overall, the policies of the United States are still very unpopular around the world. The Bush Doctrine, a preference for unilateral military action and a disdain for multinational diplomacy, is under scrutiny more than ever.'" NPR is often accused of having a liberal bias, but Edwards himself is rarely subject to such criticism.

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Controversial Departure From NPR

In April 2004, NPR executives decided to "freshen up" up Morning Edition's sound. Edwards was removed as host, replaced with Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne, and reassigned as a senior correspondent for NPR News. The move took him by surprise. "I'd rather stay," he said, "but it's not my decision to make." NPR executives and spokespersons never fully explained the move, leaving many listeners confused. They did make some attempts to explain themselves. According to NPR spokeswoman Laura Gross, "It’s part of a natural evolution. A new host will bring new ideas and perspectives to the show. Bob’s voice will still be heard; he’ll still be a tremendous influence on the show. We just felt it was time for a change." Executive Vice President Ken Stern also explained the move. "This change [in 'Morning Edition'] is part of the ongoing evaluation of all NPR programming that has taken place over the last several years. We've looked at shows like All Things Considered and Talk of the Nation with an eye to how we can best serve listeners in the future." Stern later participated in an online chat with listeners at NPR's website, but only heightened their confusion and anger.

The decision to remove Edwards, made shortly before his 25th anniversary with the show, was met with much criticism by listeners. Jeffrey Dvorkin, NPR's ombudsman, reported that the network received over 35,000 letters regarding Edwards' demotion, most of them angry. This is the largest reaction to one subject NPR has ever received, even more than its noted Middle Eastern coverage. Other journalists, including ABC's Cokie Roberts and CBS' Charles Osgood, expressed dissatisfaction with the move. For more information on Edwards' departure, see the various links in the "External Links" section below.

His final broadcast as the host was on April 30, 2004; his last NPR interview was with Charles Osgood, who was also Edwards' first Morning Edition interview subject almost 25 years earlier. Coincidentally, the last show also included a segment about the last Oldsmobile, which rolled off an assembly line the day before.

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Post-NPR Career

During his final months at NPR, Edwards wrote his second book, Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism (ISBN 0471477532), published in May 2004. NPR let him go in the spring rather than waiting for his 25th anniversary with Morning Edition in the fall, claiming it wanted to free him up for his book tour. The book, a short biography of Edward R. Murrow, brought some public attention to history's most noted broadcast journalist prior to the release of the 2005 movie Good Night and Good Luck. The first edition drew criticism for inaccurately describing the reason Murrow's television program See It Now was canceled. Edwards has stated the error was a simple lapse that was stated correctly elsewhere in the book.

Edwards decided not to remain at NPR as a senior correspondent, and three months after his departure from Morning Edition, XM Satellite Radio announced that he had signed on to host a new program, The Bob Edwards Show, for its new XM Public Radio channel. While on his Murrow book tour, Edwards had hinted that he might move on from NPR. The show's first broadcast was on October 4, 2004. Former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite was Edwards' first guest.

"They want to give me a program, so I can continue to host and be heard every day instead of occasionally, as I would have been at NPR," Edwards told the Washington Post. He said the format would be "loose": "It'll be long interviews, short interviews, and then maybe departments... You've got to have the news... it's not going to be all features, yet it's not going to be the Financial Times, either."

In November 2004, Bob Edwards was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. He continues to offer verbal support for National Public Radio (though not its individual executives) and helps local public radio stations with their fundraisers.


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External links

On Edwards' departure from Morning Edition:


Other Links:

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