Goodbye, Bob ...

April 30, 2004 2:45 AM

A glowing tribute honoring Bob Edwards on his final day as anchor at NPR's "Morning Edition" ... from the bastards people who fired reassigned him in the first place. (Sorry to start your Friday on a downer.)
posted by RavinDave (26 comments total)

After many years of support, I have stopped donating to NPR because of this fiasco. It pisses me off to no end.
They can go to hell.
/really pissed.
posted by EmoChild at 4:45 AM on April 30, 2004

I realize it's stoopid, but it still amused me the tribute to a man who will no longer have to get up at 1am is at about/specials/bedwards/
posted by yerfatma at 5:50 AM on April 30, 2004

I wasn't sure of the circumstances behind him not being a morning host anymore. Either of you people above have links with more information?
posted by almostcool at 6:16 AM on April 30, 2004

I like Bob, but I can tell you that I have no intention to switch to commercial radio or the Today show in the morning. We will all survive without Bob, and who knows, maybe the new host(s) will be just as good.

If they had just given Tavis Smiley the heave-ho instead...oh well.
posted by Durwood at 6:23 AM on April 30, 2004

Well, I'll miss him.

But frankly, where's the controversy? Now that you mention it, I can hear a vague whiff of approprium when the NPR-nicks talk about his departure from ME, but I haven't heard anything specific.

Anybody have any links?
posted by lodurr at 6:29 AM on April 30, 2004

The last half-hour of his show this morning was quite moving.
posted by ewagoner at 6:44 AM on April 30, 2004

Here's the link to this morning's show. Susan Stamberg's tribute is only 20 seconds long, but listen to Bob's interview with Charles Osgood.
posted by PrinceValium at 7:02 AM on April 30, 2004

The controversy, Bob Edwards’ involuntary job change, was discussed in a previous post (which I can’t retrieve for some reason), but here is the CNN article that discusses it.

Bob Edwards’ nearly total lack of affect sometimes bothered me, but generally I found his voice and style to be agreeable and reassuring. However, the suggestion that this change would make me less supportive of my local public radio station, or that it would make me turn away from the often high quality programming on NPR in favor of the crap that permeates the rest of the dial, is ludicrous.
posted by found missing at 7:07 AM on April 30, 2004

NPR's Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne will serve as interim co-hosts starting in May until a permanent successor to Edwards is named.

Hmmm. Todd Mundt was on vacation from our local station this week...

Nah.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 7:23 AM on April 30, 2004

EmoChild: After many years of support, I have stopped donating to NPR because of this fiasco. It pisses me off to no end. They can go to hell.

So, I assume you've also stopped listening to NPR? Did you send a letter of protest?
posted by tippiedog at 7:38 AM on April 30, 2004

PST: I like Mr. Mundt, but if he is ever going to make it in the bigger world of NPR, he's going to have to learn to handle more difficult interviewees. The few people I heard him talk to who were not friendly completely bowled him over.
posted by deadcowdan at 8:12 AM on April 30, 2004

a save effort.
posted by petebest at 8:36 AM on April 30, 2004

I never commented on previous threads about this. I am sorry he is being reassigned so close to a landmark anniversary.

That said, I also felt like he 'phoned it in' sometimes. Especially when interviewing someone in another city or part of the world, it felt often like it was canned. Like someone else was actually doing the interviewing and they were patching in his voice as he read the questions. I doubt that it was happening like that, but that is the impression I got sometimes.

Still, mornings will not be the same.
posted by Danf at 8:46 AM on April 30, 2004

The ignominious firing/reassignment of Bob Edwards is not, in and of itself, the reason I will drop all support of NPR. Though it certainly lacks class(*), the biggest insult and the largest hit to NPR's integrity was the anemic attempt to spin it. In a fumbling double-speak explanation worthy of Faux News, Programming VP Kerns's brayed that "Ol' Bob's excited about the new opportunities opening up for him blah-blah-blah as we continue to rely on his blah-blah-blah valued input blah-blah-blah ... " Hell, they initially tried to make it look like it was his idea, and when they got busted they came out with such fulsome and offensive ad hoc BS rationalizations as to make Karl Rove proud. Until Kerns is ousted, NPR has no credibility.


(*) If they wanted to move him out, they should have simply replaced the show in toto and retire "Morning Edition".
posted by RavinDave at 8:49 AM on April 30, 2004

PST: I like Mr. Mundt, but if he is ever going to make it in the bigger world of NPR, he's going to have to learn to handle more difficult interviewees.

Absolutely, and my comment above was mostly a joke. But I would like to see him working on some sort of national level again, even if just as an occasional correspondent or something.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:57 AM on April 30, 2004

i'm going to miss his voice; i can't think of anyone else i would rather hear bad news from. his was the first voice i heard reporting on september 11.
i think it's especially unpleasant that npr didn't let him stay to mark the 25th anniversary of morning edition, it's only 6 months away.

Bob Edwards’ nearly total lack of affect sometimes bothered me,

i LIKE his reporting style, the last thing i want at 5:00 in the morning is some amped-up, zoo-format freak screaming at me.
(not that i think that's what he'll be replaced with, but still..)
posted by dolface at 9:30 AM on April 30, 2004

Yeah... he'll be missed, for sure. It's been occurring to me lately that I've been listening to folks like Bob and Terry Gross for my entire life... literally. The morning commute just won't be the same without bob.
posted by ph00dz at 9:43 AM on April 30, 2004

The Ted Koppel interview this morning was good too. Best of luck, Bob.
posted by hal incandenza at 9:45 AM on April 30, 2004

total lack of affect
or
amped-up, zoo-format freak screaming at me

(false dilemma)
posted by found missing at 10:06 AM on April 30, 2004

The Ted Koppel interview this morning was good too.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone so excited about watching Nightline in my life.

Now, the vacation and book tour does give NPR to see whether their changes result in a drop in ratings. The three month break will permit Bob to possibly be reinstated near the 25th anniversary. But Jay Kernis will have to be sacked before they bring back Bob Edwards.
posted by calwatch at 12:59 PM on April 30, 2004

Susan Stamberg: "It'll be a treat to encounter him in real life, in our halls, at all hours of the afternoon in his new job as a correspondent" ..... more disingenuous, insincere, corporate words have never been uttered. Yuck.
posted by blucevalo at 1:06 PM on April 30, 2004

RavinDave: way to use the pejorative sense of "fulsome". You rock.
posted by kenko at 3:32 PM on April 30, 2004

I feel like there has to be some underlying reason no one's saying out loud, because it is a weird choice. Even when someone's not perfect (and I know what people mean that he sometimes sounded like he was thinking about something else), when a broadcaster becomes associated with a show, even commercial stations keep them on. And he has a great voice, especially for early morning, ease you into waking, time. The show this morning was pretty touching, although I think the interviewee was disappointed to find out why he was the guest :).

Anyway. I will still listen to NPR for sure, but I'm weirded out that they're booting him, and kinda want to know what the real deal is.
posted by mdn at 3:50 PM on April 30, 2004

My first class of the day starts at 7:05 am, and I know I'm not going to be late if I turn onto Pacific street before Bob tells me "the news is next." This morning I realized I'll never hear that again, and I got so choked up I almost missed my turn onto Pacific. I'll definately miss him.
posted by Sfving at 3:56 PM on April 30, 2004

Bob was doing a fine job, but I think it's at least debatable that he was getting a little stale. In the past few months he sounded apathetic. Steve Inskeep has a solid, generic middle-of-Iowa Walmart voice that won't bore or enrage anyone. I guess there's nothing wrong with that, but I hope whoever the new host is will bring a unique personality with him or her to the show.
posted by PrinceValium at 5:30 PM on April 30, 2004

A Wistful Farewell to NPR's Minimalist

If you have never heard Edwards, it is a little hard to explain why so many of us have become devotees. He is a minimalist. He works hard to be unobtrusive. In a business where constant yakking is the norm and most hosts feel a need to dominate the dialogue, Edwards is different.

I could make a case that he is the most skilled questioner in the business, but there are other worthy candidates. What no one could dispute is that he is the most succinct.

High praise from David Broder.
posted by y2karl at 7:16 AM on May 2, 2004