NPR MOANING EDITION:

Bob Edwards Signs Off As He Signed On in '79 (LYNETTE CLEMETSON, 5/01/04, NY Times)

With a notably wistful edge to his familiar baritone voice, Bob Edwards, the longtime host of National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," anchored the network's flagship news program for the last time on Friday.

"This program is the last I shall host," Mr. Edwards told listeners just before the final segment of the two-hour show, a poignant interview with a fellow radio veteran, Charles Osgood, who was Mr. Edwards's first interview subject when he started "Morning Edition" in November 1979. He told his nearly 13 million listeners, "You're the audience a broadcaster dreams of having."

Though dignified in his delivery and typically understated in style, Mr. Edwards did not sugarcoat his departure, which came at the behest of NPR executives as part of an effort to update programming. He told listeners that he had been reassigned as a senior correspondent and noted his "24 years and 6 months" as host of "Morning Edition," a seeming reference to his being removed before his 25th anniversary in November. He is 56.

After receiving more than 35,000 written and phoned complaints from listeners and several more from public radio stations around the country, NPR executives have acknowledged that they managed the personnel shift poorly.

"I don't think anybody here thinks it was handled well," said Bruce Drake, vice president for news. "Bob had established himself as a fixture in the lives of many people. I'm not sure that there was any formula that would have produced a positive reaction."

Perhaps trying to manage the departure better than they managed the initial announcement, NPR has posted a tribute to Mr. Edwards on its Web site with audio links to some of the host's most notable interviews. (www.npr.org/programs/morning/)

Still, management is moving ahead quickly with the kind of format changes that Mr. Drake and others said the show needed.

Rumor has it that on Monday's show Daniel Schorr will dress up like Batman and spank a couple of lesbian twins.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 1, 2004 5:37 PM