AJR  Features
From AJR,   June/July 2004

A PR Debacle   

By Lori Robertson
Lori Robertson (robertson.lori@gmail.com), a former AJR managing editor, is a senior contributing writer for the magazine.      


Torey Malatia, president and general manager of Chicago Public Radio, suggests the following as the announcement NPR should have issued about its recent change to "Morning Edition": "NPR has decided to replace Bob Edwards. Bob Edwards is not happy about it, but has nevertheless accepted this correspondent position and is really hurt that he wasn't allowed to stay on the show until his 25th anniversary."

That would've made listeners mad, says Malatia, "but not this mad."

It's doubtful that would've won any public relations awards, but the phony-sounding release and subsequent corporatese about "changing needs" and "the right sound" didn't appease the masses either. "All Things Considered" host Robert Siegel says the initial release was embarrassing. "We might as well have told the audience, 'Screw you if you want to know why we're doing this.'"

Executives have said plenty of times since that they could have handled it better. Edwards himself suggests management should have worked out the details of his new job before they rushed out the news. But he's moved on, he says. "I'm not one for moping."

The 25,000 "savebobedwards.com" signatures aside, NPR moved on, too, introducing a new bicoastal format on May 3, with interim hosts Renee Montagne at NPR West in Los Angeles and Steve Inskeep in Washington.

The hundreds of articles, columns and editorials written about Edwards' departure proved that change doesn't come easily for National Public Radio. Listeners seem to view any move to "freshen" a program with extreme skepticism.

Michele Norris, who left ABC News to become a host of "All Things Considered" in 2002, says the reaction to Edwards' move shows the strong connection that listeners have to the programs. When she first saw the letters sent by the audience--not about Edwards, about anything--she was blown away. "It is an interactive experience, it really is. The audience feels like they are a part of this... They have a seat at the table, too," Norris says. "As so many other news organizations have gone through changes for good or for bad, it seems that the grip on NPR, their connection to NPR and their feelings for NPR seem to deepen and become that much stronger."


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