Bob Edwards

{{Infobox presenter

| name = Bob Edwards

| image = Bob_Edwards.jpg

| image_upright = 0.9

| caption = Edwards in 2005

| birth_name = Robert Alan Edwards

| birth_date = {{birth date|1947|05|16}}

| birth_place = Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|02|10|1947|05|16}}

| death_place = Arlington, Virginia, U.S.

| show = The Bob Edwards Show

| station =

| network = XM Satellite Radio

| timeslot = Monday through Friday 8–9 AM ET

| show2 = Bob Edwards Weekend

| station2 =

| network2 = Public Radio International

| timeslot2 = Saturday 8–9 AM ET

| style =

| country = United States

| prevshow = NPR Morning Edition

| parents =

| spouse(s) = {{Plainlist|*Joan Murphy

Sharon Kelly
Windsor Johnston (m. 2011)}}

| children = 2

| website = {{url|http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/}}

}}

Robert Alan Edwards (May 16, 1947 – February 10, 2024) was an American broadcast journalist who was a Peabody Award-winning member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He hosted both of National Public Radio's flagship news programs, the afternoon All Things Considered, and Morning Edition, where he was the first and longest serving host in the latter program's history. Starting in 2004, Edwards hosted The Bob Edwards Show on Sirius XM Radio and Bob Edwards Weekend distributed by Public Radio International to more than 150 public radio stations. Those programs ended in September 2015.

Early life, family and education

Edwards was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to a homemaking mother and an accountant father. He became interested in radio, and pursuing a radio career, from a young age.{{Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Brian |date=February 12, 2024 |title=Bob Edwards, Radio Host who built NPR's Morning Edition, dies at 76 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/02/12/bob-edwards-npr-host-morning-edition-dead-obituary |access-date=February 12, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

Edwards was a graduate of St. Xavier High School in 1965 and the University of Louisville in 1969.{{Cite web |title=Robert 'Bob" Edwards — College of Arts & Sciences |url= https://louisville.edu/artsandsciences/news/events/hallofhonor/inductees/edwards.html |website= louisville.edu| publisher= University of Louisville |access-date=February 12, 2024}} He also earned an M.A. in communication from American University in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1972.

Career

= Early career =

Edwards began his radio career in 1968 at a small radio station in New Albany, Indiana, a town located across the Ohio River from Louisville, his hometown. Afterwards, Edwards served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, producing and anchoring television and radio news programs for the American Forces Korea Network from Seoul. Following his army service, he went on to anchor news for WTOP / 1500, a CBS affiliate, in Washington, D.C. In 1972, at age 25, Edwards anchored national newscasts for the Mutual Broadcasting System.{{Cite web |url=https://www.insideradio.com/free/nprs-longtime-trusted-voice-24-year-morning-edition-host-bob-edwards-has-died/article_775d17ea-c9f1-11ee-9095-cf505262141d.html |title=NPR's Longtime 'Trusted Voice,' 24-year 'Morning Edition' Host Bob Edwards, Has Died |date=February 12, 2024 |access-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240217223519/https://www.insideradio.com/free/nprs-longtime-trusted-voice-24-year-morning-edition-host-bob-edwards-has-died/article_775d17ea-c9f1-11ee-9095-cf505262141d.html |url-status=live }}

Edwards joined NPR in 1974 as a newscaster. Before hosting Morning Edition, Edwards was co-host of All Things Considered.{{Cite news|last=Neary|first=Lynn|date=February 12, 2024|title='The voice we woke up to': Bob Edwards, longtime 'Morning Edition' host, dies at 76|url=https://www.npr.org/2024/02/12/165681524/bob-edwards-dead-npr-host|work=NPR|access-date=February 12, 2024|archive-date=February 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212160613/https://www.npr.org/2024/02/12/165681524/bob-edwards-dead-npr-host|url-status=live}}

=Host of ''Morning Edition''=

Edwards hosted NPR's flagship program, Morning Edition, from the show's inception in November 1979 until April 2004.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/business/media/bob-edwards-dead.html|title = Bob Edwards, Longtime Host of NPR's 'Morning Edition,' Dies at 76|last = Gabriel|first = Trip|date = February 12, 2024|accessdate = February 13, 2024|newspaper = The New York Times|url-access = limited|archive-date = February 12, 2024|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240212235355/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/business/media/bob-edwards-dead.html/|url-status = live}}{{Cite web |date=March 23, 2004 |title=Bob Edwards forced out of 'Morning Edition' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4586432 |access-date=February 12, 2024 |website=NBC News |language=en |agency=Associated Press |archive-date=February 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212165050/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4586432 |url-status=live}} After 24 plus years with Edwards as host, Arbitron ratings showed that, with 13 million listeners, it was the second highest-rated radio broadcast in the country, behind only Rush Limbaugh's AM show. Prior to his departure, he was very popular among both listeners and critics.

When Morning Edition and its host won a George Foster Peabody Award in 1999, the Peabody committee lauded Edwards as

{{cquote|a man who embodies the essence of excellence in radio.{{cite web |url=http://www.peabody.uga.edu/news/pressrelease.asp?ID=38 |title=peabody.uga.edu press release #38 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050906024336/http://www.peabody.uga.edu/news/pressrelease.asp?ID=38 |archive-date=September 6, 2005 |df=dmy-all}} 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 were widely praised. NPR's ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin said, "If I were his producer, I would think of Edwards as NPR's version of Charlie Rose."{{cite web |last=Dvorkin |first=Jeffrey A. |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1854657 |title=Bob Edwards reassigned: Ageism or just change? |publisher=NPR |date=April 28, 2004 |access-date=July 31, 2011 |archive-date=June 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624204657/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1854657 |url-status=live }} The New York Daily News called him "an institution among Morning Edition listeners for his interviewing skills and his calm, articulate style".{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/176750p-153614c.html |title=New York Celebrity Gossip, Pictures, and Entertainment News |work=Daily News |location=New York |access-date=July 31, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051231043951/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/176750p-153614c.html |archive-date=December 31, 2005 }} It is estimated that Edwards conducted over 20,000 interviews for NPR. His subjects ranged from major politicians to authors and celebrities. His weekly call-in chats with retired sportscaster Red Barber are fondly remembered. 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.

=Departure from NPR=

In April 2004, NPR executives decided to "freshen up" Morning Edition{{'}}s sound. Edwards was removed as host, replaced with Steve Inskeep and Renée 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".

At first, NPR executives and spokespersons did not fully explain the move, leaving many listeners confused.{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4586432 |title=Bob Edwards out as Morning Edition host |department=Business – US business |work=NBC News |date=March 23, 2004 |access-date=July 31, 2011 |archive-date=October 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020094536/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/4586432/ |url-status=live }} Eventually 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."

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 50,000 letters and emails, most of them angry, regarding Edwards' demotion; the listener reaction was the largest reaction on a single subject that NPR had received to that date.{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Peter |url=https://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2004-03-23-npr-edwards_x.htm |title=Edwards ousted as 'Morning Edition' host |publisher=Usatoday.Com |date=March 25, 2004 |access-date=July 31, 2011 |archive-date=May 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110523220648/http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2004-03-23-npr-edwards_x.htm |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Dvorkin |first=Jeffrey A. |date=April 28, 2004 |title=Bob Edwards Reassigned: Ageism or Just Change? |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/publiceditor/2004/04/28/1854657/bob-edwards-reassigned-ageism-or-just-change |access-date=February 12, 2024 |work=NPR |archive-date=June 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624204657/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1854657 |url-status=live }} Other journalists, including ABC's Cokie Roberts and CBS's Charles Osgood, expressed dissatisfaction with the move.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

His final broadcast{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=3&prgDate=30-Apr-2004 |title=Morning Edition |publisher=NPR |date=May 31, 2006 |access-date=July 31, 2011 |archive-date=December 13, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041213115539/http://www.npr.org/rundowns/rundown.php?prgDate=April |url-status=live }} as host was on April 30, 2004;{{cite web |author=Morning Edition |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1863340 |title=Interview: Charles Osgood |website=NPR.org |publisher=NPR |access-date=July 31, 2011 |archive-date=May 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505081738/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1863340 |url-status=live }} his last Morning Edition interview was with Charles Osgood, who had also been Edwards' first Morning Edition interview subject almost 25 years earlier.

Edwards decided not to remain at NPR as a senior correspondent and filed only one story, an interview with Bob Dole and other Senate veterans of World War II about the Washington, DC, World War II memorial, in that role.{{cn|date=February 2024}} 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.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

=Sirius XM Satellite Radio=

After leaving NPR, XM Satellite Radio offered Edwards a show so, according to Edwards, "I can continue to host and be heard every day instead of occasionally, as I would have been at NPR". 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."{{cn|date=February 2024}} The Bob Edwards Show{{'}}s first broadcast was on October 4, 2004. Washington Post columnist David Broder and former CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite were Edwards' first guests.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

While continuing his daily show on XM, Edwards returned to public radio stations in January 2006 with his show Bob Edwards Weekend, produced by XM Satellite Radio and distributed by Public Radio International to affiliate stations around the country. A September 22, 2005 press release from PRI states, "Bob Edwards Weekend will provide PRI listeners with an opportunity to sample some of the astute commentary and intriguing interviews offered to XM subscribers each weekday on The Bob Edwards Show." This was the first time that a satellite radio company provided programming to over-the-air terrestrial radio.{{efn|Bob Edwards Weekend episodes are no longer available via podcast at {{cite web |url=http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/bob-edwards-weekend |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904080233/http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/bob-edwards-weekend |archive-date=September 4, 2010 |title=BobEdwardsRadio.com}} Visitors to the page {{cite web |url=http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/ways-to-listen/? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806065754/http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/ways-to-listen/ |archive-date=August 6, 2012 |title=www.bobedwardsradio.com/ways-to-listen |access-date=August 21, 2012 |url-status=live }} will see the message "The Bob Edwards Weekend podcast is no longer available. Our sincerest apologies to our devoted listeners."}}

The Bob Edwards Show received several awards, including: the Deems Taylor Award from ASCAP (2006),{{Cite web |url= https://www.ascapfoundation.org/programs/awards/award-recipients/deems-taylor/2006 |title=39th Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Award Recipients |access-date=February 12, 2024 |archive-date=April 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415073407/https://www.ascapfoundation.org/programs/awards/award-recipients/deems-taylor/2006 |url-status=live }} a Gabriel Award from the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals (2006), The National Press Club's Robert L. Kozic Award for Environmental Reporting (2007) for the documentary, "Exploding Heritage", about mountaintop-removal coal mining. That program was also honored with a Gabriel Award, a 2006 New York Festivals Gold World Medal, and an award from the Society of Environmental Journalists.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In 2008, The Bob Edwards Show received an Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association and a New York Festivals / United Nations Gold Award for the documentary, "The Invisible: Children without homes". "The Invisible" also was honored by the Journalism Center for Children and Families and by the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

In 2009, the show received a Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for the documentary, Stories from Third Med: Surviving a Jungle ER. The documentary also received a Gabriel Award. In September 2012, Edwards was named a Fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2013, the program was awarded a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for the documentary, "An Occupational Hazard: Rape in the military". The show's last live episode aired on September 26, 2014.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

=AARP podcast=

In July 2018, Edwards joined with AARP to host a podcast, Take On Today, which was published most Thursdays. The program covered topics of health, work, money, aging, and entertainment, including interviews and panel discussions of issues relevant to older Americans.{{Cite web |url=http://www.aarp.org/podcasts/take-on-today/ |title=Listen and Subscribe to Take on Today Podcast |website=AARP |language=en |access-date=August 7, 2019 |archive-date=August 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807023054/https://www.aarp.org/podcasts/take-on-today/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://radioink.com/2018/06/29/aarp-podcast-broaches-vital-issues-for-its-older-audience/ |title=AARP podcast broaches vital issues for its older audience |date=June 29, 2018 |publisher=Radio Ink |language=en-US |access-date=August 7, 2019 |archive-date=August 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807023056/https://radioink.com/2018/06/29/aarp-podcast-broaches-vital-issues-for-its-older-audience/ |url-status=live }}

Personal life

Edwards was married three times. His marriages to Joan Murphy and Sharon Kelly ended in divorce. He had two daughters, Eleanor and Susannah, with Sharon Kelly. He married NPR news anchor Windsor Johnston in 2011, with whom he remained until his death.{{Cite web |last=Gross |first=Dan |date=April 25, 2011 |title=Radio romance: NPR alum Bob Edwards and WRTI's Windsor Johnston |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/120660894.html |website=www.inquirer.com |access-date=August 30, 2019 |archive-date=August 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830180441/https://www.inquirer.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/120660894.html |url-status=live }}

Bob Edwards died on February 10, 2024, at the age of 76, in Arlington, Virginia. His cause of death was reported to be from metastatic bladder cancer and heart failure.

Awards and legacy

In 1999, Edwards won a Peabody Award.

In 2003, Edwards was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. In November 2004, Edwards was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame.

He donated his papers and his library to American University in Washington, DC.{{Cite web |title=Special Collections |url=https://www.american.edu/library/archives/collections.cfm |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=American University |language=en |archive-date=February 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214011913/https://www.american.edu/library/archives/collections.cfm |url-status=live }}

He held honorary degrees from the University of Louisville, Spalding University, Bellarmine University, Willamette University, Grinnell College, DePaul University, the University of St. Francis, and Albertson College (now the College of Idaho).{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Publications

Edwards wrote three books.

His first book, Fridays with Red: A Radio Friendship,{{cite book |last=Edwards |first=Robert A. |url=https://archive.org/details/fridayswithredra00edwa |title=Fridays with Red: A radio friendship |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1993 |isbn=0-671-87013-0 |place=New York, NY |url-access=registration}} was based on his weekly interviews with Red Barber, and was released in 1993, a year after Barber's death.

During his final months at NPR, Edwards wrote his second book, Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism, which was published in May 2004.{{cite book |last=Edwards |first=Robert A. |url=https://archive.org/details/edwardrmurrowbi00edwa |title=Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism |date=May 2004 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=0-471-47753-2 |url-access=registration}} The book, a short biography of Edward R. Murrow, brought some public attention to {{cspan|history's most noted broadcast journalist|date=February 2024}} prior to the release of the 2004 film Good Night and Good Luck.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

His memoir, A Voice in the Box, was published in September 2011.{{cite news |author=Howard Kurtz |date=March 10, 2011 |title=Bob Edwards on O'Keefe sting: NPR is cursed |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/03/10/bob-edwards-on-okeefe-sting-npr-is-cursed.html |access-date=July 31, 2011 |newspaper=The Daily Beast |archive-date=October 3, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003142759/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/03/10/bob-edwards-on-okeefe-sting-npr-is-cursed.html |url-status=live }}{{cite web |author=Bob Edwards |date=September 1, 2011 |title=Voice in the Box |url=http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/voice-in-the-box-bob-edwards/1100640642?ean=9780813134512&itm=1&usri=a%2bvoice%2bin%2bthe%2bbox%2bbob%2bedwards%2bnook |access-date=September 4, 2011 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky }}

Explanatory footnotes

References

External links

[http://www.bobedwardsradio.com/ The Bob Edwards Show]
[http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/features/bob-edwards-show.xmc The Bob Edwards Show schedule on XM Satellite Radio] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110041438/http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/features/bob-edwards-show.xmc |date=November 10, 2006 }})
[https://www.npr.org/about/specials/bedwards/ NPR Tribute to Bob Edwards]
[http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11865457/ MSNBC on Edwards' XM Show]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22089-2004Jul28.html The Washington Post on Edwards' XM Show]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20040917023746/http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040729/dcth039_1.html XM Press Release Announcing Edwards' XM Show]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060419005935/http://www.journalismjobs.com/interview_bobedwards.cfm An Interview with Edwards]
Audio Interview on The Sound of Young America: [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20071126201403/http://libsyn.com/media/tsoya/tsoya082705.mp3 MP3 Link]
[http://www.bobedwards.info/ The Bob Edwards Show Discussion Forum]
{{Rhof|197|Bob Edwards}}
{{C-SPAN|4346}}

; Departure from NPR

[https://www.npr.org/about/press/040323.bobedwards.html NPR Press Release on Edwards' Leaving Morning Edition]
[http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/03/24/npr_reassigns_its_longtime_morning_voice/ The Boston Globe{{'}}s initial story]
[https://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2004-03-23-npr-edwards_x.htm USA Today{{'}}s initial story]
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A19085-2004Mar23¬Found=true The Washington Post{{'}}s initial story]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4608650 Dvorkin Looks Back a Year Later]
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/02/AR2005050201503.html The Washington Post: Edwards Speaks out a Year After His Departure]
[http://www2.pri.org/infosite/networknews/releases/bew_launch.cfm Public Radio International press release announcing Bob Edwards Weekend program]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927000153/http://www.researchchannel.org/prog/displayevent.aspx?rID=8118&fID=345 Video interview with Bob Edwards 2 years after leaving NPR]