Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Tavis vs. Ed Gordon
Listener "Pam" writes...
Dear WMUB,, , This is a copy of an email I sent to Mr. Dvorkin at NPR. You have been soliciting comments about the NPR replacement for Tavis Smiley, News & Notes. These comments concern that show.
I've been listening to News & Notes with Ed Gordon for the past 9 days and while I had great expectations for him and for the show, I'm sorry to say I am utterly disappointed. Granted, it is an impossible task to follow the likes of Tavis Smiley and the show he pioneered with NPR, but that begs another question: how many times in one calendar year can NPR shoot itself (and its listeners) in the foot? First, the embarassing termination of Bob Edwards, and then the loss of Tavis Smiley (and to my mind, this is a greater loss than Bob Edwards).
Edwards' termination put a spotlight on NPR management that has not dimmed and Smiley's departure intensifies that spotlight. Clearly, NPR has some serious management problems!, , I am a 50- something white woman, university professor. Tavis was my NPR political/cultural/economic lifeline to diverse voices in this country, particularly African American and Hispanic/Latino/Latina voices. I never missed Connie Rice's conversations with Smiley, or those segments with Michael Eric Dyson and Omar Wasso. I loved the lively exchange of ideas, the challenges to cultural and political hypocrisy, and the joy of living that Smiley embodies. Now Tavis is gone and we are the poorer.
My disappointment with News & Notes is that it is NONE of the above - Mr. Gordon sounds like a "deer in headlights", stilted, too formal and unable to control a discussion (or roundtable). The homophobic rant by two ministers on the 2/9 show was appalling and Mr. Gordon simply let them rant. He lost control of the segement and there was never a recovery. Additionally, I find the conversants on the show to be boring, the questions formulaic, and the show lacks intellectual stimulation. When Tavis' show was over, I was always stimulated, energized, and always had something to share with colleagues: an idea, a book, a song/musician, etc.
The new show has no passion, is poorly packaged, poorly paced and offers no compelling reason to listen. All of those folks who were attracted to NPR by Tavis might as well go back to their iPods. As I understand it, Mr. Smiley challenged NPR to guarantee that his show was not the only "diverse" programming supported by NPR. Now that Smiley has departed, NPR has guaranteed that diverse voices are muted and boring beyond recognition.
Thanks for listening & thanks for your work,
Dear WMUB,, , This is a copy of an email I sent to Mr. Dvorkin at NPR. You have been soliciting comments about the NPR replacement for Tavis Smiley, News & Notes. These comments concern that show.
I've been listening to News & Notes with Ed Gordon for the past 9 days and while I had great expectations for him and for the show, I'm sorry to say I am utterly disappointed. Granted, it is an impossible task to follow the likes of Tavis Smiley and the show he pioneered with NPR, but that begs another question: how many times in one calendar year can NPR shoot itself (and its listeners) in the foot? First, the embarassing termination of Bob Edwards, and then the loss of Tavis Smiley (and to my mind, this is a greater loss than Bob Edwards).
Edwards' termination put a spotlight on NPR management that has not dimmed and Smiley's departure intensifies that spotlight. Clearly, NPR has some serious management problems!, , I am a 50- something white woman, university professor. Tavis was my NPR political/cultural/economic lifeline to diverse voices in this country, particularly African American and Hispanic/Latino/Latina voices. I never missed Connie Rice's conversations with Smiley, or those segments with Michael Eric Dyson and Omar Wasso. I loved the lively exchange of ideas, the challenges to cultural and political hypocrisy, and the joy of living that Smiley embodies. Now Tavis is gone and we are the poorer.
My disappointment with News & Notes is that it is NONE of the above - Mr. Gordon sounds like a "deer in headlights", stilted, too formal and unable to control a discussion (or roundtable). The homophobic rant by two ministers on the 2/9 show was appalling and Mr. Gordon simply let them rant. He lost control of the segement and there was never a recovery. Additionally, I find the conversants on the show to be boring, the questions formulaic, and the show lacks intellectual stimulation. When Tavis' show was over, I was always stimulated, energized, and always had something to share with colleagues: an idea, a book, a song/musician, etc.
The new show has no passion, is poorly packaged, poorly paced and offers no compelling reason to listen. All of those folks who were attracted to NPR by Tavis might as well go back to their iPods. As I understand it, Mr. Smiley challenged NPR to guarantee that his show was not the only "diverse" programming supported by NPR. Now that Smiley has departed, NPR has guaranteed that diverse voices are muted and boring beyond recognition.
Thanks for listening & thanks for your work,
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