美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Morning Edition': The Radio News Show That Almost Wasn't

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

With happy birthday wishes for this program, MORNING EDITION is 40 years old today. Here is what the first show sounded like.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

BOB EDWARDS: Good morning. Today is Guy Fawkes Day. Guy's plot to blow up Parliament was discovered on this day in 1605. Today is the beginning of National Split Pea Soup Week, and it's the debut¹ of this program. I'm Bob Edwards.

BARBARA HOCTOR: I'm Barbara Hoctor. Today is Monday, November 5. This is NPR's MORNING EDITION.

(SOUNDBITE OF VARIOUS' "ORIGINAL MORNING EDITION THEME")

GREENE: The show debuted² on this day in 1979. And over the years, it has covered seven presidents, two Persian Gulf³ Wars, September 11 and also nine "Star Wars" movies. But here's the thing - MORNING EDITION was almost cancelled before it even started.

EDWARDS: They did this pilot. Only the stations heard it. It was closed-circuit. And it was awful. It was absolutely a disaster.

GREENE: That is Bob Edwards, who hosted this show from 1979 to 2004.

EDWARDS: It was very chatty. It was like bad small-market television. And a lot of member stations heard the pilot, and they didn't want any part of that.

JAY KERNIS: There were many pilots. They were all pretty bad.

GREENE: That is Jay Kernis. He was part of the original MORNING EDITION staff. And he says, in 1979, NPR hired two managers from an all-news radio station to develop the show.

KERNIS: They were quite accomplished⁴ gentlemen. They worked at a local Washington station that had 50% of the radio audience in the morning. Unfortunately, they really didn't understand what NPR was about. And the stations heard these pilots and said it sounded like commercial radio.

EDWARDS: Well, I think that's an insult to commercial radio (laughter). Commercial radio was not that bad (laughter).

GREENE: All right. So two weeks before MORNING EDITION was set to premiere, NPR fired the managers from the commercial news station and the two announcers who hosted the pilots.

KERNIS: There was a meeting at the home of the news director at the time. And the president of NPR, Frank Mankiewicz, looked at me and said, well, you seem to know something about radio. We want you to get the show on the air.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

GREENE: First things first, Kernis needed a host, so he borrowed one from across the hall.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

EDWARDS: This is Bob Edwards. I'll be away from All Things Considered for a while. Instead, I'll be with you each morning for National Public Radio's new MORNING EDITION.

GREENE: A while turned into nearly a quarter century. Barbara Hoctor joined the show as Bob's co-host. And 10 days later, MORNING EDITION was on the air.

(SOUNDBITE OF VARIOUS' "ORIGINAL MORNING EDITION THEME")

KERNIS: I remember at one point Frank Mankiewicz looking at me and saying, just don't embarrass me.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

EDWARDS: Today is the day the Nuclear Regulatory Commission tells Congress that no nuclear plants will be built until new safety...

GREENE: That first show was well-received. But Bob Edwards says they weren't out of the woods yet, especially with NPR's own staff.

EDWARDS: The reporters boycotted⁶ MORNING EDITION. They said, we're going to be doing twice the work for the same pay. And we don't want any part of that.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

COKIE ROBERTS: They told us that we really wouldn't be doing very much for it at all, that we'd be writing a news spot here or there. They lied.

GREENE: That is Cokie Roberts, who was with this program until her death in September. Here she is in a 1989 interview.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ROBERTS: They knew they'd have us over a barrel in the end because they had all of these statistics that showed them that morning is when a lot of people like to listen to the radio. And they knew that all of us were egomaniacal enough so that once we found out that everybody was listening, we'd beg to be on that program. And right they were.

EDWARDS: So the program had the pilot, strike one against it, the reporter boycott⁵, strike two. And then strike three, the program debuted on November 5, 1979. On November 4, 1979, militant⁷ students took over the American embassy in Tehran. And it was the lead story in everybody's news for the next 15 months. Did we have anyone in Tehran? No (laughter), we had no one near Tehran.

GREENE: But MORNING EDITION covered the news and built an audience through live interviews with newsmakers, politicians and celebrities⁸.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCASTS)

EDWARDS: Dr. Kissinger, as the Watergate cover-up came unraveled, why didn't you quit?

HENRY KISSINGER: Because I felt it was my duty to hold our foreign policy together. Whatever...

EDWARDS: Visitors to the Carter Presidential Center can ask you the question, why didn't you bomb Iran?

JIMMY CARTER: Would have resulted, in my opinion, in the almost instant execution of all the American hostages...

EDWARDS: I have a confession⁹. I'm almost 36 years old, and I enjoy your show (laughter).

FRED ROGERS: Anybody likes to be in touch with somebody who's honest.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?")

ROGERS: (Singing) It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood...

GREENE: Confessions¹⁰ with Bob Edwards. All right. So MORNING EDITION also built its audience through distinctive¹¹ commentators¹², none more distinctive than Red Barber.

EDWARDS: Red Barber was a legendary¹³ pioneer broadcaster who was the voice of first the Cincinnati Reds, then the Brooklyn Dodgers¹⁴ and the New York Yankees in - from the '30s through the '60s.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

RED BARBER: Joe DiMaggio up - swung on, belted. It's a long one - deep into left center. Back for it, Gionfriddo - back, back, back, back, back, back. He makes a one-handed catch against the bullpen. Oh, doctor.

GREENE: Every Friday for more than a decade, Bob would talk live with Red from his home in Tallahassee, Fla. And it was appointment listening.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

BARBER: Good morning, Robert. And this is the 20 of June. And more than that, there's an old saying around these parts that when the crape myrtle blooms, the watermelons are ripe. And the crape myrtle is in full flower.

EDWARDS: I've never heard that saying before.

GREENE: Yet Red was supposed to talk about sports - at least, that's what was supposed to happen.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

BARBER: Did you happen to see the Sunday Times - The New York Times on November the 14, Bob?

EDWARDS: Red...

BARBER: There's a four-column story and a two-column-wide picture of an Abyssinian cat named Toob.

EDWARDS: (Laughter) Not again, Red.

You know, it sounds ridiculous, but I think I did a better job on 9/11 talking to Red Barber for 12 years. That really prepares you to do live, seat-of-the-pants breaking news. And it was the greatest audience builder for NPR. So many people were drawn¹⁵ to NPR because of Red Barber.

GREENE: Other listeners were drawn to the writer Ellen Gilchrist, a short story writer and novelist from Fayetteville, Ark., who would talk about the art of writing.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

ELLEN GILCHRIST: A poem is a ball of energy that must be very tight, all the excess words paired away so that the images are clear. One good image is better than...

EDWARDS: You put Ellen Gilchrist on, you put Red Barber on, and we didn't sound like this, you know, elite¹⁶, northeastern U.S., inside-the-Beltway outfit¹⁷. We sounded like America - and still do.

GREENE: That's Bob Edwards, who hosted MORNING EDITION for its first 24 1/2 years. And we'll be celebrating this program's 40th anniversary throughout the week with a series of segments produced by a legend on this show's staff, senior producer Barry Gordemer.

(SOUNDBITE OF VARIOUS' "ORIGINAL MORNING EDITION THEME")

1 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

2 debuted   

初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• In late 2003 a full-size SUV, the Pathfinder Armada, debuted. 2003年末，全尺寸SUV的探路者无敌舰队，推出。
• The album debuted at number two and quickly went platinum. 专辑一亮相就荣登排行榜第二名，很快就取得了白金销量。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

5 boycott   

n./v.(联合)抵制，拒绝参与

参考例句：

• We put the production under a boycott.我们联合抵制该商品。
• The boycott lasts a year until the Victoria board permitsreturn.这个抗争持续了一年直到维多利亚教育局妥协为止。

6 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

7 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

8 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

9 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

10 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

12 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

14 dodgers   

n.躲闪者，欺瞒者( dodger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a crackdown on fare dodgers on trains 对火车逃票者的严厉打击
• But Twain, Howells, and James were jeeringly described by Mencken as "draft-dodgers". 不过吐温、豪威尔斯和詹姆斯都是被门肯讥诮地叫做“逃避兵役的人。” 来自辞典例句

15 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

16 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

17 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。