1) Explain what’s happening at NPR. Why is “News & Notes,” in addition to one other show, targeted for cuts as a result of this recession? Couldn’t the powers-that-be have found another way to cut costs rather than ax the one show dedicated to African American issues and perspectives?
Farai) It’s been a few weeks since NPR announced the cancellation of News and Notes, but I think like many listeners I’m not convinced that any one of the theories about why our show was cancelled holds up. The company said the issue was economic. But while the company is running in the red, there were other shows that cost more per listener than we did. If they cut based on that basis, I don’t know that we would have been cut.
Of course, both of the LA-based shows (us and Day to Day) got the axe. That was very controversial, because America is growing faster in population in the West than the East. You also have a different role of the Latino-American and Asian-American populations in the West. Foundations and individuals poured a lot of money into building the NPR West Facility, and now there is no need for a full-fledged NPR facility. So was the decision geographic? It seems likely that there was a move to consolidate resources in the East. Was that wise? Time will tell.
The show was almost cancelled in July, during the height of the Presidential campaign. Many of us fought back against that decision, and we won. But I believe that by going head to head with management in July, we made it clear that we were willing to fight for the audience and the show… and that may have cost us politically in the calculus that followed.
With the media in freefall as a business, NPR may not be asked to publicly discuss how it made its decisions. Everyone is in full-on panic mode and a lot of the decisions that are being made today are not getting a lot of scrutiny. When you think about the political and cultural ramifications of us having the first black President, we SHOULD question what NPR lost when it cancelled News and Notes. But more importantly–especially in this environment–we should ask how we can make meaningful connections between black communities, institutions, and individuals and the creation and dissemination of news.
I was so thrilled by the incredible reaction of our audience. We had hundreds of thousands of weekly listeners during my time at News and Notes, and they mobilized to let NPR know they wanted our show, and they also wanted content that served black interests.
2) How did you find out about the cancellation of your show, and who was responsible for telling your producers and other staff?
Farai) I got a call the weekend before NPR announced the cuts telling me to brace myself. I was out of town. The employees at NPR West had had their holiday lunch that Friday and rumors were circulating, but the call I got was from someone who heard the final judgment call. I’m glad I got that information, because it allowed me to take some deep breaths and not be blindsided.
I will not go into a blow-by-blow, play-by-play, but I do think NPR made an effort to tell everyone as quickly as it could, which was honorable and important.
3) Provide a little background of your history with NPR. Take us back to the Tavis Smiley and Ed Gordon days. How did “News & Notes” evolve into the current format with you as host?
Farai) NPR created the Tavis Smiley Show as a reaction to the need for a more diverse slate of programming AND as a recognition that growing diverse programming grows the future of NPR’s audience.
When Tavis left in 2004, he publicly took NPR to task for not spending enough on marketing, and added, ‘The most difficult thing that I have had to do is fight a culture at NPR, a culture that is antithetical to the best interests of people of color.”
NPR then brought on former BET and MSNBC host Ed Gordon to helm the show. I came on as what’s called a “host/correspondent”… the backup host when Ed was gone, and the chief correspondent who covered news including traveling to the Gulf for nine days to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
When Ed left in 2006, I took the seat. The show was threatened with cancellation upon his departure but we all fought to save it.
I very much wanted to host News and Notes, but the company constantly changed what it said its expectations were…. what its funding was for the show; what the format would be; whether we were being judged on broadcast numbers, online numbers, or both. In other words, it became like playing football without a goalpost.
Nonetheless, we were able to do some incredibly innovative things. You participated in the Bloggers’ Roundtable segments, which were started by our executive producer Nicole Childers. She faced the challenges of dealing with a tight budget and was able to turn a lot of the tough financial decisions into smart journalistic ones.
4) How has this transition impacted you, both professionally and personally?
Farai) The silver lining here is that we had all fought so hard for so long that I did a lot of the processing of what was happening to our show in real time. I had to constantly face my emotions and ambitions and deal with them. It was pretty awful at points. For example, on election day, I worked a full day for my show and then another full eight hours for the elections unit doing special coverage. At the same time, I was involved in a(n ultimately pretty silly) political firefight over the show. It was hard to work a double day, bite my tongue, act like a Western lady (an inside joke you will get Eisa), and still live up to my values. I had to do a lot of ego-checking during the last two years and try to make sense of whether, at each stage, I was acting out of ego or out of wanting to benefit the show.
5) What happens next? When exactly is the show scheduled to end, and what is your next plan of action?
Farai) The show ends on March 20. I left right before the inauguration. The timing was right because I did want to go and cover the inauguration, and NPR wouldn’t let me or us as a show do that. I thought that was supremely ironic. We as a show had had Senator Obama on twice during the election, in addition to other great coverage of the primaries, conventions, and election. Still, we were not deemed important enough to cover the inauguration for our audience. In the end, by leaving, I was able to provide a bit of spot coverage for News and Notes as a guest on Inauguration Day. It was great, if bittersweet.
The main reason I left when I did was because I felt that it was time to leave with a relative amount of grace as opposed to being in an environment that had become so tense that it put my ability to do my job at risk. When I felt that the politics of the situation had reached a point where I could no longer get any answers from some members of management… where I was frozen out to the point that certain people would not return my phone calls or emails… then I decided I needed to go not just for my good but the good of the team.
6) Is there a desire on your part to try to save “News & Notes,” and, if so, what can listeners who love your program do to support your efforts to remain on NPR?
Farai) Dedicated blogger, activist, and political consultant Jasmyne Cannick launched a “Save News and Notes” campaign. Unfortunately, so many chapters of this story had been written before that point that it it quickly became clear management wasn’t coming back to the table under any circumstances.
Jasmyne’s drive did provide an INCREDIBLY important focal point for the constructive challenging of NPR’s decision to cancel News and Notes. I thank her and the audience for pushing the issue, and there will definitely be opportunities to use that collective wisdom for the good of journalism. Stay tuned: there will be more on that score.
7) In the years you’ve been hosting “News & Notes” you’ve covered some of the most stunning and important aspects of American life, and you have analyzed these events by including the diverse voices of the African American community in your broadcast. Of what are you most proud? Which accomplishments at NPR mean the most to you?
Farai) Covering the 2008 election has to be the crowning glory of this period of my journalistic career and of this period in News and Notes’ history. We took the show to South Carolina for that states’ important primary (the first one Sen. Obama was EXPECTED to win, instead of being a long shot); covered the conventions; and the election. We also did the Bloggers’ Roundtable and brought some of the most thoughtful cultural voices on the air.
8) What other projects do you have coming down the pipeline?
Farai) I’ve got my novel coming out (see below) and I’m also pitching new projects. I have gotten hundreds of emails asking if I was going to start a new show. The answer is: I’m going to try my best to launch one! Going into pitch mode is humbling and exciting. These are tough times but there is always opportunity.
9) Finally, tell us a bit about your new book, Kiss the Sky. What’s the pub date? Is this novel, like your three books of nonfiction, Don’t Believe the Hype, The Color of Our Future, and Trust, political in terms of content and tone?
Farai) Ohhhhh nooo! This is an entirely different animal. It’s political in the sense of cultural politics, but it’s about the world of black rock; about women, men, and sexuality; about loyalty, family, faith, and friendship. Kiss the Sky is now the Essence Magazine Book Club selection for May! I am so excited! (I want to sell the film rights so keep your fingers and toes crossed on that one.)
You can read more about the book and my journey to write it here:
http://www.faraichideya.com/fiction.htm
(My sister-writers really helped me focus and FINISH.)
Eisa, as a personal note for publication on this blog, I just want to say that you are a role model for teaching, writing fiction, and having a family. Go girl!!!
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I’m looking forward to the novel–you know I like that kind of stuff, Eisa so thanks for asking her the details. Very thoughtful questions put to her; likewise, thoughtful answers are given. But you know I gotta be Dr. Negative/Devils Advocate here, as always. The inner devils of NPR finance and the West Coast operation aside…there are times when something from the dark recesses of my Grinchlike soul arises and I it whispers to me that our folk just don’t give a damn about NPR on any level. Maybe if News & Notes profiled T Pain, covered the beats of mags like XXL etc…dabbled in the strange what i call self-indulgent fluff of Essence, it’d show in the ratings? NPR’s target demo, to me at least, has always been urbane (not urban) whitefolks. The majority of whitefolks either don’t know about NPR or look at it as something snobby/liberal/whatever. Let’s 10% of whites (and I’m playing crazy with that term whites, but bear w/me) are the NPR crowd. Okay, let’s say 10% of blackfolks are an NPR crowd. But while the ratio’s equal their 10% is massive and our 10% is tiny in number. And our 10% are draining their wallets trying to support the finer arts, better books, film, TV etc. while our 90% well, you know my mean elitist stand, Eisa LOL. So the question I would have asked is the eternal one: how do we maintain progamming i.e. News & Notes without dumbing it down or radical and I;d say destructive re-tasking, but casting a wider net? Frankly that starts at home. You don’t have to be wealthy or have a PhD to love public radio. Someone, perhaps the President on his bully pulpit, should start sermonizing, as culture is JUST as important as policy and legislation…
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Hey, Chris –
Seems like you’re assuming the numbers didn’t add up for News & Notes. That may be true, but I certainly don’t know for sure. It was a popular show. Often, colleagues and friends would mention that they had heard me on the Bloggers’ Roundtable – white folk and Black folk alike. So, from my anecdotal experience, just as many if not more of the show’s listeners were white. Though N&N expressed an intelligent African American voice, its listeners ran the racial spectrum. This leads me to believe the show wasn’t cut because of lack of support but for other reasons.
On this one, it seems likely that NPR’s lack of commitment to the African American experience is what killed News & Notes (regardless of what it cost to operate two shows in LA). Clearly, no one in management determined that this unique show was worth somehow saving.
Also, you might want to check out this article writer and friend Tara Roberts sent to me. It seems mags like XXL are not enjoying the broad support you suggest they receive from our community:
http://www.jossip.com/who-will-rescue-hip-hop-journalism-20090206/
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Note I left myself a weasel back-door: “Inner devils of NPR finance and the West Coast operation aside…”
Nevertheless, I do think there’s a support issue out there with the broader community, and News & Note/NPR is but one metaphor so I am sticking to my guns. What does Farai say on this?
I didn’t know about the measure of XXL, etc. and will check it out. Note I didn’t mention Vibe in a negative light as R. Kenner (and Mike Gonzales, of course) are pals. LOL
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Hey Chris and Eisa:
Thanks for the heads up on the hip hop journalism article.
I think the reality is that the whole media business is ridiculously perilous right now. (worth adding this twitter feed if you’re following the biz: http://twitter.com/themediaisdying)
HOWEVER, just because an industry is in trouble does not mean you should abandon promising properties, especially ones that are growing new audiences. I believe N&N was doing that.
Don’t sleep on the crossover potential of public media. I was at an event at a hotel in St. Louis, and everyone from a busboy to a university president was listening to the show. They were actually listening because they could cite and repeat to me things they heard on air. I was humbled.
Now my job is to find another way to bring my talent and values into journalism. It could be another show, or another means. And the great thing is that there is SO MUCH TALENT out there right now. Some of the smartest, most innovative people have lost their jobs… which means they are up for grabs. I think we’ll see some incredible teams and incredible innovation emerge from this tough time.
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From my vantage point NPR simply does not want N&N when since from thier limited vision “Tell me more’ was the Black NPR quota appeal to Black Folks.. Truth is urbane white america has little attention span for Black urbane shows in part becuase of petty envy and cultural jealousy..
The elite White bandwidth of NPR market is obessed with thier cultural themes and energy..Black themes which will highlite white ignorance and white cultural underdevelopment and the truth of the genius of Black artistic simply has a short shelf life on urbane white radio aka NPR..
NPR in this regard is no different from the MSM radio outlets …NPR is just a degree more progressive but not by much…
For years NPR only thought civlization and creative ideas originated from Western Europe & Israel. NPR for decades ignore entire continents so the idea that N&N plus Tell Me More was too many negroes and colored folks for them to digest..
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I think that NPR did a disservice to its African American listeners when they cancelled News and Notes. I enjoyed the weekly Bloggers Roundtable. I look forward to promoting Farai’s book on my blog. I also hope she will find time to come to the Blogging While Brown conference in Chicago later this year.
peace, Villager
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Good news! Farai is back on the public radio airwaves! She is guest hosting “The Takeaway with John Hockenberry & Adaora Udoji” from now through Friday, March 20, while Adaora is on parental leave.
“The Takeaway” is public radio’s new morning drive news program, produced by WNYC & PRI, in collaboration with the BBC World Service, the New York Times, and WGBH Boston. It is designed to invite more folks to the table through diverse voices, a live format and a conversational tone.
It can be heard in New York 6-7am on AM 820, 8-10am on 93.9 FM, and from anywhere on www.thetakeaway.org from 6-10AM ET.
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hi, i echo all the sentiments listed. i too believe it is an incredible disservice to NOT have news and notes, ( did i say that right?)with the incredible innovative angles it takes, in terms of culture, in terms of looking at social issues, in terms of keeping track of our pulses and covering things that are on our minds that are not covered in the regular daily media. how are we supposed to get a good perspective or commentary, geared towards us, in the news now? with all the things that go uncommented and unreported. alot of the things said on n+n were on my mind but unconfirmed until i heard it on the program. it is incredibly vital now, with the changing times we face in this world. there is no substitute for a voice that speaks to people with a high level of consciousness. i don’t know what the reason is for eliminating the program( they said it is economic) but the show provides a valuable service to the community.