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Morning Edition
Weekdays at 5 and 7 a.m.
on 90.5 WKAR
"Morning Edition" Celebrates 30th Anniversary
Thirty years ago. 1979. The U.S. annual inflation rate was 13.3 percent, the highest in 33 years, and unemployment was at 6.5 percent. The Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran from France. And, Ted Kenney was on the cover of Time magazine on November 5, 1979 when NPR’s Morning Edition went on the air. Then-host Bob Edwards opened the program’s debut with a somber story that the U.S. Embassy in Teheran had been seized and hostages were being held.
Thirty years later. Inflation is higher, unemployment is double-digits. Ted Kennedy passed away on August 25 and was on the cover of Time on August 26, and there is still major unrest between the United States and Middle Eastern countries.
And, during those 30 years – Morning Edition – the network’s morning flagship news program has been lauded as one of the most probing, most comprehensive roundups of news both at home and abroad available anywhere in broadcasting. The program’s hallmark is its focus on thoughtful analysis of events rather than the race to break the big story.
Morning Edition is not only a program that listeners are loyal to, with more than 13 million tuning in each week, it’s also a program that can still boast many of its original newscasters, commentators, and analysts, including Cokie Roberts, now a senior news analyst; Nina Totenberg, who covers the Supreme Court and variety of legal issues; and Carl Kasell, the program’s revered newscaster.
Today, Morning Edition is bi-coastal with Renee Montagne hosting the program from the West Coast and Steve Inkseep hosting from Washington, D.C. Regular commentators include Frank DeFord and John Feinstein (sports), Ashley Kahn (American music historian), and Kenneth Turan (film critic).
Over the years, Morning Edition has been consistently honored for its journalist endeavors with prestigious awards including: the George Foster Peabody, Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University, Overseas Press Club, Major Armstrong, Washington Journalism Review “Best in the Business,” American Women in Radio and Television, Robert F. Kennedy Journalism, and American Bar Association Silver Gavel.
Morning Edition airs weekdays on 90.5 WKAR from 5 to 9 a.m., and on AM 870 WKAR, from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.
published: November 4, 2009
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