Tavis Smiley leaving NPR in December

[quaoar]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6618970/

LOS ANGELES - After nearly three years on the air, Tavis Smiley has opted not to renew his contract with National Public Radio to host his daily one-hour talk show.

Smiley said Monday that his last day on the air will be Dec. 16. In announcing his decision, Smiley criticized NPR for what he characterized as its failure to “meaningfully reach out to a broad spectrum of Americans who would benefit from public radio but simply don’t know it exists or what it offers ... In the most multicultural, multi-ethnic and multiracial America ever, I believe that NPR can and must do better in the future.”

The launch of “The Tavis Smiley Show” was designed in part for NPR and its member stations to reach out to minority listeners. An NPR spokesman said the company will launch a nationwide search for a replacement host.

[SmokingJacket]

1. Not because he "wants to spend time with his family"?

Wow, someone with a reason to quit!

I'm curious to know what he means under that language. Too high-brow? Not what enough?

[Jazzgirl]

2. Tavis Smiley talked about his decision this morning

on the Tom Joyner radio show. He said he wasn't "criticizing" NPR but he was making comments about what they could do better. He has other things he wants to do and the schedule he has been keeping has been making him get up at 3 every morning and he said he needed a change. He said he thought it was funny they chose to say he was criticizing NPR when he said he wasn't. He's single so no family.

[radric]

3. No loss..

I love NPR but always thought Smiley was the worst talk show they hosted. Hopefully they find someone better to replace him, shouldn't be too hard..

[retread]

4. Hahahahaha. Nice try!

*

[quaoar]

6. I've never much liked his show either

Welcome to DU, BTW.

[DustMolecule]

8. Really? And what is your criticism EXACTLY?

Constructive criticism one always welcomes.....so, let's hear it...why don't you like him? Specifics, please (if you HAVE any)...

[quaoar]

10. What's wrong with not liking his show?

Are we all supposed to like his show because he is a progressive commentator? Does not liking Tavis Smiley tarnish one's liberal credentials?

I have often found his shows to be dry and boring. He's a pretty good interviewer, but he often covers topics that just don't interest me.

I'm sure a lot of people find him informative and refreshing. I don't.

[are_we_united_yet]

16. I'd prefer to see you leave n/t

[SleeplessinSoCal]

5. Leaving to fill Rather's Vacancy?

Just wondering....

[American liberal]

22. not a chance

Although I turned down an opportunity to meet Rather over an opportunity to meet Bill Cosby (who actually put his arm around me and called me his "Homey," Smiley can't hold a candle to Dan Rather. Never will. He's waaaaaaaaay too moderate.

[BrightKnight]

26. He is ready for primetime.

He can be a bit too moderate at times. He also has a refreshing habit of saying what he thinks. I would be very happy if he replaced Dan Rather. I think that he is ready for primetime.

[KeepItReal]

29. He has been there and done that. Y'all just never caught him, apparently

He had been reporting the news for *years* on the Tom Joyner morning show on radio.

Meanwhile, he hosted BET Tonight news for a long time until Viacom bought the network and Bob Johnson returned the favor by firing him for doing a news interview(!?).

If you confuse Tavis presenting both sides on NPR with being a moderate, y'all really don't know who or what you are talking about. His heart is in the right place, which is why his bailing on the ever-more-GOP-leaning NPR.

I for one will miss him on NPR. I hope he continues moving on to bigger and better things.

[Tsiyu]

33. I concur

his show isn't always a thrill a minute, but I have heard him ask the tough questions no one else will try, AND he addresses issues pertinent to minorities, which is rare in this pasty white age of America.

My 18 year old son enjoys listening to his show because " you can hear the issues being discussed without all the screaming and name calling and all that useless crap."

I hope Mr. Smiley finds a meaningful new career and I applaud him for calling NPR to task for its WalMart-sponsored, whitewashed coverage of the monumental issues facing this nation.

[The Wielding Truth]

31. That would be great if he replaced Dan Rather. He's as good as any

one else I've seen lately.I'm just not sure how incorruptible he is? It would be so wonderful to have a journalist who could put out logically true news as good as he is expected to take in the good old party line.

[Bugaboo]

7. I am just heartbroken...

Tavis is one of my fave shows on NPR. At first I didn't like him, but he has a fresh point of view and I learn things from his show that I don't hear anywhere else. I was so grateful after the election that he ran a show on "our gay and lesbian brothers" when everyone was busy blaming us for Kerry losing. I think he's super smart and has interesting opinions.

Goodbye Tavis.

[goclark]

13. Another good one leaving...

I always find his interviews enlightening and well done.

He always seeks to tell the truth.

Isn't it funny that Mfume is leaving, they are trying to push Annan out,Matt Lauer,whore of whores, will probably get Rather's job and the beat goes on.

All the good ones, are not only leaving, they appear simply tired.

They have probably had so much pressure and now BUSH MEDIA Reigns.

God help us all.

[CatWoman]

9. assholery abounds in this thread

some of you people, OUCH!!!

[AP]

20. Yeah. I'd say it's a pretty good sign that the show was good

and was making a contribution to people's understanding of the issues.

[Tweed]

34. Ah my daily dose of AP dissing the DU

One wonders why he continues to come back. Sigh....

[AP]

35. Do my eyes deceive me?

Are DU'ers not criticizing Smiley? Is there not an epidemic of DU'ers criticizing the Democratic party, good Democrats, and liberal policy at DU lately (in this thread, specifically)?

If it's a crime at DU to have low a low tollerance for people attacking good Democrats and Democratic principles, gosh, I guess I'm guilty. But that's not even what I was doing in this post. I was just suggesting an interpretaion of what it might say about Tavis's show to see, as Catwoman put it, "assholery" in this thread.

And, btw, why pick on me and not CatWoman? It was her sentiment, not mine.

If you don't think this is true, respond to CatWoman's post with an argument, and not with an attack on me personally. (And why don't you wait until I actually attack DU'ers before you go around saying that I always do it?)

[are_we_united_yet]

25. How about it?

Maybe they prefer NPR or Imus.

[AP]

11. This was the best show on NPR.

It's the most liberal, and its news segement was better than NPR's news shows and its commentary was better than any other commentary on NPR.

It was the only place you could really hear the dissenting opinion, and just as often as it told you what you could buy, it told you how to save your money (which is what REALLY sets it apart from the rest of NPR).

Furthermore, (speaking of "what to buy") I bought more books by authors I heard interviewed TS than on any other NPR program ever.

I'm not surprised its race is almost run.

[chicchick]

12. Smiley is a good journalist

I like his interview style: He's calm and dignified, but he doesn't mince the question like all the glamour boys and girls on Big Air do ... or go rabid, like Matt Lauer whenever he interviews anyone who isn't pleased with the naked emporer.

He's and Moyer are the only reason I listen to NPR.

[American liberal]

21. When is Moyer on NPR?

He does public TV

As for Smiley, I've had the chance to listen to him several days a week for the past couple of months--and I thought he was horrid! I did like the woman he interviewed today who talked about real economic issues affecting the black community (like double-digit unemployment). But I thought Smiley's guests were mostly moderate to conservative, and I was downright offended by his take on Kerry vs. Bush on one show that was on just days before the election. He came across as a friggin' RWer!

Good riddance.

If they're going to stick with the black cultural format, I hope they get somebody with more chutzpah than Smiley. I don't know if either of them has radio experience, but I personally think Laura Washington (Chicago Tribune, before that Chicago Reporter) or Farai Chideya ("Don't Believe the Hype") would be EXCELLENT choices, but I doubt NPR has the balls. Michael Dyson ("Race Rules") whould also be waaaaaay better than the schlock Smiley was offering up, but he's an academic more than a journalist.

Here's your hat, what's your hurry, Tavis?

[sleipnir]

14. I'll shed just one tear.

Just one for an interesting TV show, his NPR shtick had gone on for far too long. The unwashed masses are more than willing to accept his views on government spending and religious warfare. The rebellion is at hand.

[AP]

19. I'm going to need my Little Oprhan Annie secret-decoder ring to

figure out what the hell that post meant.

I have a feeling that once I do, I'm going to want to shoot myself in the head with my Daisy Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action BB Gun.

[zulchzulu]

15. I used to listen to his show when it was available

It's not available on radio where I am now. He'd do well on Air America though.

Tavis has a great laugh. Hopefully, he will be heard soon. Being that he's a fairly handsome fellow, he is more marketable for a possible TV gig too.

He'll be fine wherever he goes.

[American liberal]

23. He has a weekly public TV talk show, which I found not much

more palatable than his radio show.

[AP]

24. It's daily (weekdays). Why would you force yourself to watch the

TV show if you already didn't like the radio show?

Did Tavis steal your girlfriend?

[American liberal]

28. I didn't make a point of watching

Caught parts of it a couple of times while channel surfing. Wanted to see what he looked like. And I'm a hetero female, so no girlfriend stealing involved. :)

[BrightKnight]

17. I found his program refreshing.

He provided a perspective that could not be found elswhere. I found his program refreshing. I guess that he will be keeping his TV show.

I would like to hear him on Air america too.

[American liberal]

18. good riddance eom

[ribrepin]

27. Any chance he'll go to Air America?

I think he has a good voice for radio. I hope he doesn't go to television. The corporate television media seems to neuter everybody except Jon Stewart.

[KeepItReal]

30. He hosted the news on BET before Viacom's boy Bob Johnson fired him

"Smiley hosted Black Entertainment Television's BET Tonight until BET Chairman Robert Johnson fired him. Johnson said he dropped Smiley for selling an interview to another network before offering it to BET, though Smiley says personal politics was the real reason.

While hosting BET, Smiley found time to appear elsewhere, including CNN, C-SPAN, ABC and Tom Joyner. His prominence gave African-American stations hope that their listeners would follow him to their airwaves."

http://www.current.org/people/peop0211smiley.html

[AP]

36. The reason he was fired, I believe, is because he wasn't pro-consumption

enough, and he talked about issues too much.

One especially controversial show was when he talked about how black women shouldn't be spending so much on hair and nails when they should be saving their money and empowering themselves.

Well, when BET is making a lot of money selling advertizing time to those people Tavis was saying companies shouldn't spend money on, especially when Bob Johnson was trying to sell the company for billions of dollars, well that's not a good career move.

Another show was about how parents shouldn't be embracing the gangster rap image -- that it was a bad example for their kids.

Well, guess what BET sells more of than anything else these days? Notice how many videos are on BET? Smiley was criticizing what BET was trying to sell.

You'd think that going over to NPR would eliminate the corporate pressure censoring Smiley's message, wouldn't you?

Well, as soon as Tavis starting picking up a little steam, what does NPR do? It starts a new show which is basically just pasting together a bunch of leftover interviews from all its other shows (I think it's called "Today") and they went arround and tried to sell it to all the stations that they had just sold Tavis's show to.

There is no room in the media today for anyone who isn't mostly about selling products.

Just listen to NPR these last couple days. Yesterday they plugged Jeopardy. Today they did a long segment on a 40 years old Christmas special that's on network TV tonight. Tavis tried to do his part -- he definitely plugged a few entertainment products, but he always framed it in terms of black people working hard and getting rewarded for their efforts, or white working class people who aren't racists, getting rewarded for theiir hard work, or in terms of building up wealth and power in the middle and working class in return for hard work.

What he didn't do was act like a cheerleader for consumption, and he didn't try to BS people about what the issues were.

(And I really don't understand how any liberal can criticize Tavis...)

[SleeplessinSoCal]

32. He's already on television

We get Tavis Smiley on PBS at 11:00 pm.

[JaneDoughnut]

37. I assume he won't leave PBS?

I usually watch his political content and then turn it off when he gets to the sportscaster interview or whatnot. I never manage to catch him on NPR, but I'd miss him if he left PBS.