{"id":25,"date":"2014-07-09T19:20:04","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T19:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arlduc.org\/brogram\/?p=25"},"modified":"2014-07-10T19:51:28","modified_gmt":"2014-07-10T19:51:28","slug":"without-tell-me-more-whats-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arlduc.org\/brogram\/without-tell-me-more-whats-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Without “Tell Me More,” What’s More?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Photo: Tell Me More’s staff. Credit: Ammad Omar\/NPR]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Come August, NPR is shutting down “Tell Me More with Michel Martin<\/a>,”\u00a0the network’s\u00a0only program grappling\u00a0with the news of the day through\u00a0specifically through the\u00a0inclusion of diverse, multicultural voices.\u00a0With the cancellation\u00a0of “News and Notes” in 2009 and “The Tavis Smiley Show” soon after, “Tell Me More’s” end means that no program on NPR will supported by the African American Public Radio Consortium or any other minority organization of this kind. This has sparked a range of disappointed responses, ranging\u00a0from the National Association of Black Journalists’ memo “Concern About Diversity at NPR<\/a>,” to a full-out moratorium on charitable donations<\/a> to NPR from the National Black Church Initiative and its members.<\/p>\n

I’m also disappointed. For many years, public radio was my main source of news and even entertainment. But in recent years, my listening has dwindled, particularly as I met more people\u00a0working in public radio as “innovators” or “technologists” and was unpleasantly surprised by the homogeneity of this group, a homogeneity that I thought no longer plagued the liberal domain of public radio newsrooms. Eventually, “Tell Me More” became the only public radio show I could listen to in its entirety without feeling somehow excluded or overlooked. I doubt\u2013no, I\u00a0know\u2013<\/em>that the NPR diversity initiatives “Code Switch” and “The Race Card Project” don’t have the same impact as a dedicated, multicultural, daily news show. And even though there are many media outlets and shows devoted to minority issues, few examine these issues with as much breadth, depth, and as, as Michel Martin points out, as\u00a0“calmly, usually, and with civility, always,”<\/a> as “Tell Me More.”<\/p>\n

So now that “Tell Me More” is ending, I think we, the\u00a0fans, need to put our heads together to figure out other sources where\u00a0we can somehow approximate the “Tell Me More” audio fix. Where do we get more? Can the incredible “Tell Me More” staff help us figure it out? I’d love to know what about\u00a0favorite audio news sources from both the staff and listeners.<\/p>\n

I’m rusty on news\u00a0podcast listening, but since it’s easier to find diverse voices hosting podcasts, the podscasts below\u00a0are\u00a0an incomplete list of\u00a0promising places to start.\u00a0Please send or tweet me your recommendations, I would love to know\u00a0them, especially as “Tell Me More” winds to a close.<\/p>\n