Reply #10: Tavis Smiley

[journalist3072]

I'm a huge fan of Tavis Smiley, and really upset about his leaving NPR.

When he first started his syndicated program at NPR, I had emailed the local NPR station in my hometown, asking if they planned to carry his show. They said no.

Finally, after maybe about a year, they picked it up, and put it on at 2:00 in the morning! I was furious! I wondered who in the world they expected to be able to hear his show at 2:00 in the morning. I also wondered if this was a deliberate move to keep a black commentator's ratings down.

And just so I could hear Tavis' show, I purchased a device that allows you record radio shows when you aren't able to listen to them live. It's the radio version of a VCR. I would set the timer on it to record Tavis' show while I was sleep.

Anway, I tell that story to demonstrate that NPR never did right by Tavis, in my opinion. I'm glad he still has his tv show on PBS, and does his commentaries on the Tom Joyner Morning Show.