Editing Bob Edwards (section)

===Host of ''Morning Edition''===
Edwards hosted NPR's flagship program, ''Morning Edition'', from the show's inception in November 1979 until April 2004.<ref name = Gabriel>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/business/media/bob-edwards-dead.html|title = Bob Edwards, Longtime Host of NPR's 'Morning Edition,' Dies at 76|last = Gabriel|first = Trip|date = February 12, 2024|accessdate = February 13, 2024|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|url-access = limited|archive-date = February 12, 2024|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20240212235355/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/12/business/media/bob-edwards-dead.html/|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=March 23, 2004 |title=Bob Edwards forced out of 'Morning Edition' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4586432 |access-date=February 12, 2024 |website=NBC News |language=en |agency=Associated Press |archive-date=February 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212165050/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna4586432 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nydailynews1" /> After 24 plus years with Edwards as host, [[Arbitron]] ratings showed that, with 13 million listeners, it was the second highest-rated radio broadcast in the country, behind only [[Rush Limbaugh]]'s AM show. Prior to his departure, he was very popular among both listeners and critics.

When ''Morning Edition'' and its host won a [[Peabody Award|George Foster Peabody Award]] in 1999, the Peabody committee lauded Edwards as

{{cquote|a man who embodies the essence of excellence in radio.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peabody.uga.edu/news/pressrelease.asp?ID=38 |title=peabody.uga.edu press release #38 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050906024336/http://www.peabody.uga.edu/news/pressrelease.asp?ID=38 |archive-date=September 6, 2005 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> His reassuring and authoritative voice is often the first many Americans hear each day. His is a rare radio voice: informed but never smug; intimate but never intrusive; opinionated but never dismissive. Mr.&nbsp;Edwards does not merely talk, he listens.}}

Edwards' skills as an interviewer were widely praised. NPR's ombudsman [[Jeffrey Dvorkin]] said, "If I were his producer, I would think of Edwards as NPR's version of [[Charlie Rose]]."<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |last=Dvorkin |first=Jeffrey A. |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1854657 |title=Bob Edwards reassigned: Ageism or just change? |publisher=NPR |date=April 28, 2004 |access-date=July 31, 2011  |archive-date=June 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624204657/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1854657 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Daily News (New York)|New York ''Daily News'']] called him "an institution among ''Morning Edition'' listeners for his interviewing skills and his calm, articulate style".<ref name="nydailynews1">{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/176750p-153614c.html |title=New York Celebrity Gossip, Pictures, and Entertainment News |work=Daily News |location=New York |access-date=July 31, 2011  |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051231043951/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/176750p-153614c.html |archive-date=December 31, 2005 }}</ref> It is estimated that Edwards conducted over 20,000 interviews for NPR.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> His subjects ranged from major politicians to authors and celebrities. His weekly call-in chats with retired [[sportscaster]] [[Red Barber]] are fondly remembered. The chats were supposedly about sports, but often digressed into topics like the Gulf War, what kind of flowers were blooming at Barber's [[Tallahassee, Florida]] home, or other non-sport subjects. Barber would call Edwards "Colonel Bob," referring to Edwards' [[Kentucky Colonel]] honor from his native state.<ref name=":1" />