NPR: Hi. My Name Is Alison Stewart

Hi. My Name Is Alison Stewart

My first post here feels a little like a blind date.

Some folks that you and I both like -- the NPR gang -- think we might get along, could have a grande latte together, develop a relationship that could make us both happy.

But, of course, there is the anxiety about the outcome of that pesky first meeting...or first podcast...or broadcast...or, in this case, blog posting.

Having been on MANY blind dates in my life (I just got married six months ago), I know the process can be nerve wracking. I also know that the first meet-up isn't a make or break situation. Essentially, it's a "Hi, how are you and who are you?"

Still, there is nothing quite as uncomfortable as those moments immediately after "hello." How do you follow up? You really can't start out with, "Hey have you ever been in prison?" or "I voted for Sanjaya, did you?"

From my vast experience, I found a question that usually worked and kept things going for about ..... 5 minutes. I would ask, "What was the best thing that happened to you today?" It works as an ice breaker and a research tool. You could get a sense of the person. Is he a big old wet rag who can't think of one single good thing that happened in the past 24 hours? Or is he someone who understands having exact change at the right time can qualify as a superior moment.

The best thing to happen to me recently? Getting this gig.

I mean it.

Think about it, Luke and Matt and I -- with your help -- are getting to do something rare. One, we get to work on a new news show at an organization which values the news and its listeners. Two, we are doing development on demand: Your input will matter.

In order to do this I think more dates, or rather, blog posts and comments are in order. I hope you don't find me presumptuous for asking for a second date, but I really want to know more about you. I'm really interested in what's important in your life. What was the last song you downloaded? What sites do you have bookmarked? What is important to you in a news show?

I'll go first: I'm a hike-loving, book reading, web surfing, newlywed Jersey girl music-o-phile -- an aunt of two and a step-mother to one ... cat, named Sonny Liston. I've seen 46 of the 50 states, Africa, Cuba and Jordan, but I love to be home. What matters to me in a news show? Honesty, humility, all sides of the conversation and meaningful information.

And you??

(P.S. Today is my dad's 78th birthday. Happy B-day Joe!)

Alison Stewart

10:00 AM ET | 04-30-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

I'm 33 years old. My wife and I just had our first child. He's named after his grandfather, his father before him, and his father before him. I got the middle name, but Dad thought he should break the chain before I become 'Martin Helberg' the fourth. So the little fellow gets to start off fresh.

I grew up with NPR in Madison, WI - and suffered through not-Car Talk (see the This American Life ep on 'Fiasco'). We listen to NPR-branded almost exclusively (in Minnesota, this also means getting to hear Tapes-n-Tapes, Low, Radiohead, Tori Amos, Pedro the Lion, Atmosphere, Kate Bush, Franz Ferdinand, and Amy Winehouse. Not bad.), when we aren't listening to the Beeb over the Internet.

We're English football supporters, and we have season tickets to Minnesota Roller Derby. We could care less about the damn Vikings.

We read www.youaredumb.net and my wife digs www.beliefnet.com/blogs/crunchycon/. On paper, we've been reading Charlie Stross and Jane Dunn, John Steinbeck and Jane Austen. Oh yes, and "Baby Steps," a book on child development.

We still buy CDs, but I recently pulled some tracks from a new band with Annie Quick (an NYC musician) in it.

We buy most of our food in bulk or from the farmer's market down the street. I homebrew. We just went to a rogue craft show in Saint Paul.

The things that have most mattered to me on NPR recently have been: Cokie Roberts and Daniel Shore - I rather like the analysis of folks who have been around for a long, long time. Anyone can pull up wikipedia to get a mostly-right explanation of the Watergate scandal; Daniel can just remember those horribly heady days.

- Long-form interviews. TAL just interviewed a bunch of people who had been held in quasi-military prisons, and it was absolutely gripping.

- An assumption that the listener knows what's going on. I've been raised on the facts of climate change and man-made stupidities in regard to the earth; most a/v news sources tends to rehash the same old information again and again before getting to the new bits. NPR does a better job than most in remembering that if we're listening to it, chances are we're well-informed.

Last thing; remember that most of us consume news voraciously. NPR gives us the ability to see several sides of an issue that the newspaper or some wise-ass blogger only gives a few hundred words to. I've given up on American newspapers (except for the local Twin Cities news) and tend to read The Guardian; if we had more shiny pennies to rub together, we'd love to subscribe to it or the Times.

But class is another problem. We are not all high-income earners, and NPR -- like the recent tremendous Onion article states -- does a great job at showing us urban/first-ring suburban mid-upper class white culture. Don't forget there's a whole other world out there. People around me - smart, articulate people who listen to public radio - keep being surprised by Southern culture, the grinding poverty of low-income areas, and particularly the Evangelical sub-culture. No one in public radio does a good job of humanizing the parts of the US that don't look like the typical NPR demographic (though, ironically, TAL does a better job than most), and sometimes it shows.

Sent by Drew | 1:00 PM ET | 04-30-2007

I'm single (and looking ;) ) in my mid-20s; the DC area is my home. My faith, family, friends, running, politics, traveling (I've not only seen most of the continental US, but I've been to Europe several times and have lived in Australia and Mexico), news in general, Internet/MSM geekery, and meeting new people are all important to me.

When it comes to websites, I'm bit of a geek. I like NPR, Yahoo! News, BBC, and Al Jazeera English for news. Other than that I frequent Facebook and blogs about news media and politics. How geeky is that?

When it comes to news shows, I really enjoy ones that give journalists time to explore stories. Public radio does that well. I also enjoy examinations of stories from different perspectives like This American Life does and Michel Martin's Tell Me More -- a Rough Cuts alumnus show -- aims to do. It is also great to get some perspective from a documentary; Witness on Al Jazeera English is a great news documentary show, for instance. I really enjoyed how a recent episode that focused on indigenous women in Bolivia who use wrestling to gain more clout and respect (part one and part two). The film covered a news item from a rather unique perspective in a way that wasn't rushed.

Well, Alison it is great to have you!

Oh yeah, the greatest thing I did today was to visit Capitol Hill and hang out where staffers chill. Tourists take that!

Sent by Steve Petersen | 2:01 PM ET | 04-30-2007

Let's see here, I'll hit the obvious point and say that NPR is important in my life, otherwise I wouldn't be following the growth of this show so closely. I started listening to NPR on a lark and in about 2 years it has become the soundtrack to much of my daily life.

To be honest, the biggest thing in my life right now is the quest to get a job-graduting with a master's in two weeks! Eek! I work in higher education and love it-different people, different ideas, sense of community. The last song I downloaded was a Guster song-the main things I read in my feed reader are Slate, MSNBC, my friends' blogs, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Fast Company, and random things about 24 and such. Hopefully, beyond school, I'll be able to spend some more time on other things that are important to me, like community service, yoga, and in general enjoying life!

Sent by Laura | 2:31 PM ET | 04-30-2007

As a three decade NPR listener who also has satellite radio and a computer, I was saddened to learn that I am not in the taget demographic group for this project. Too bad, it sounds sort of interesting. Was it something I said?

Sent by Robert M | 4:43 PM ET | 04-30-2007

I am married with two early-teen children. I listen to NPR mostly during my drive time, including running errands on weekends. I live in the country and work in the city. I am a career woman and a family person. I am white/middle-class but spend most of my waking hours in a multi-cultural environment. I want to know what is important to people and I depend on NPR to help me learn what other people are living, loving, or struggling with.

I appreciate NPR's respect for its audience (as noted in an earlier post). I think what I like the most about NPR's news programs is the ability of the interviewers to include people in the story without exploiting them like so many TV news people do.

Welcome, A.S. and good luck to the rest of the team.

Sent by Sandy | 8:19 AM ET | 05-01-2007

Hi Alison-I am a loyal fan of The Most. I am so sorry that it will not be on anymore and that I won't see you on MSNBC. I watched The Most daily and
whenever I wanted to know the news or there was a breaking story I always would tune in MSNBC to enjoy your unique and talented perspective of whatever was happening. I only watched Countdown when you were covering for KO. You did an outstanding job of reporting the news with strength and compassion. You have a wonderful ability to reach the heart of a story and touch our hearts as well. Your most recent coverage of the Virginia Tech rampage was incredible. You were a great asset to that station and it is their loss as well as ours. I am sure you had your reasons for leaving and I wish you health, happiness and much success! I will surely miss your talent, wit and humor and seeing your friendly face every day!

Sent by Michelle Jaracz | 1:53 PM ET | 05-02-2007

Congratulations!! Alison
I'm sure you'll be a big success after reading your first blog -
I'm a 66 year old American-Jewish woman - living in Las Vegas for 5 years and loving it -I have a wonderful husband/friend - I read - play bridge- garden - cook - love to see my family -take Ollie classes at UNLV - belong to a Synagogue - even though I don't believe in G-d - any G-ds - love the movies and T.V. - shopping - lunching with my girlfriends and world travel -
What I like best in the news? Honesty - information from many Points of View - and learning about what's happening in my town - arts and culture
Good Luck Alison

Sent by Judith | 10:55 PM ET | 05-02-2007

Alison,

I was amused by the part of your post that dealt with your travel experiences. You wrote that you've "seen 46 of the 50 states, Africa, Cuba and Jordan". I couldn't help recalling Bush's "country of Africa" comment and thinking how interesting it is that, hierarchically, in that comment the United States is so important that you delineate which of its states you've visited, while Cuba and Jordan get their own mention as separate entities, and your experiences in Africa, which may include up to 46-53 countries (depending on how you count) is wedged into a single word.

I'm sure that's not how you meant it, but I think it is an interesting thing to think on. For me, my African experiences come at the top of the list, having spent time living in Cameroon and South Africa.

Best wishes in your new position.

Sent by Rachel | 7:45 PM ET | 05-03-2007

Hey All--Thanks for the warm response.

Judith-Thanks for finding us here. I'm glad you liked The Most. The show was a labor of love.
I hope you'll enjoy this program as well--once we get up and running.

Rachel--How very cool that you were able to live in Cameroon! Trust of me--each of my travel experiences left me with wonderful lasting memories.

Rob-Age is just a number!!! If the show sounds like it appeals to you...then it appeals to you. I really hope you will join us.

Best, Alison

Sent by Alison Stewart | 4:25 PM ET | 05-04-2007

I Love Alison Stewart:

The Most and Guest Host of Countdown. Always a highlight when I caught her on MSNBC.

Can you tell my why? Did they not pay her enough money?

You should have got paid what Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Scarborough got together, and they kept Tucker. Tucker! OMG! (rant and rave off) Any way you will be missed.

Allison, I wish you all the best in your new Job. I just found out. I am in shock. I kept tuning in for The Most and you are not there (sad). Very bummed Allison. Need an Allison smile. I am even more bummed because I erased my Tivo recordings of The Most.

Regards George, your fan, cheers

Sent by gmcjetpilot | 1:04 PM ET | 05-18-2007

You said come to the blog at the end of Countdown, so I'm here.

I'm 21 and a student at Portland State University.

Having just come to the blog and reading about this project, it seems like a good idea you all have going.

I'm an on-and-off NPR listener and as a student in my 20's, I really like the use of different mediums.

Sent by Jesse Bufton | 10:13 PM ET | 06-01-2007

Alison, my wife and I always agree over the fact that you are one of the most entertaining tv personalities out there. I remember you back in the MTV news days. Always entertaining. You seem to be everything that Katie Courice isn't. Humble, intelligent and incredibly funny (you look better than Katie as well). We too miss you from MSNBC but hopefully you'll stay on the air well into the future. We love KO but whenever you covered, his show didn't miss a beat. Its amazing how at least two of the other women who recently covered for KO were obviously trying to copy your style and had clearly watched a lot of tape to get there. They came close but they still were not Alison. Good luck

Sent by George | 11:58 AM ET | 06-19-2007

Hi Allison, Good luck with your new venture. I'm a big fan of yours from the Most and when you've taken over for Keith on Countdown. I've been wondering why you're not on MSNBC anymore. I miss seeing you everyday but am happy to know you're happy with your new m ove. Congratulations on your marriage!
From a 64 year old grandma of 6, soon to be 7.

Victoria Chiesa Ward

Sent by Victoria Chiesa Ward | 3:12 PM ET | 07-18-2007

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