The Final Curtain

Jolie Myers, NPR

 

--Steve Proffitt

We end our program today. We hope we do it on a long, sustained graceful note. To all the listeners and stations that supported us, a heartfelt thanks.

Now we scatter. Some of us will stay in radio or in journalism. Others will find new careers. But don't worry. We're all smart. We'll be OK.

If you want to keep in touch, we've created a Facebook group, Life After NPR's Day to Day. Check in from time to time, friend us, and don't be a stranger.

And here are some links to staff members personal blogs:

Madeleine Brand
www.madeleinebrand.com

Christopher Johnson
www.yourplanb.org

Alex Cohen
www.alexcoheninla.blogspot.com/

Steve Proffitt
www.nicejobmedia.blogspot.com

From all of us at Day to Day, goodbye and good luck.

Tags: exit | goodbye | see ya

11:41 AM ET | 03-20-2009 | permalink

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Gosh, That Almost Makes Us Feel Better

Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

 

--Steve Proffitt

Even though we're not quite dead yet, Los Angeles Times columnist James Rainey writes a nice little obituary for our program, which appears in today's paper.

Tags: axed | canceled | obit | paean

9:54 AM ET | 03-18-2009 | permalink

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Find Us on Facebook

 

--Steve Proffitt

Working on a radio show like this one is very much like being a member of a tribe. We share joy and tears, coo over our babies, and sometimes dance together around a fire. We have our own lingo, our own history and our own legends.

But now, the sharp blade of the recession has cut down all the trees in our forest, and we are being scattered to the four winds.

In an effort to preserve a bit of the D2D culture and spirit, and as a way for us to remain connected to our listeners, we've created a Facebook group, Life After NPR's Day to Day.

We invite you to join, and befriend us. Follow our progress and we'll follow yours. Day to Day.

Tags: Facebook | diaspora | where are we

2:15 PM ET | 03-16-2009 | permalink

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This Is What We Look Like

Former Day to Day producer Shereen Meraji, who now works for KCET, made this little behind-the-scenes video about the death of our darling Day to Day. If you've ever wondered what Madeleine Brand looks like as she introduces the show every morning or been curious about how Alex Cohen feels about asking questions about layoffs, knowing that she too is soon out of a job ... here you go:

Tags: alex cohen | day to day | death of day to day video | layoffs | madeleine brand | npr

4:03 PM ET | 01-30-2009 | permalink

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Hey, that's no way to say goodbye

Steve Proffitt, NPR

 

--Alex Chadwick

I'm the first angry white man in the new Obama era.

This is my last day hosting Day to Day -- a show I love. But after five years of getting up at 4:00 every morning to meet the deadline pressures of a daily news program, I'm cutting back. Madeleine will be here to carry on, and you'll still have an Alex -- our reporter and sometime host, Alex Cohen. But this Alex is going to be sleeping in.

And coasting, maybe a little, today -- or so I thought. But in Chicago, President-elect Obama has scheduled his first press conference for 2:30 Central time. That's 11:30 here in Culver City, the site of NPR West. The timing could hardly be worse for the narrow concerns of getting our show on and updated. We'll have to get something on for the noon feed of the show, while the press conference presumable continues. Then we'll have to fix it again for our last feed at 1:00.

I was thrilled by the speech Tuesday night in Grant Park...a spectacular moment in American history and political oratory.

I know this is very small-minded...a disappointment, probably to any NPR listener who follows the news.

But it's Friday...on my last week on the show. I was thinking I might go out for lunch with a couple of pals....maybe a bloody Mary, even.

No such luck....I'm in the studio, doing interviews...which is how all this started so long ago.

Bye to fans of the show....thanks for following us on the radio and the blog. Next week.....new adventures. Stay tuned.

Tags: Alex Chadwick

1:00 PM ET | 11- 7-2008 | permalink

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Bye-Bye To The Blah-Blah-Blah Girl

--Alex Chadwick

She was here five years ago when Day to Day began.

She'd been looking for a job--she had a couple of part-time things going up in the Bay Area, but she wanted to try working for NPR, and here was this new show starting up in L.A. She came down for a job interview, and got this question: "What DON'T you like about NPR?"

"That's easy," she said right away, "blah, blah, blah."

We might not have put it quite that way ourselves, but we knew exactly what she meant. That's what we were tired of, too. And someone with the ability to put it just like that, and the nerve to offer it up in a job interview? I think it was the next day we offered her a temp position--all we had at the time.

Shereen Marisol Meraji got hired full-time very quickly. Then promoted. Then promoted again. Within a year she had one of the key positions on the show -- she was the director...she ran everything in the studio while we were on the air. It's a very stressful and important job...coordinating what the hosts are saying, what the engineers are doing to play the right interview, bringing in live feeds or phone calls from overseas, on a special talk-back constantly to the production unit down the hall to make sure everything is coming in on time. She was always the youngest person there -- by a lot in my case. But there was never any question who was in charge.

Even so, she began to bump her head, as people do in their first real jobs, no matter how good they are. She went off to report from Lebanon for several months. She came back and got restless again. She finally dragged us into the 21st Century by first insisting the show must have a blog, and then creating it -- DayDreaming, the blog you're reading here - around a project she ran called California Dreaming.

This summer was coming to an end, and we wondered what she'd do next...and now we learn that she is going to try a new media job in public television. It is wonderful news for a very smart and capable woman. And it's a dagger to the heart.

My friend Steve Proffitt, a senior producer here, wrote and produced and performed this song about Shereen:

If you listen to the show much, you should get most of it, and leave a comment if you want parts explained.

Here is Shereen:

And here is Steve--he may take over for some of her work on the blog.

Boy, I'm really going to miss her.

11:09 AM ET | 08-29-2008 | permalink

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