I am not so sure about the new format. miss the round-table. comes off a bit dry. I listen less than I use to. Perhaps this may attract a younger audience as it feels more like my college day conversations.

Sent by M.Brown | 7:16 PM ET | 05-07-2007

I, too, really miss the roundtable. It was such a unique forum since one is unlikely to find both liberal and conservative black voices together in an intellectual discussion. I hope you reconsider and bring it back!

Sent by D. Smyth | 5:36 PM ET | 05-08-2007

Even if I couldn't listen to the whole show, I usually made a point of tuning in for the roundtable or getting it on the web page. I'm very disappointed to see it go and to lose that unique element that N&N offered.

Sent by Charlene Reiss | 6:33 PM ET | 05-08-2007

Glad I'm not the only one that misses the roundtable. I can read my own news articles thank you very much. But it is not everyday that i can hear black people from different backgrounds having spirited debate. In fact, I recall that one of the first news stories that called attention to the show (when Ed Gordan hosted it) focused on the rousing roundtables. It seems ridiculous and bizarre that you would nix the bread and butter of the broadcast. Who's idea was this? Not a very good one. The show is considerably more boring.

Sent by masha | 6:51 PM ET | 05-08-2007

Yes,I too miss the roundtable. That was the one play I could hear Black folks from every spectrum discuss topics of the day. There is no where else I can find that. Please bring it back!

Sent by LaVida | 8:39 PM ET | 05-08-2007

new format sucks... bring back the round table .... there is no other place we as african americans can hear commentary pro and con on issues important to us and the world. the show sounds too much like morning edition or "atc"... we don't need that ... the show is also very slow now. i am a tv news journalist in l-a who podcasts the show everyday. the one topic shows are killing me!

Sent by ernest champell | 2:53 AM ET | 05-09-2007

I fell in love with the roundtable. It's important to hear a broad spectrum of black views from the left and right, especially other than the Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev.Jessie Jackson: no disrespect to either. The black networks do not provide the quality of conversation offered through the roundtable. I enjoyed riding my train to work or home while listening to News and Notes on podcast. I will truly miss it and will likely drift back to Talk of the Nation. I urge you to reconsider this move.

Sent by Ricardo | 11:56 AM ET | 05-09-2007

I was searching on your website for the roundtable. I am completely surprised that you have deleted it from you format. Please bring the roundtable back!

Sent by Michael Rice | 12:40 PM ET | 05-09-2007

Ditto the comments on the roundtable. I don't care that it got raucous and heated; it was refreshing to hear those voices. This is a good show, but that feature definitely made N&N a standout. Bring it back, please.

Sent by Stacey | 2:46 PM ET | 05-10-2007

New format: No Thank You. Are you kidding me!!! The new format is terrible. The rountable was the centerpiece of the show. You just lost me as a listner until you bring that back. Where else can you be "edutained" by informed and engaging black voices in America. I think I'll just download Tavis Talks podcasts to the Ipod instead.

Sent by T. Davis | 3:32 PM ET | 05-11-2007

I miss the roundtable. The roundtable brought together different political voices, a perspective of black history, and regional differences. Please bring it back. The new format is too similar to regular NPR.

Sent by L. Drake | 4:37 PM ET | 05-11-2007

I truly miss the rountable, and hope you will bring it back. While I still listen daily, I am not impressed with the new format, and see it as a step in the wrong direction. You had a wonderful "niche" that worked. Now you are so much more common.

Sent by Lisa | 10:15 PM ET | 05-11-2007

It's too bad the whole point of the show, from my point of view, has proven itself too politically incorrect to survive npr's censors; imagine my dissappiontment, when, after having bragged about the disparate points of view faithfully represented on this, one of several cherished daily thought provoking (and provocative) routines, when there is no meat left on the table. Truly, the fluff and padding left over was only made tolerable by the roundtable. I must admit that picking through Tavis' interviews seems to hold a more fruitful discourse (sadly) than the dessicated corpse of a decimated brain trust served up on a plate and called delicious - send it back.

By the way, along with your new format comes broken Real Player links - the ampersand (&) character as opposed to the plain text XML descriptor (NEWSNOTES or NEWSANDNOTES) is reserved for code in general, and should be avoided as a general rule in links, as part of text.

So it's just as well; I haven't been able to hear any of your new format shows, and haven't wanted to.

Sent by Y. Blood | 5:52 PM ET | 05-12-2007

Great show on Friday about Blogging and about the Black Blogosphere in particular.

But I agree with many of the other readers here.... Doing away with the Roundtable was a terrible idea. If anything, you needed to give the Roundtable more time...like an extra 5 minutes. The Roundtable was the centerpiece of the entire News and Notes program. I looked forward to the roundtable every day (like an addict).

Getting rid of the Roundtable is like a company getting rid of its core business or core competency. Like McDonalds getting rid of the Big Mac, the drive-thru, or hamburgers altogether....choosing to serve an entirely different product.

The Roundtable was the engine that drove the whole program. It should have been enhanced (perhaps with a wider array of commentators...and with a wider array of topics) rather than discarded...
Although the commentators that it did have were great. It may have been nice to bring in a few more non-African American voices to the segment once in a while....for a wider perspective and to mix things up a little more.

The Roundtable was so powerful that NPR/News and Notes will have no choice but to bring it back. It's not a matter of if....it's just a matter of when.

http://mirroronamerica.blogspot.com/

Sent by The Angry Independent | 2:20 AM ET | 05-13-2007

It took me several weeks of discarding the News and Notes podcast as I looked in vain for the Roundtable before I realized that you have adopted an ???exciting new format.??? You took the best portion of your show and the one thing that really separated News and Notes from all the other news programs being broadcast and decided to get rid of it!? In the words of Michael Myers - That is idiotic. That is foolish-ness!

Where???s that unsubscribe button?

Where???s Julianne Malveaux?

Somebody get Ed Gordon on the phone . . . quick!

Sent by Matthew | 9:53 PM ET | 05-13-2007

I appreciate the effort you all have gone to in order to keep the show both informative and entertaining, but you're missing the boat by not having the roundtable. With all the new stories and topics you've brought up in the last few episodes and no commetary from Julianne, Ron, and Walter? Come on.

Michael Myers is going to tell you about yourselves.

Sent by Francis | 8:13 AM ET | 05-15-2007

I LOVE the new format, including the new roundtable. Starting the show with the black news round-up is great. I've been a fan of the show through all its permutations and hosts, and I think it just keeps getting stronger and stronger under Chideya's leadership. I live in Colorado, where sources of national and international black news are hard to come by on the air, so I listen on line.

Re: The roundtable. Unlike many of the other bloggers, I like the leaner, more focused version. I thought the old roundtable, while always entertaining, was getting a little routine-- your parrticipants, whom I respect for the most part-- were getting too predictable in their viewpoints and group dynamic. I feel I could have scripted the conversation, which great accuracy, if you gave me the topics to be discussed. I'm afraid that sometimes the roundtable conversation devolved into the sort of rhetoric too familiar--- though usually more intelligent-- from talk radio. The new format is much better, and worthy of the rigor and insight that I love about your show.

The new format is makes the show even more substantial-- the topics are explored with more depth, rigor, and freshness. Keep it up~!

Sent by Claire Garcia | 10:19 AM ET | 05-15-2007

Hey, I'm all for change if it improves things and I really relate to the sleep thing, but I don't get why you had to throw out the baby with the bathwater???

I agree with everyone else about the round table. If anything I always thought it should be expanded. I even thought it would be awesome to have it as a half hour show in addition to N&N.

I miss the spirited debates. I would be so fired up when Ron would be on there spewing his Republican agenda. It was great! BRING IT BACK.....PLEASE!!!!

Sent by Tim | 11:03 PM ET | 05-15-2007

I listen to News and Notes daily via podcast. Consequently, I was first introduced to the show by means of the "African American Roundtable" which was at that time the only part of the show which was offered in this medium. Since I started as a Roundtable listener, I, too, miss the diverse points of view that it highlighted and the various personalities that it featured. Also, the brevity of the Roundtable did not allow any one panelist to get too verbose. I understand that change is necessary in media in order to keep things fresh and unencumbered, but I would pay money to hear Julianne Malveaux and Ron Christie going head to head again!

Thanks for listening!

Sent by Emille K. Davie | 11:32 PM ET | 05-16-2007

News and Notes is Done!
It seems like NPR doesn't have the heart, brains or berries to out and out put this show down. Instead its death by a thousand cuts. First Ed Gordon goes taking with him the star power that the show desperately needs. Now you change the format taking away the Roundtable, one of the primary reasons for listening. I am not diminishing anyone's efforts but are segments like Tech Update, Africa Update providing a perspective that can't be gained elsewhere? The Roundtable did that. The only time that black voices/faces get heard or seen is for things like the Imus issue or when Sharpton/Jackson/Farrakhan say something to spark certain people's ire. Rountable gave the diversity of black perspectives (left, right, center)every day. Though catty and disjointed with some guests rambling on or talking over each other, it was worth a daily listen. It could have been modified instead of being scrapped. I live in Metro DC and News&Notes doesn't come on any more due to programming changes. Imagine that, a show for black people produced by an outfit headquartered in DC and can't be heard in Chocolate City. I used to try to catch it on Baltimore's NPR but I see there is no longer apoint in that. I hope the hostess succeeds in her diet and other adventures. For me you guys are finished,toes up like a corpse on the coroner's table.

Sent by Former Listener | 2:25 PM ET | 05-17-2007

Having been introduced to your program throught the roundtable podcast, I'm very disappointed it is no longer a regular part of my day. I wil still listen, but I won't regret missing an episode. BRING IT BACK!!! Please.

Sent by Lee Jay | 2:34 PM ET | 05-30-2007

BRING BACK THE ROUNDTABLE !!!!....

It was one the of the MAJOR reasons I listened to this show everyday. (via podcast from the middle east.)

Sent by Aaron Warren | 2:11 PM ET | 06-17-2007

Like others, I long for the roundtable discussions that drew me to the show originally. I got multiple perspectives on a host of issues and events. Please bring it back. If the usual suspects are no longer available, please consider expanding your network to include other intellectuals and politicos. The "headlines" segment is an insufficient attempt to replace the RT w/info your already newshoundsy listeners can acquire by scanning the websites we frequent.

Sent by K. Williams | 11:02 AM ET | 07-17-2007

what in the blue hell happened to the roundtable? I need my Mike Myers and the rest. Does anyone under the age of 60 want to have an entire month of the black church. Most of us can only stand church for once a week.

Let's get real, there is NO other national media (radio, tv, print) that offered anything close to the old roundtable. Now we don't even have that. Now we are back to Black national media consisting of "how bad it is to be black", coonery, the chuuuch. Come on NPR. We're going into withdrawal over here. oh it's true.

Sent by Don 3 | 8:36 AM ET | 07-20-2007