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| Credit NPR |
Susan Stamberg is a highly respected American Radio Journalist, often referred to and known as "Founding Mother," because she was the first woman to anchor a national nightly news program. Susan has been with National Public Radio (NPR) since its founding in 1971, as she is most known for Co-Hosting NPR's show All Things Considered, which she did for 14 years during the years 1972-1986.
Prior to her stardom, Stamberg was born and raised in New York City and attended Barnard College, graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor’s Degree. In an interview with Stamberg on Youtube, she explained that a sense of high academic achievement surrounded her while growing up, so she had no choice but to follow suit. Similarly, she explained this academic mindset is what lead her to be so inquisitive and curious of others, leading her to become the great journalist that she is.
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| Susan Stamberg age 25 Credit NPR |
WAMU-FM, an NPR member station. When I was looking for primary source information, I came across a "My Big Break" series by NPR in which they had interviewed Susan Stamberg, and she explains one of her first radio mishaps. It's a case of someone calling out sick for the weather report, and now it was left for Stamberg to report on. Due to her nerves, she starts rambling that the temperature is 90 degrees with a wind chill of 62 and velocity this and sun rays that, even though it was the middle of February. This instance taught her two significant lessons, never go on air unprepared and never lie to your listeners.
Most recently, an article by the New York Times titled "The Women of NPR, When NPR Was a Start-Up" outlined Susan and three other women who worked to build NPR and helped bring it to the prominence that it has today. The article also outlined the appeal of NPR; because it was a newly founded non-profit news outlet, many were skeptical about joining and didn't see the potential it had to grow. But the early members, specifically these four women, wanted the opportunity to report on things they had never been allowed to before. "NPR, unlike its well-resourced competitors, was eager to hire sharp, inventive, low-wage workers who couldn’t find jobs anywhere else — in other words, women." NPR opened the door and allowed these women to run with their ideas and report on what they wished without having to publish it to "Women pages." This helped break the gender barrier for women journalists.
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| Mr. Rodgers and Susan Stamberg |
In the mid-1970s when Stamberg was hitting her stride, she interviewed many well-rounded people, including Laura Bush, Billy Crystal, Rosa Parks, Dave Brubeck, and Luciano Pavarotti. Stamberg grew to fame because of her conversational tone and her ability to ask hard-hitting questions in a way that made people open up. One of her all-time favorite people to interview was Fred Rodgers, better known as Mr. Rogers, who she interviewed on three separate occasions.
Today we know Susan Stamberg as a radio journalist veteran who has earned countless accolades. In 1996 she was inducted into the Rdio Hall of Fame. She was also awarded the Armstrong and duPont Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Distinguished Broadcaster Award from the American Women in Radio and Television, and many more. Right before the world shut down last year, in early March of 2020, Susan was also recognized by the Hollywood Walk of Fame, receiving a star embedded in the Hollywood sidewalk among many other red carpet and award-winning celebrities.
As someone who aspires to go into broadcast journalism and one day work for NPR it was so beneficial to learn more about Susan Stamberg and the Bible beginnings of National Public Radio. Another fun fact is that Ari Shapiro, a more recent NPR correspondent is her cousin.
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