Hockenberry to cohost WGBH news show

By Clea Simon, Globe Correspondent  |  April 25, 2008

For nearly 30 years, public radio listeners have started their days with "Morning Edition," a newsmagazine carried on more than 600 public stations. As of Monday, that venerable institution will have a challenger. "The Takeaway," which will air locally on WGBH-FM (89.7) from 6 to 7 a.m., will favor live reporting and discussion from around the world over prerecorded and produced segments.

"Our liveness makes us far more nimble than the competition," says John Hockenberry, who will cohost the show with Adaora Udoji. Both are experienced reporters and longtime public radio veterans: Hockenberry has won Peabody, Emmy, and Edward R. Murrow awards, and Udoji has spent the last decade covering stories from the 2004 US presidential election to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "If something happens," says Hockenberry, "we deal with it."

The format of the new show, as heard on pilots, is conversational with one constant being the different perspectives of the two hosts. In a pilot discussion of the constitutionality of the death penalty, for example, Hockenberry focused on the issues surrounding states' rights. Udoji "was more interested in the evolution of moral decency," she says.

Like most other morning shows, the talk will be interrupted for regular news updates. But much of "The Takeaway" will be conversation between the two about the day's news or interviews with experts on current and ongoing issues. Because the show is a coproduction of WNYC Radio and Public Radio International, in editorial collaboration with WGBH, the BBC World Service, and The New York Times, the hosts have a score of experts they can call on for live reaction to breaking news or to contribute informed opinions. The show's website, thetakeaway.org, is also expected to play more of a role than such sites have for older public radio shows, offering real-time options for listeners to ask questions or chime into discussions.

Monday's launch, say the hosts, will show only a part of the program's planned scope. For starters, while the program debuts at one hour, the hosts intend for it to expand to four hours by autumn. Although stations, including WGBH, have not committed to giving "The Takeaway" more time on air, this longer program will allow for live updates online and also for updated morning broadcasts on the West Coast. "We'll figure out what we can keep and what needs to be updated," says Hockenberry.

Marita Rivero, vice president for television and radio at WGBH, says now is the time for a different approach. "The world is just too small, the country is moving through changes. It's important to find a format that can keep up with that."

WGBH is not giving up "Morning Edition" entirely or ceding it to WBUR-FM (90.9), which carries the older news show weekdays, from 5 to 9 a.m. On WGBH, a slightly abbreviated version of the NPR stalwart will follow "The Takeaway" from 7 to 9 a.m., making the show an addition rather than a real substitution.

"We'll have an unprecedented diversity of news coverage," says Rivero.