When Wertheimer started at NPR, there were still few women journalists covering serious news. Most women journalists were shuffled to the “women’s pages” of newspapers where they wrote about food, fashion and society. But NPR gave Wertheimer a chance, and she never looked back.
In recognition of Women’s History Month, I thought I’d honor Linda Wertheimer’s trailblazing career by letting her speak for herself, sharing excerpts of her farewell message to NPR stations and listeners across the country.
“I was incredibly lucky to arrive at NPR when I did, which was at the very beginning … NPR was not yet on the air, All Things Considered was barely an idea and nowhere near a program …
I am proud to say I was one of the first hires on the news side. At our first staff meeting there were no chairs (or tables) but there were eager people with lots of plans sitting on the floor and I was one of them …
I started as a director for our first program, ATC, which was the only job I've had at NPR that I disliked. My colleagues somehow could not cram their news reporting into the number of minutes that were assigned and every day we had some kind of crisis as I ruthlessly chopped their wonderful pieces down to size. I moved, as quickly as I possibly could, to the reporting side and began the longest and most wonderful part of my long career as a Nipper. I was Congressional Correspondent, then Political Correspondent, covered four presidential campaigns and co-anchored NPR's coverage of national presidential conventions and a dozen presidential election nights and in 1989 I became the co-host of All Things Considered. I served for 12 years with wonderful partners Robert Siegel and Noah Adams. Along the way I spent many years traveling and listening to voters. I can say without a trace of modesty that after all those conversations I always knew who was going to win the election. Also along the way I made lifelong friends, covering Congress and politics and campaigns with the late brilliant Cokie Roberts who was a great partner and Nina Totenberg, the best Supreme Court correspondent there is. For years, the three of us sat in the corner of the newsroom and presided over what some of our colleagues called the Fallopian Jungle. We thought it was a nice nod to the fact that NPR put so many women on the radio…
In the early days, NPR could not afford to pay very well and so depended upon younger people at all levels. I have always believed that also contributed to our sound and to the reporting and kind of stories we covered in addition to the regular news. The young people are still with us, younger every year I think… producers and production assistants, writers, reporters, folks who edit, people who direct the programs, interns. I believe it is one of the most remarkable things about the place, that so many of the original thoughts and ideas are still at work, made modern, of course, by all those "kids” …
I have had a great ride over more than fifty years – and now that ride is over.”
For nearly the entirety of JPR’s existence (JPR’s first station, KSOR, was founded in 1969 and Linda started at NPR in 1971) Linda Wertheimer has informed us all about important world events, told compelling stories that have kept us in our driveways way too long, and creatively influenced NPR’s unique voice. She’s also paved the way for so many talented journalists who do this work today, setting standards that propel NPR and its member stations into the future.
