In some very sad news NPR's African American focused talk show Tell Me More hosted Michel Martin by will air for the last time on August 1, 2014. The show has aired for seven years starting in 2007.
NPR says that the shows audience is just to small. NPR has stressed that point and let it be known that African Americans only make up 5% of their total audience.
[SOURCE] Michel Martin, the host of Tell Me More, will remain at the network, as will the program's executive producer, Carline Watson. They will be part of an initiative to incorporate the kind of coverage of issues of race, identity, faith, gender and family that appear on the show. Martin will appear on the network's primary newsmagazines, online and in public events.
"To be honest with you, I think we've been casualties of executive churn," Martin said. "Every CEO who has been at this network since I've been here — and how many are there now? Six? Seven? — all of them have supported this program, but none of them have stayed around long enough to institutionalize that support."
She said NPR's record with shows intended to appeal to African-American listeners speaks for itself.
But, Martin said, "clearly, it's not enough in this environment to fulfill an editorial mission. You've got to be supported across the board by every element of the organization. ... And I don't think that's always happened."
Martin admitted having "scar tissue" from her show's cancellation. But she also said she wants to hold NPR to its mission and its promises.
"We've done a lot to show what's possible here and I want to keep that going," Martin said. "I can't say you need to do better at serving these audiences and then walk away from it. I don't think that's fair."
