It's on XM satellite radio, it's on 28 radio stations throughout the USA, occupying prime slots during the early morning news hours here in New York, it's The Takeaway, a radio show launched April 2008. The program is produced by Public Radio International, funded by a large grant from the Knight Foundation, and hosted by former MSNBC presenter John Hockenberry and former Court TV anchor Adaora Udoji.
It seems from a New York Times article at the time of the launch of the show that there were several pressures to introduce this show, one being the high cost to stations for the current and well-regarded news program Morning Edition, a second being the loss of listenership -- not because fewer people were tuning in but because they were tuning in for shorter periods. When The Takeaway became an alternative, with its "edgy" format involving audience participation (thus the title, as in "what's your takeaway [message/conclusion] about this news event?"), with established broadcasting professionals hosting it and probably with much less cost (because of the grant support), it must have looked like an exciting alternative.
The problem is that it's beyond cr@p, it's a reach-for-the-radio-and-switch-the-power-off annoying at 6 am, with booming music, chirpy sound effects, and, unforgivably, a much more superficial treatment of the news that the venerable Morning Edition that it replaces. The hosts compound the problem -- Udoji struggles at times to pronounce polysyllabic words, while Hockenberry is increasingly tending towards the shock jock format, interrupting the reporter and interjecting aggressive and opinionated comments. More recently he's drifting towards the use of tired right wing talking points, interrupting a reporter discussing the Obama health care plan who referred to the plan to the Bush tax cuts expire, with a redefinition of her point as "Let's be honest, we're talking about a tax increase", repeating the point a few times for good measure. The show's Wikipedia entry quotes Hockenberry as saying that Howard Stern's show is his model for what he's trying to achieve (H/T to this website).
Who was the genius who thought up putting on a program at 6 am that requires interactivity of the listening audience? What exactly was the perceived advantage of trivializing the reporting of the news when we have two wars going on, unprecedented interest in the political process and we appear to be in an economic depression? And what exactly was the thought process behind the idea that Howard Stern listeners would start to listen to National Public Radio?
National Public Radio (NPR) stations get their money from listener contributions. If I withhold my contribution because of this annoying waste of airtime, all of their other programs suffer. All I can think to do is to email my local station, you can get in touch with NPR directly and do the same. Any other suggestions welcome.