NPR Event: Robin Young at Philips Exeter Academy

Written by: Barbara Hilton on Jan 19, 2007 2:15 PM EST

Robin Young talked about her career and told stories that went along with this theme.  She was a good storyteller and it was easy to listen to her.  Her twenty-five year broadcasting career seems to have been full of opportunities that arose out of the federal mandate that minorities be hired or stations would lose their licenses.  For her part, she rose to every occasion, worked very hard, never seemed to doubt herself, and seemed to possess all the necessary self-confidence to take advantage of all these opportunities.

She took questions at the end of her talk. At one point, someone asked her about the lack of media attention, including most of NPR with the exception of Diane Rehm, to the protest movement against the buildup to the war in Iraq. She responded by saying that the media was afraid to appear unpatriotic and people, it seemed herself included, did not want to be branded a hippie and therefore, irrelevant.

When I had a chance to ask a question, I asked her if she chose her own topics for her show, Here and Now.  She said she was able to do that about 70% of the time so I asked her not to ignore the protest in D.C. on January 27.  She said she'd make a note of that but she had to be careful not to be seen as an advocate for one side or the other.  I don't think she considers her show to be a news show. Rather she seems to think of herself more as a storyteller.

I enjoyed the event.  Apparently this is the first in a series of three discussions put on by NHPR.  They are also going to be doing a series called Our Town that will follow Exeter from now through the primaries of the 2008 elections.

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Location: NH