Bye, Bob

National Public Radio anchor Bob Edwards sat in broadcast booth 2A early Monday morning having his weekly live chat with Cokie Roberts, senior news analyst for the network.

As the interview on NPR’s “Morning Edition” wrapped up, Miss Roberts gave the first indication that this would not be just another week for Mr. Edwards.

“Bob, it’s our last Monday together. It’s been a great run. Here’s to new beginnings, old friend,” she said.

Mr. Edwards, 56, will anchor “Morning Edition” for the final time today .

Mr. Edwards abruptly was added as a host of “Morning Edition” in 1979. He has been removed just as abruptly, despite his smooth baritone and role in making the morning news show one of the most popular on radio with 13 million listeners weekly.

“I guess it’s a demotion. I don’t know. It doesn’t bother me. It did. Now it doesn’t. I’m a very happy man, and I’m looking forward to sleeping,” Mr. Edwards said.

There hasn’t been much sleep the past 24 years and six months.

Mr. Edwards wakes up at 1 a.m. each workday to reach the studio by 2 a.m.

“Morning Edition” is live from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., then repeated by NPR member stations throughout the morning. Once he arrives at work, Mr. Edwards prepares for each day’s broadcast by making a pot of strong coffee — his colleagues warn that it needs to be watered down — reading news stories, writing copy to deliver during the program and interviewing reporters and newsmakers overseas for taped spots during “Morning Edition.”

At 4:30 a.m. Mr. Edwards, his coffee cup in front of him, already is speaking with Asia-based reporter Rob Gifford about China’s decision to prohibit elections in Hong Kong in 2007.

But the routine of Mr. Edwards and his listeners is about to be disrupted.

NPR’s corporate leaders said last month they will replace him as part of an effort to update programming. NPR will replace Mr. Edwards with two anchors, Steve Inskeep and Rene Montaigne. One will be based at the Massachusetts Avenue NW headquarters, and one will work from Los Angeles. Both will be expected to leave the studio and file stories, responsibilities that were not given to Mr. Edwards.

Mr. Edwards will become a senior correspondent for NPR, a demotion that will result in lower pay and a substantially lower profile.

The demotion of Mr. Edwards has led to widespread criticism of NPR because of its clumsy handling of the surprise personnel change. The network announced on March 23 that Mr. Edwards would be reassigned, but it didn’t reach a formal agreement with him on a role and a new contract until four days later.

The network also has been criticized for its decision to remove Mr. Edwards just six months before the 25th anniversary of “Morning Edition.”

Sitting in his dimly lit office on Monday after the live segment of the program, Mr. Edwards says with a calm voice that he has overcome the shock of his demotion.

“Things are good now. I’m in a very good place,” he says.

But there is lingering disappointment. In his mid-50s, he has had a major career change shoved down his golden throat.

“It is a prestigious job to be the host of the most-listened-to program in all of broadcasting. It’s like I used to be somebody,” he says.

Ouch.

Although NPR’s decision might no longer bother Mr. Edwards, it still bothers many others. His reassignment has been reviled by NPR supporters and some employees. The network received 35,000 e-mail messages through last week from people complaining that NPR shouldn’t have pulled the anchor’s chair out from under Mr. Edwards.

“Generally they are hurt, shocked, appalled and resigned, in that order,” NPR ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin said.

The network likely could have pre-empted some of the outrage, Mr. Dvorkin said, by trying to convince listeners that change isn’t always bad.

“I think it could have been handled differently,” he said.

Mr. Edwards worked for NPR for five years and was a co-host of the afternoon news program “All Things Considered” when the producers of “Morning Edition” asked him to co-host the new show. That program had been in development for months, but the show’s pilots faced criticism. With about two weeks before the initial broadcast, Mr. Edwards became a co-host. He was supposed to stand in for just 30 days, while NPR found a replacement.

He’s been there ever since.

And he established a rapport with people that has manifest itself in a chorus of support. Mr. Edwards has printed each of the e-mail messages his fans have sent him, and they form a mountain of paper that sit on a counter in the office that he is being evicted from.

The efforts of a group that started SaveBobEdwards.com, a Web site that he admits he visits regularly, also have eased the pain caused by the poorly timed demotion.

“It helped a lot. When you’re canned like that you feel very badly. Self-esteem, worth, whatever, you wonder. Then here are all these people to pick me up. That’s yet another reason why I got over it,” he says. “It was very healing.”

He might have healed, but the wounds of his fans will be reopened Monday when “Morning Edition” goes on without him for the first time.

Bye, Bob.