NPR's New Public Editor: I Thought Listening To The News Would Be Easier

Within a single hour last week, while listening to Morning Edition, I was first charmed by a delightful conversation between Peyton and Lola, 4- and 6-year-old cousins, describing their new reality; I then became enraged by an interview with U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft, who dodged every question host Steve Inskeep asked about the logic of cutting off funding to the World Health Organization.

By 7 a.m., I was exhausted. So goes all news consumption these days. I imagine you feel the same.

I romantically believe that now that I'm your new NPR Public Editor, listening to the news may get easier, because I have an even bigger investment in it than before. That may be a tad idealistic, because we aren't just consuming the biggest story of the century — we are