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Michele Norris, who has co-hosted “All Things Considered” since 2002, says she’ll step away from those duties while husband Broderick Johnson works for the Obama re-election campaign as a senior adviser. “This has all happened very quickly, but working closely with NPR management, we’ve been able to make a plan that serves the show, honors the integrity of our news organization and is best for me professionally and personally,” she writes in a note to listeners (posted below). Norris will continue to report for “All Things Considered,” but not on politics, according to a tweet from NPR media reporter David Folkenflik. He also notes: “@michele_norris recused in ’04 when Johnson aided Kerry’s congressional outreach; not in 2008 when he was unpaid adviser to Obama camp.”
Hello everyone,
I need to share some news and I wanted to make sure my NPR family heard this first.
Last week, I told news management that my husband, Broderick Johnson, has just accepted a senior advisor position with the Obama Campaign. After careful consideration, we decided that Broderick’s new role could make it difficult for me to continue hosting ATC.
Given the nature of Broderick’s position with the campaign and the impact that it will most certainly have on our family life, I will temporarily step away from my hosting duties until after the 2012 elections.
I will be leaving the host chair at the end of this week, but I’m not going far. I will be wearing a different hat for a while, producing signature segments and features and working on new reporting projects. While I will of course recuse myself from all election coverage, there’s still an awful lot of ground that I can till in this interim role.
This has all happened very quickly, but working closely with NPR management, we’ve been able to make a plan that serves the show, honors the integrity of our news organization and is best for me professionally and personally.
I will certainly miss hosting, but I will remain part of the ATC team and I look forward to contributing to our show and NPR in new and exciting ways.
My very best,
Michele
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