In a memo to NPR affiliates in late March, the network said Edwards would be "taking on a new assignment as senior correspondent..."
He is scheduled to leave his current position at the end of April.
Edwards has been host of the show for 25 years and his fan base are none too happy about the changes.
SaveBobEdwards.com has been put on the web to rally listeners to the aid of the longtime public radio air-personality.
The front of the website includes this statement:
"...it is time to start going after NPR directly. I am working on a list of the sponsors of NPR. We need to start forward them our e-mails and organize a mini-boycott. At the same time, NPR is acting like a corporation. Its primary goal in moving Bob seems to be higher ratings and a larger revenue stream. This is not a public service! If NPR wants to be a corporation than let them be one. NPR should not get Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding and they should be taxed as a corporation."
As for NPR, the network says its reasons for moving Edwards center around "freshening up" news programming.
What remains to be seen is how these changes, which seem unpopular among many listeners, will affect personal donations and funding on the local level.
For instance, according to an article in the online version of the Salt Lake City Tribune, the local NPR affiliate, KUER-FM, says it already felt a pinch during its latest fund-raising drive.
Only time will tell if this controversy will be a programming change for the better or worse.
