Diane Rehm
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Diane Rehm (pronounced /ˈriːm/; born September 21,[1] 1936 in Washington, D.C.) is an American public radio talk show host. Her program, The Diane Rehm Show, is distributed nationally and internationally by National Public Radio. It is produced at WAMU, which is licensed to American University in Washington, D.C. It is also available on Armed Forces Radio, online, and via Sirius satellite radio.
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[edit] Personal life
Rehm was born to Wadie Aed, a Turkish Eastern Orthodox father[1] and Eugenie Zouekie, a Christian Egyptian mother. She attended William B. Powell Elementary and Roosevelt High School in Washington, D.C.[1] In her autobiography, Rehm recounted her childhood molestation by an unnamed politician in a Washington room. To date, she has refused to reveal the identity of this person.[1] Upon graduation, she was employed by the city's highways department, where she took a liking to working as a radio dispatcher.
Rehm married John Rehm, her second husband, in 1959. She has two grown children, David and Jennifer.[2]
Trouble with her voice forced Rehm to take a hiatus from vocal broadcasting in 1998. Rehm was later found to be suffering from spasmodic dysphonia.[3] In spite of this, Diane Rehm currently continues to host the "The Diane Rehm Show".
[edit] Career
Rehm began her radio career in 1973[2] as a volunteer for WAMU's The Home Show. In 1979, she took over as the host of WAMU's morning talk show, Kaleidoscope, which was renamed The Diane Rehm Show in 1984.
Rehm has interviewed high-profile political and cultural figures, including Bill Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama, Madeleine Albright, Sandra Day O'Connor, Ralph Nader, Arlo Guthrie, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Maurice Sendak, and Maya Angelou. Rehm has said that her most touching interview was that with Fred Rogers of the PBS program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood conducted just prior to Rogers' death.[2]
She has written two autobiographical books. The first, Finding My Voice, dealt with her traditional upbringing in a Christian Arab household, her brief first marriage and divorce, her 42-year marriage to John Rehm, raising her children, the first 20 years of her radio career, and her battles with depression, osteoporosis, and spasmodic dysphonia.[4] Together with John Rehm she co-wrote Toward Commitment: A Dialogue about Marriage, which was published in 2002.
[edit] Controversy
In 2005, a private study funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting accused Rehm of booking 22 liberal guests for every 5 conservative guests. However, the study itself was criticized as a politicized attempt to, in Rehm's term, "scare" journalists of the accusation of liberal bias. One criticism of the study concerned its criteria of what constituted "liberal" - a category in which it placed any critic of the administration of George W. Bush, including Republicans such as Senator Chuck Hagel and former Representative Bob Barr. [5] Further, the study was commissioned secretly - without the knowledge of the CPB Board or its president, Diane Cox - by Kenneth Tomlinson, whose appointment to the chairmanship of the CPB by George W. Bush had been criticized as politically motivated. To produce the study, Tomlinson hired Indiana consultant Frederick W. Mann, a conservative operative previously associated with the Young America Foundation, which has described itself as "the principal outreach organization of the Conservative Movement." [6] A report on the study by the CPB's Inspector General, Kenneth Konz, criticized Tomlinson's methods; the report led to Tomlinson's immediate resignation in November, 2005 [7] According to the Washington Post, Diane Rehm herself "called Mann's findings 'unprofessional and simplistic.' [and] added 'I've been booking shows for 25 years. I don't think they have any idea what it takes to achieve the professionalism and expertise and the right people to express a variety of points of view. . . . What [Kenneth Tomlinson]'s doing, I think, is trying to scare public broadcasters.' " [8]
[edit] Honors and awards
A partial list of Rehm's honors and awards:
- 1999 Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian magazine.
- 2000 Fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, honoring extraordinary contributions to journalism.
- 2003 Calvary Women's Services Hope award, honoring her volunteer and professional work for women in need.
- 2003 Montgomery County Chapter of the National Organization for Women's Susan B. Anthony Award, honoring her advocacy of women's right in the community.
- 2006 Urbino Press Award
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Weeks, Linton (1999, August 23). "Diane Rehm Finds a Voice of Her Own". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/features/daily/rehm0823.htm.
- ^ a b c Gatewood, Miranda. "Networking: Whos Whos, Whats What for Business Executives, "The Diane Rehm Show," A WOMAN'S VOICE". Networking Magazine. http://www.networkwomen.com/0904/coverstory/0904_coverstory.html.
- ^ "'Dilbert' creator recovers from rare disorder". http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15446515/?GT1=8618. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
- ^ ""The Diane Rehm Show: Finding My Voice"". WAMU 88.5 FM, American University Radio. http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/diane_rehm/finding_my_voice.php.
- ^ Washington Post
- ^ Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism
- ^ Washington Post
- ^ Washington Post
[edit] External links
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