Renee Montagne

Allison Shelley/NPR

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Allison Shelley/NPR

In a note to newsroom staff, Eric Marrapodi, Vice President for News Programming, made the following announcement:

Hello all,

Today, we’re sharing the news that Renee Montagne, one of NPR’s best-known voices, will be leaving our studios for a new chapter in her life.

Since her first freelance story in 1981, Renee’s storytelling and interviews have touched millions of public radio listeners. She hosted both of our flagship news magazines: All Things Considered in the late 80s and Morning Edition from 2004 to 2016. Renee proudly hosted from NPR West, sacrificing sleep and more than a decade of sunsets to be one of the trusted voices so many of us woke up to every morning.

Renee, Mandalit del Barco and Melissa Jeager-Miller reporting for the 2006 Oscars.

Courtesy of Renee Montagne

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Courtesy of Renee Montagne

An LA Times story from 2004 says: “By 1:30 a.m., Montagne’s in the studio, prerecording whatever bits of the show are possible. At 2 a.m., she’s live. She won’t leave for another nine hours. It’s a brutal schedule, but it’s necessary for public radio’s most popular morning news program to provide its West Coast listeners with the latest news and to remain competitive with agile, round-the-clock cable and Internet services.”

Renee accepting her 2017 Peabody Award for “Lost Mothers: Maternal Mortality in the U.S.”

Courtesy of Renee Montagne

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Courtesy of Renee Montagne

After stepping down from Morning Edition to focus on long form investigative stories, Renee worked on a yearlong collaboration with ProPublica reporter Nina Martin, investigating the alarming rate of maternal mortality in the U.S., as compared to other developed countries. “Lost Mothers” started a national conversation on this underreported subject and was recognized with more than a dozen awards in American journalism, including a Peabody Award, a George Polk Award, and Harvard’s Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Journalism. The series was also named a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize.

Renee covering the OJ Simpson trial, 1995

Courtesy of Renee Montagne

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Beginning with her time working at NPR’s New York Bureau, Renee has engaged with an astonishing range of stories just waiting to be told. From a science piece involving caterpillars on tiny treadmills, to a history piece about her father surviving the attack on Pearl Harbor, to covering the trial of OJ Simpson, to a midnight interview with Joni Mitchell – her work has reflected NPR’s core mission to embrace a complex world.

That includes reporting around the world. In 1990, she arrived in South Africa on the day Nelson Mandela was released, and spent much of the next three years covering that country’s trek towards democracy. In 1994, she and a team of NPR reporters won an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for coverage of South Africa’s historic presidential and parliamentary elections.

Renee bicycling in Kabul with translator Habib Zahori, 2010

Courtesy of Renee Montagne

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Courtesy of Renee Montagne

Renee, David Gilkey, Najib Sharifi and Jim Wildman on an Afghan road trip, 2009

Courtesy of Renee Montagne

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Courtesy of Renee Montagne

Renee with kite runners in Kabul, 2002

Tom Bullock

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Tom Bullock

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she made 10 extended reporting trips to Afghanistan, traveling to every major city, from Kabul to Kandahar. Her stories covered the people at the heart of the conflict, from school girls, farmers, mullahs, poll workers, midwives, to leaders and warlords. Her coverage has been honored by the Overseas Press Club, and, for stories on Afghan women in particular, by the Gracie Awards.

Renee hosting Morning Edition with Steve Inskeep

Courtesy of Renee Montagne

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Courtesy of Renee Montagne

Renee’s co-host for twelve years on Morning Edition, Steve Inskeep, adds: “Years ago, Renee told me that NPR was part of her identity. She’s also a big part of the identity of NPR, I have met people everywhere who know that voice.

When we started together as co-hosts in 2004, she made a proposal. It was that we should be paid the same. Because we had equal experience on that job—to the day!—and were doing the same job, it was fair. We negotiated our contracts together, which set the tone for the ways we worked together and supported each other in one of the hardest jobs in journalism.

Having taken one of the hardest jobs in journalism, she often embraced the hardest assignments—especially in her repeated journeys to Afghanistan. She could bring equal dedication and skill to an interview with Bruce Springsteen. I’m a lifelong fan, she was not, yet she asked questions that would not have occurred to me. She also had a particular gift, as a journalist and as a colleague, for observing people and understanding what was unique or valuable about them.”

We all will miss Renee’s passion and curiosity, the intellect and range she brought to her work, along with boundless energy and humor. We’re grateful for the decades spent dedicated to our public service mission.

Please join us in a toast for Renee after this month’s all-staff meeting on January 29.

—Eric