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Renee Montagne looks back at her 40 years at NPR

Renee Montagne in Afghanistan.
Tom Bullock
/
NPR
Renee Montagne in Afghanistan.

RESOURCES:

About Renee Montagne

NPR's Renee Montagne is retiring after more than 40 years in public radio

TRANSCRIPTION:

Renee Montagne: Hi! How are you?

Caroline MacGregor: I'm well! Thank you! Thank you so much for joining us today! It's such an honor! Our listeners will be thrilled to hear about your journey in public media.

Renee Montagne: Well, I'm so glad! I appreciate you having me!

Caroline MacGregor: I'd like to start. You know, I'm sure everybody's asked you this, but your career in public media has spanned over 40 years, I believe. A dozen of which you co-hosted Morning Edition. I know I'm sort of launching into this, but I am wondering how you dealt with such an exhausting schedule over the years and you remained so focused.

Renee Montagne: As you know, even from being on any of these shows and being on any of these shows, and at the stations as well, that you have to have a kind of a physical ability to do it. It's built in. I don't care if it's investigative reporting or war reporting or getting up, in my case, at 11 every night to be there at midnight and then really being there about ten hours or 11 and sometimes 12 just to get everything done. I mean, it's a stamina aspect to it that. Not all journalism enjoys or is needed, but it's surely for people who do hosting or intense under deadline work, which is a lot of us. Yeah. So, as to what to do, which, I don't know, you almost have to be built that way. Those overnight things are hard, though. I was jetlagged for 12 years. Just a bit, you know, but never quite fully awake until the weekend.

Caroline MacGregor: Gosh. I can imagine. And would you give me just a quick overview of how you started your career in public media, please?

Renee Montagne: Well, the really fast way, the lightning round version of it, is I was going to Berkeley. I had a lot of friends who were interested in a little new radio station in San Francisco called A Poor People's Radio. Was not NPR level at all. It was just a funky little station in the city. But amazing people were young--very young--people were there rolling in with their talents, none of which had to do with news. Music, poetry, it was quite a scene. So, for a couple of years, I just turned myself into a reporter because I was one of the rare ones who was an artist and got the bug. I mean, more than got the bug. I started finding out that this was a beloved experience for me. And the audio in particular was what grabbed me, obviously. I mean, I never had a very great interest in print. I always was interested in people's voices. In fact, the bad name for my show, I had a little show, was called--I say bad name now--"Women's Voices." I mean, very uncreative, but it was accurate.

Caroline MacGregor: I'm particularly interested in your coverage of Nelson Mandela. I grew up partially in South Africa myself, and I know you were there to cover his release from prison in 1990. And then, I believe you were there four years later when he became president. Tell me a little bit about your experience, if you would, and your interactions with Mandela himself.

Renee Montagne: Well, let's say Mandela. Okay. I arrived in Johannesburg the day he was released. Of course, he was released down in Cape Town. But I got in on the the excitement of it all. And it was raining in Johannesburg. A lot of rain that day. And people were saying how what a good omen that was. And it certainly was, because, as long as he was on the scene, everything was on the up--beautiful and amazing things that happened after he finally came out of prison. So, I would say I ended up sort of falling in love with it, just since it turns out you are partially from there. My sister-in-law was South African, so I knew a little bit about South Africa and had some in-laws there if you want to put it that way. So, I had a little sense. And so, I ended up being mixed in there with South African people. I didn't have a fancy house amongst all the foreign correspondents, which they did have, by the way. And it was NPR, of course. But about Mandela himself, anyway, so I stayed. I stayed longer than I was supposed to. This is a typical NPR thing. They said, "You can stay as long as the money doesn't run out." I said, "I don't want to come back after two weeks." They're like, "Well, yeah, you stay as long as the money doesn't run out. Send a story." And the money was about $500, which was more there than here, that's for sure. But I managed to squeeze about six more weeks out of it. And then, I came back in the summer. And then, finally, I took a year off of my regular job and went on the foreign desk as a contract person. And so, I ended up staying off and on right up until the end of 2003. And then, finally, we got into 2004, and I came back for the elections. But Mandela, only at the very beginning, I want to be really clear on this, he was just out there amongst the people. I have stories I could tell. I mean, one, he knew you. He didn't always know us by name or our whole histories and everything. But there was a cadre of reporters, most of them South African, but also international, that there'd be a news conference and people would show up and sit cross-legged on the floor in the African National Congress headquarters. And Mandela would be there behind a desk or a table with 2 or 3 other people. You could go up and chat with him, you know? And, yeah, I mean, one time, I ended up in his original Soweto house, where he had lived and didn't let go of it for a bit right after he came out of prison because it was sentimental to him. And really sitting down at the table with him. But it was so weird that I didn't even think of it at the time, but I didn't. It just seemed like a natural. But bit by bit, as it became about three years into that or two years into that, he started being more distant and being closer and closer to the presidency, which was a given.

Caroline MacGregor: What were your initial impressions of him? I mean, did he show any signs of bitterness after losing so many years of his life behind bars back in 1990 when he was released?

Renee Montagne: Not one. If you could call someone close to a saint, everything anybody says about him on that level is accurate. He emerged as a full human being with an extraordinarily positive self. He was jolly. He was charming. In the nicest way, he was a flirt. You know, one time, I sat up front because I had to put my microphone up on sometimes these tables and stuff, but this was a big moment. And it was during the convention where they were doing the Constitution. 3 or 5 people would be up on a dais. And he was up there, and I was right underneath. I mean, there was a height there then going. And I had been so hungry that when the food came, I just grabbed it and ran. And I was sitting there like shoveling because my mic was going. I mean, my mic was up there. I mean, my tape was going. I was shoveling in the food like, desperately. I was so hungry. And I looked up a staring, right. I was looking right down at me. And he leans over when he sees. I look up and he goes, "Bon appetit!" I was going to be really embarrassed, but instead he had this. And in the middle of that all, he quietly said it because I was about ten feet from him. But he was that kind of a person. He was everything that he's built up. He made mistakes. I think his biggest mistake, I'm sorry for the country, was not going for a second term. But that wasn't a mistake. He wanted more of a life outside politics, and he had a good social life. But he was a lovely, lovely man, you know? So, it was more than just a moment in history. It was, actually, a huge chance to see humanity at its best.

Caroline MacGregor: What an experience! And he and Desmond Tutu just strike me as being so humble. I don't know if we've got time. The other thing that was of huge interest to me was your project on maternal mortality in the US. That was just striking in what you uncovered about the race of maternal mortality in this country being so high.

Renee Montagne: Yeah. Well, first of all, it was a long, deep project, investigative, something I'd never done, and I was partnered with ProPublica. And everybody knows ProPublica is one of the finest investigative organizations. Nina Martin, her name is. I can't ever say anything without saying her name because she's absolutely wonderful. Yeah, this was one of those moments where I said to NPR, I'm leaving Morning Edition. And it's like, "So what now?" And they didn't have great ideas, to be honest. I mean, they didn't jump in and say, We've got a podcast for you or something. So I just said, "Listen. Why don't you hook me up with them?" We were doing this a lot at the time with an organization that's investigative, ProPublica, whatever, and I'll do something I've never done before. And darned if they did. I mean, it was the week after I left Morning, I was on this and they said, "What about maternal mortality?" The executive editor of the desk, he said, "What about women dying in childbirth? They're doing something at ProPublica. They're going to start and they're willing to partner with us." And I said, "Well, let me think about it." And then, I talked to Nina Martin, and she had already lined up about five people, not that we actually use, but just what she knew. And when I heard their stories, I said, "Oh my gosh! How nobody ever has told this story, I can't believe!" It was profound for me. And I didn't make this up. And I share it with Nina for sure. It's sort of understood to have started a national conversation. Thank you, ProPublica. Thank you, NPR, for being having that reach. So, it's a conversation. Not much has changed, sadly, but at least, it's not gotten worse. And it's something that's of concern now.

Caroline MacGregor: Absolutely! And I don't know if I've got time to ask you what's next for you?

Renee Montagne: I'm not actually sure what's next. I've been looking back so much and thinking I need to find out something. So, there's a lot of sort of possibilities. And I'm not being sneaky about it. Just there's sort of swirling around. So, I'm going to have a lot of time to think about it and in the best sense--in the very best sense.

Caroline MacGregor: Renee Montagne, congratulations on your incredible career! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me here on WEMU!

NPR's Renee Montage, who's announced her retirement from the network
Allison Shelley
/
NPR
NPR's Renee Montage, who's announced her retirement from the network

Renee Montagne: Well, Caroline, thank you so much for having me! And thank all your listeners for listening!

Caroline MacGregor: This is 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti.

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An award winning journalist, Caroline's career has spanned both commercial and public media in addition to writing for several newspapers and working as a television producer. As a broadcaster she has covered breaking stories for NPR and most recently worked as Assistant News Director for West Virginia Public Broadcasting. This year she returned to Michigan to be closer to family.
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