Get to Know a WPR Staffer!
by Susannah Michaels

Terry Bell first joined WPR in 1997, when he was a reporter and Morning Edition host in our then newly acquired La Crosse bureau. In 1999, he moved down to Madison to be the Morning Edition host, and that’s where you’ve heard him ever since. Prior to joining WPR, Terry worked at several other radio stations, and also as a TV news anchor. From 5 until 9 on weekday mornings, you can hear Terry announcing local news, headlines, and weather in between the NPR news segments of Morning Edition. Behind the scenes, he is previewing WPR news stories so that he knows how and in what order to introduce them, rewriting the wire service news stories and weather forecasts to fit our specific needs and airtime constraints, and previewing the NPR News lineup so that he can announce stories coming up in the next segment. He also has to keep on top of quickly changing stories, so that he doesn’t read a headline that has become out-of-date in just an hour. As if getting up at 3:45 AM and working his shift at WPR isn’t enough, Terry also spends his afternoons as an administrator at Madison’s Preschool for the Arts.

RadioWaves: Many of us listen to Morning Edition in spurts, while getting ready for work or driving. You, on the other hand, have heard the entire show every day for years. What is your favorite part of the show? 

Terry Bell: I’d say the highlights for me are the weekly contributions from senior news analyst Cokie Roberts and commentator Frank Deford. I always feel like I’ve learned something I didn’t know before when Cokie shares her insights and long experience, and Frank’s eloquence and thoughtfulness are always a pleasure.

RW: In over ten years of hosting Morning Edition, you must have had some close calls in terms of getting here on time, due to an alarm that didn’t go off or a snowstorm that made getting out of the driveway difficult. What would happen if you didn’t make it?

TB: I actually did, for the first time in my career, have to miss a shift recently because of the weather. The big snowstorm that hit southern Wisconsin in early December left me stranded at my westside Madison home. Computer automation actually brings Morning Edition to our airwaves, until I take the controls shortly before 5 AM. If no one arrived, the broadcast would automatically continue and you would still hear Renee Montagne and Steve Inskeep, but there would be no WPR News inserts, weather, or the other announcing that I do. Our news director, Michael Leland, is my more-than-capable on-air back-up. You heard him the morning I couldn't make it in (he lives closer to the station than I do) and you hear him when I take vacation.

RW: Your college degree in mass communications helped prepare you for your job as Morning Edition host. But what about your upbringing on a dairy farm in southwestern Wisconsin? Did it somehow help prepare you for your current job? Did you listen to the radio while milking cows?

TB: What a great question! My favorite memories of the radio in the barn involve Milwaukee Brewers games during the evening milking. Bob Uecker’s voice was always wafting through the air on summer nights on our farm. Certainly growing up on a dairy farm prepares one for getting up early every day. And I feel fortunate that I grew up so close to the land, and my parents taught me much about being a responsible steward of it. I can think of no better way to grow up in Wisconsin, and I’m honored to play the kind of role I do in the Wisconsin Idea.

RW: You enjoy children, as evidenced by the fact that you have volunteered with kids for years and now work at a preschool in the afternoons. What are some of your favorite activities to engage kids?

TB: I love reading with the preschoolers. I think it’s one of the most important things you can do for a child. I like asking them questions, and I’m often amazed and delighted by their perceptions and conclusions. The kids have given me much more than I could ever possibly give them.

RW: Have you read any good books recently?

TB: A novel called Nothing But a Smile by Steve Amick, about a couple who meets around the end of World War II. It’s set in Chicago, but there are scenes in Wisconsin and Michigan. They have a few brushes with historic events and people. Now I’m starting The Second City Unscripted by Mike Thomas, about the legendary comedy troupe.