Diane Rehm
(; born September 21,
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DIANE REHM TICKETS
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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.
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.
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.
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.
[2] In spite of this, Diane Rehm currently continues to host the "The Diane Rehm Show".
On August 20, 2009, Rehm caught her heel in the hem of her slacks while dashing across the street and cracked her pelvis when she fell. Recuperation is expected to take several weeks.
[3]
Career
Rehm began her radio career in 1973
[4] 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.
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.
[5] Together with John Rehm she co-wrote
Toward Commitment: A Dialogue about Marriage
, which was published in 2002.
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.
[6] Further, the study was commissioned secretly — without the knowledge of the CPB Board or president — 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".
[7]
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.
[8] 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.' "
[6]
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
References
- Diane Rehm Finds a Voice of Her Own
- 'Dilbert' creator recovers from rare disorder
- Names & Faces
- Networking: Whos Whos, Whats What for Business Executives, "The Diane Rehm Show," A WOMAN'S VOICE
- "The Diane Rehm Show: Finding My Voice"
- Washington Post
- Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism
- Washington Post
- Washington Post