Linda Ellerbee writes that NPR has succumbed to ageism. “This week, National Public Radio, apparently acting on the theory that if it’s not broke, break it, announced that Bob Edwards was no longer its choice to host “Morning Edition,” the program he began, shaped and — for the last 25 years — informed with his intelligence, wit and grace. Although nobody came right out and said so, it’s clear that the new honchos at NPR believe the man whose voice has soothed millions of us into day after day of too much reality is, at 56, too old for the task. Were the ratings sinking, perhaps? They were not. “Morning Edition’s” audience grew by 41% in the last five years; Edwards’ is the most-listened-to morning radio program in the U.S.”