A Tribute to Jim Lehrer

Jim Lehrer passed away on January 23, 2020, at the age of 85. Lehrer has been a central figure in broadcast journalism and together with Robert MacNeil, co-founded The Robert MacNeil Report in 1975, following their 1973 coverage of the Senate Watergate Hearings on public television. That show evolved the next year into The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, expanded in 1983 to The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, in 1995 became The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and finally The PBS NewsHour beginning in 2009. As a leading figure in American journalism, especially for his ground-breaking achievements that helped advance the industry as a whole, Lehrer was awarded the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism (2008). He served as anchor for 36 years before retiring in 2011 and left an incredible legacy that we are proud to preserve in the AAPB for future generations in our PBS NewsHour Special Collection.