Robert MacNeil Dies: Longtime PBS ‘MacNeil/Lehrer Report’ Co-Anchor Was 93
deadline.comRobert MacNeil, the veteran PBS newsman who co-founded and co-hosted the long-running PBS NewsHour and MacNeil/Lehrer Report with Jim Lehrer, died today of natural causes at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
He was 93. His death was announced by PBS NewsHour broadcaster Judy Woodruff, and confirmed to the Associated Press by his daughter Alison MacNeil. “I am devastated at the passing of a dear friend and someone who helped transform American television news, Robin MacNeil,” tweeted Woodruff, using MacNeil’s nickname. “He and Jim Lehrer were partners in creating the iconic @NewsHour on @PBS and it was the honor of my life to work with and learn from them.” Two years after teaming in 1973 on Emmy-winning coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings, MacNeil and Lehrer solidified their partnership in 1975 with the 30-minute PBS news program that soon would bear their names.
Lehrer died in 2020 at age 85. Unlike other newscasts, The MacNeil/Lehrer Report focused on one story per day, taking a deeper dive beyond the headlines.
Their approach and execution would earn them considerable accolades, including News Emmys and a Peabody Award. The title of the show — and its length — changed in 1983 to The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, considered to be the nation’s first hourlong evening newscast.
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