PBS NewsHour Co-Founder Lehrer Passes Away at 85
GoLocalProv News Team
PBS NewsHour Co-Founder Lehrer Passes Away at 85
“With heavy hearts we report the death of PBS NewsHour co-founder Jim Lehrer at age 85. A giant in journalist, his tenacity and dedication to simply delivering the news remain the core of our work,” wrote PBS in a tweet.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAccording to PBS, he died peacefully at his home.
Lehrer at PBS
He first joined PBS as a correspondent for what was called the National Public Affairs Center for Television, or NPAT.
That is where he met Robert MacNeil.
In 1983, the two teamed up for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.
MacNeil retired 12 years later and the program became The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
Over the course of his career at PBS, Lehrer interviewed leading figures such as Margaret Thatcher and Yasser Arafat, South Korean President Kim Daejung and Chinese leader Jiang Zemin.
He also interviewed President Bill Clinton about accusations regarding his sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky.
Lehrer moderated 12 presidential debates from 1988 to 2012, more than any other person in U.S. history.
Lehrer stepped down as full-time anchor of the NewsHour in 2011.
Lehrer was given the National Humanities Medal by Clinton, elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and with MacNeil, inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
Prior to PBS
After graduating with a degree in journalism fro the University of Missouri, Lehrer served three years as an infantry officer in the Marines during the late 1950s.
His journalism career began with both the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times-Herald from 1959 to 1966 where he covered politics.
Lehrer was named the editor of the Times-Herald in 1968.
When it came to television, Lehrer’s TV career launched in Dallas, at the public station KERA.
PHOTO: Miller Center/Flickr Commons