# RIP - Jim Lehrer, Longtime PBS News Anchor, Is Dead at 85 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [January 24, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-lehrer-longtime-pbs-news-anchor-is-dead-at-85/846873 "2020-01-24T00:23:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-lehrer-longtime-pbs-news-anchor-is-dead-at-85/846873/1 "2020-01-24T00:23:03Z")
> [@](#): > > PBS NewsHour co-founder Jim Lehrer, a giant in journalism known for his tenacity and dedication to simply delivering the news, died peacefully in his sleep at home on Thursday, at the age of 85. > **[Remembering Jim Lehrer](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/remembering-jim-lehrer)** > > PBS NewsHour co-founder Jim Lehrer, a giant in journalism known for his tenacity and dedication to simply delivering the news, died Thursday at the age of 85. > **[Jim Lehrer, Longtime PBS News Anchor, Is Dead at 85 (Published 2020)](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/business/media/jim-lehrer-dead.html)** > > For 36 years, mostly teaming with Robert MacNeil, he offered an alternative to network evening news programs with in-depth reporting, interviews and news analysis. > **[Jim Lehrer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Lehrer)** > > James Charles Lehrer (/ˈlɛərə/; May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. He was the executive editor and a news anchor for the PBS NewsHour on PBS and was known for his role as a debate moderator during U.S. presidential election campaigns, moderating twelve presidential debates between 1988 and 2012. Lehrer authored numerous fiction and non-fiction books that drew upon his experience as a newsman, along with his interests in histo Jam... For a long time he was partnered with Robert MacNeil > **[Robert MacNeil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_MacNeil)** > > Robert Breckenridge Ware "Robin" MacNeil, OC (born January 19, 1931) is a Canadian-American journalist and writer. He is a retired television news anchor who partnered with Jim Lehrer to create The MacNeil/Lehrer Report in 1975. > MacNeil was born in Montreal, the son of Margaret Virginia (née Oxner) and Robert A. S. MacNeil. He grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, went to boarding school at Rothesay Collegiate School and Upper Canada College, then attended Dalhousie University and later graduated f... I watched him for several years. In fact he was the last news anchor I followed–as I switched to the internet for news coverage many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-lehrer-longtime-pbs-news-anchor-is-dead-at-85/846873/2 "2020-01-24T00:54:22Z")
PBS is the last bastion of actual news reporting. Lehrer was one of the greats. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-lehrer-longtime-pbs-news-anchor-is-dead-at-85/846873/3 "2020-01-24T01:27:30Z")
yes. very sad news. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-lehrer-longtime-pbs-news-anchor-is-dead-at-85/846873/4 "2020-01-24T01:39:54Z")
[Random fact] For being so astute, he never voted. He said it was so he could remain unbiased. [/R.F.] He seemed like a genuinely kind person who tried to live a virtuous life. I hope his end was peaceful. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-lehrer-longtime-pbs-news-anchor-is-dead-at-85/846873/5 "2020-01-24T02:51:49Z")
I’m a fan. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-lehrer-longtime-pbs-news-anchor-is-dead-at-85/846873/6 "2020-01-24T04:55:29Z")
Long-time fan. R.I.P. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-lehrer-longtime-pbs-news-anchor-is-dead-at-85/846873/7 "2020-01-24T17:47:31Z")
He was the last of the news anchors that I trusted completely. Lehrer’s rules of reporting are worth reading. Most of today’s crop of reporters and anchors could learn a thing or nine. > [@Jim Lehrer](#): > > Do nothing I cannot defend. > > Cover, write and present every story with the care I would want if the story were about me. > > Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story. > > Assume the viewer is as smart and as caring and as good a person as I am. > > Assume the same about all people on whom I report. > > Assume personal lives are a private matter, until a legitimate turn in the story absolutely mandates otherwise. > > Carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories, and clearly label everything. > > Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes, except on rare and monumental occasions. No one should ever be allowed to attack another anonymously. > > And, finally, I am not in the entertainment business. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-jim-lehrer-longtime-pbs-news-anchor-is-dead-at-85/846873/8 "2020-01-24T17:55:44Z")
I had a run-in with Lehrer maybe like 15 years ago. I was at jury duty in DC, and voir dire was run by filing the courtroom full of the prospective jurors, the clerk reading a bunch of questions, and people raising their hands to respond to the questions. (For example, please raise your hand if you have an infirmity that may preclude you from serving.) The clerk would then write down the seat number of the people raising their hands. (This seems like a terrible way to conduct voir dire, and each time I’ve returned for jury duty since then, this process was never repeated.) Anyway, there were about 30 questions on a variety of topics. Lehrer raised his hand for nearly every single one that was halfway plausible. “Does anyone have a member of law enforcement in their family?” [Lehrer raises hand] “Does anyone have a family member who has been convicted of (whatever it was)?” [Lehrer raises hand] Okay, those are explainable. What really caught my attention was… “Does anyone feel like they would be unduly biased toward the defense in a case such as this?” [Lehrer raises hand] “Does anyone feel like they would be unduly biased toward the prosecution or the police in a case such as this?” [Lehrer raises hand] :smack: Anyway, I share this just for the laughs. But I think he was a truly outstanding journalist, and as great as his accolades and recognitions were, still insufficient. It is obscene to even attempt to compare the vast majority of today’s television personalities who appear on “news” channels to Lehrer.