A Tribute to Robert MacNeil

Journalist Robert MacNeil passed away on April 12, 2024, at the age of 93. Alongside Jim Lehrer, 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.

MacNeil co-anchored the series for 20 years and helped guide millions through extraordinary times with his intelligent, passionate, and humane storytelling. His contributions to the field were immeasurable, and his legacy will continue to inspire generations to come. MacNeil's description of his and Lehrer’s intent to provide “a place where the news is allowed to breathe, where we can calmly, intelligently look at what has happened, what it means and why it is important” has resonated deeply with the AAPB staff. MacNeil and Lehrer are heroes to us as we have grown to appreciate the enormous value to our lives of institutions that serve the public in vital ways as the NewsHour does and to become more grateful than ever for the efforts of those who have built and maintained those institutions. MacNeil’s impact lives on in the archive where nearly 15,000 episodes of the PBS NewsHour and its predecessor programs are preserved in the PBS NewsHour Special Collection.

Watch PBS NewsHour’s tribute.