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Jim Lehrer (1934-2020)

C

crainbebo

One of the finest people to ever work at PBS. I will miss him along with millions of other NewsHour and PBS viewers. He brought a unique presence to national news, and recently did some debates. May he forever RIP. Thank you for all the years of quality news at PBS.

Probably very sad for Robert MacNeil too, who is still alive at 89.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/remembering-jim-lehrer
 
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I find it interesting that he elected to not vote, so to speak, in order to be impartial.
 
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Kemosabe said:
I find it interesting that he elected to not vote, so to speak, in order to be impartial.
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Some other reporters have disclosed this about themselves. I think it's silly. Not voting doesn't prevent someone from being a communist sympathizer, or a staunch pro-life activist or marching with Greta Thunberg in the streets of Sweden.

In other words, saying "I don't vote" in the face of partisans criticizing a reporter's impartiality is a weak defense.
 
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PTBoardOp94 said:
Not voting doesn't prevent someone from being a communist sympathizer, or a staunch pro-life activist or marching with Greta Thunberg
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But in his case, he didn't do any of those things. It's not a single action, but part of a way of thinking. I think it's admirable.

In a way its a journalistic version of celibacy.
 
crainbebo said:
One of the finest people to ever work at PBS. I will miss him along with millions of other NewsHour and PBS viewers. He brought a unique presence to national news, and recently did some debates. May he forever RIP. Thank you for all the years of quality news at PBS.

Probably very sad for Robert MacNeil too, who is still alive at 89.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/remembering-jim-lehrer
Click to expand...

I remember reading that PBS Newshour had it's origins from the Nixon Impeachment hearing when PBS affiliates had to provide wall to wall coverage of that hearing at the time. Overall what a legend.
 
I find it interesting that he elected to not vote, so to speak, in order to be impartial.

Some other reporters have disclosed this about themselves. I think it's silly.


Provided that you actually believe them. Most of the time I suspect it's just spin to try
and reinforce the image of impartiality.
 
Was he the one who hosted a series of programs on PBS? Not a Ken Burns series, but something like that. I remember how much I liked him in whatever that was.

And I remember he hosted the fake debate between Alan Alda and Jimmy Smits on "The west Wing". if they wanted to do a real debate and not follow rules, Lehrer said it was up to them.
 
TheBigA said:
But in his case, it's a lot more than just an image.
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May be. I'm not calling him a liar.
But I think if 40 reporters make this claim you'll discover at least 35 of them are.

Reporters like everyone else are entitled to their opinions. And to vote for whomever
they wish. We only expect them to keep their coverage fair and even-handed, which seems
increasingly a struggle for most.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
We only expect them to keep their coverage fair and even-handed, which seems
increasingly a struggle for most.
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Which is why they have editors who oversee their reporting, and professional organizations that watch the profession.

Lots of outside groups and institutions that give awards to those reporters who do good work.
 
he had a good long life, he covered the Kennedy assassination for the Dallas Time-Herald and saw Lee Harvey Oswald get killed by Jack Ruby in person, he covered the Nixon Watergate scandal, Clinton Whitewater scandal, Vietnam, the Cold War, the fall of the Soviet Union empire, the Gulf War and it's sequel the Iraq war, the attempted assassinations of Reagan and Pope John Paul the Second, 9/11 and the war on terror, the historic presidency of Barack Obama to name a few historical moments in the news
 
FreddyE1977 said:
Reporters like everyone else are entitled to their opinions … We only expect them to keep their coverage fair and even-handed, which seems
increasingly a struggle for most.
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Apropos of that, Jim Lehrer's Rules (from PBS):

  1. Do nothing I cannot defend.
  2. Cover, write and present every story with the care I would want if the story were about me.
  3. Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story.
  4. Assume the viewer is as smart and caring and good a person as I am.
  5. Assume the same about all people on whom I report.
  6. Assume personal lives are a private matter until a legitimate turn in the story absolutely mandates otherwise.
  7. Carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories and clearly label everything.
  8. Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes except on rare and monumental occasions. No one should be allowed to attack another anonymously.
  9. "I am not in the entertainment business."
 
Kemosabe said:
I find it interesting that he elected to not vote, so to speak, in order to be impartial.
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If I recall correctly he didn't even register, in order to avoid any appearance of bias and/or impropriety.
 
Silkie said:
If I recall correctly he didn't even register, in order to avoid any appearance of bias and/or impropriety.
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That's the best way to do it. Since typically you have to register party affiliation or preference in order to vote in primaries.
 
TheBigA said:
That's the best way to do it. Since typically you have to register party affiliation or preference in order to vote in primaries.
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Then maybe all our journalists should be Jehovah's Witnesses, who don't join political parties, don't vote, don't even salute the flag. Of course, journalists are expected to be evenhanded with stories concerning religion, too, so maybe that wouldn't work.
 
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