Veteran PBS anchor Jim Lehrer dies at 85
For 36 years he was the face of PBS's NewsHour.
On Thursday (January 23), Jim Lehrer died at age 85.
The veteran journalist was widely viewed as a sober voice in the U.S. news industry.
PBS posted a tribute to a man they called a "giant in journalism," praising his "clear sense of purpose and integrity."
During his long career, Lehrer moderated 12 presidential debates more than any other person in U.S. history.
He got into media as a print reporter in Texas and went on to co-found the NewsHour program with Robert MacNeil in 1975.
According to PBS, the show helped set a high standard for reporting in public media.
LEHRER LOOKING INTO CAMERA SAYING (English): "People often ask me out if there are guidelines in our practice of what I like [STILL PHOTO OF LEHRER AND CO-ANCHOR, ROBERT MACNEIL] to call MacNeil-Lehrer journalism. Well, yes, there are."
Those included the assumption that quote "the viewer is as smart and caring and good a person as I am" and that every story has another side.
Lehrer's long career featured many high-profile moments like an interview with President Bill Clinton in 1998.
That interview came to be central to the bid to impeach the 42nd U.S. president.
Alongside MacNeil, Lehrer was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999.
