'NewsHour' host and debate moderator Jim Lehrer dies at 85 A longtime host of the nightly PBS “NewsHour” whose serious, sober demeanor made him the choice to moderate 11 presidential debates, has diedNEW YORK -- Jim Lehrer, longtime host of the nightly PBS “NewsHour” whose serious, sober demeanor made him the choice to moderate 11 presidential debates between 1988 and 2012, has died, PBS said Thursday. After MacNeil bowed out in 1995, it became "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." Lehrer moderated his first presidential debate in 1988 and was a frequent consensus choice for the task in subsequent presidential contests. As Lehrer turned 75 in spring 2009, PBS announced that the show would be retitled as "PBS NewsHour" later in the year, with Lehrer pairing up on anchor duties with other show regulars. Lehrer wrote that it was ironic that the Watergate hearings helped establish the importance of public TV, since President Richard Nixon hated public broadcasting.

Source: ABC News January 23, 2020 18:33 UTC