FORA.tv Speaker - Robert MacNeil

Until his 1995 retirement, Robert MacNeil was executive editor and co-anchor of The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, a 20-year nightly partnership with Jim Lehrer on PBS. He began his 40-year career as a correspondent for Reuters, NBC News, and the BBC before joining PBS in 1971.

There, he teamed with Jim Lehrer to co-anchor public television's Emmy-winning coverage of the Senate Watergate hearings. Their collaboration led to The MacNeil/Lehrer Report, launched in October 1975. Eight years later, the program became The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, the nation's first full hour of evening news. They founded MacNeil/Lehrer Productions and produced many programs broadcast on PBS, network, and cable television.

MacNeil's honors include Peabody Awards, a Dupont-Columbia Award and the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame with Jim Lehrer in 1999. MacNeil has written several books, and his memoir, Looking for My Country: Finding Myself in America, was published in 2003.