Robert MacNeil, a longtime television journalist who co-anchored PBS’s nightly news for two decades and covered some of the biggest stories of the 20th century, passed away on Friday, the network confirmed. He was ninety-three.
How did Robert MacNeil died?
According to his daughter, MacNeil passed away at New York-Presbyterian Hospital from natural causes. In addition to his long career in public news broadcasting, he is best known for co-founding and co-hosting “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” on PBS in the 1970s with the late Jim Lehrer.
MacNeil journey in PSB Newshour
MacNeil received the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Journalism two years after he debuted on his first show. For 20 years, MacNeil co-anchored the program with Lehrer. Later versions of the program would go on to receive more Emmys for their investigative reporting.
In addition to writing a series for the Story of English, MacNeil won another Emmy while serving as a news anchor. In addition, he would pen a book on the subject—one of his six works on subjects ranging from language to autobiography.
The NewsHour crew at PBS said that learning of MacNeil’s passing “saddened” them, as his tenure there was “the turning point for the future of daily news on PBS.”
In addition to his brother and five grandkids, MacNeil is survived by his children, Cathy, Ian, Alison, and William.