"The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" will
re-launch as the "PBS NewsHour" on Blue Ridge PBS, beginning Monday,
Dec. 7 at 6 p.m. In addition to a new name and new logo, "PBS
NewsHour" will feature a new format that places a strong emphasis on
the entire "NewsHour" team of seasoned and highly regarded
journalists. Lehrer will remain executive editor and primary anchor
for the program, which airs five nights a week. Expanded online news
is also part of this transition, with an enhanced "PBS NewsHour" web
site scheduled to launch Dec. 3.
"For more than 30 years, millions of Americans and citizens of the
world have turned to MacNeil/Lehrer Productions for the solid,
reliable reporting that has made the 'NewsHour with Jim Lehrer' one of
the most trusted news programs in television," said James Baum, Blue
Ridge PBS President and CEO. "In the early 1980s, 'The MacNeil/Lehrer
NewsHour' made history as the first hour-long broadcast of national
nightly news and was recognized with Emmys, Peabodys and other honors.
Today the 'PBS NewsHour' is still meeting the need for serious,
long-form journalism."
The "PBS NewsHour" will have a two-anchor format, featuring Jim Lehrer
accompanied by a rotation of senior correspondents Gwen Ifill, Judy
Woodruff and Jeffrey Brown. Additionally, the "NewsHour" will send
more senior correspondents "outside the studio" to deliver compelling
original reporting and newsmaker interviews from the field, such as
Margaret Warner's recent series from Afghanistan and Russia, Ray
Suarez's global health reports from South Africa and Mexico, and Paul
Solman's ongoing domestic coverage of the U.S. economic collapse.
Perhaps the most "transformational" element of the planned change is
the merger of the broadcast and digital divisions of the program into
a seamless entity. This merger of TV and online is the keystone to
making "PBS NewsHour" content available whenever and wherever
audiences choose to look for it. To help with this online expansion, a
new correspondent, Hari Sreenivasan of CBS News, will join the
"NewsHour." His primary focus will be delivering news to the digital
world.
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