Jim Lehrer
Jim Lehrer
James Charles "Jim" Lehreris a former American journalist and novelist, and is the former executive editor and a former news anchor for the PBS NewsHour on PBS. He is also known for his role as a debate moderator in U.S. presidential election campaigns, and is an author of numerous fiction and non-fiction books, which draw upon his experience as a newsman, and his interests in history and politics...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth19 May 1934
CountryUnited States of America
Most of the stories I have covered in 45 years have been gray stories.
I'm an expert on the NewsHour and it isn't how I practice journalism. I am not involved in the story. I serve only as a reporter or someone asking questions. I am not the story.
People can get their news any way they want. What I love about what's happened is that there are so many different avenues, there are so many different outlets, so many different ways to debate and discuss and to inquire about any given news story.
There are very few really stark black and white stories.
If you go to the ball game, you don't need to read the game story.
The shouting and opinion and jokes don't exist if there isn't first a story.
I've traveled around the country and I read local newspapers and all of that, and it's a sad, sad thing to go from city to city and see the small newspapers and they're tiny. They're tiny not only in size but also in scope.
Preparation is based on one driving force for me and that is to be relaxed enough to be able to listen to what the candidates are saying and react appropriately.
I've always said this and finally I had a chance to demonstrate it: The moderator should be seen little and heard even less. It is up to the candidates to ask the follow-up questions and challenge one another.
Everyone should get their news however they want to and in whatever form they want. I'm not going to sit back in judgment of other people and the way they do it.
Whether you're 9 or 90, you can play this game.
When I raise my right hand to you (just before the candidates arrive), ... that means, 'That's enough. Cool it. Let's go.'
One of the problems is that everybody is used to the old-fashioned debate system, which is very controlled, and where the moderator plays a more active role.
Well, I don't know about objectivity, but I know for certain that it's always possible for a professional journalist who understands what he or she's up to to be fair, and that's the key word. Fairness to individuals, fairness to ideas, and to issues and whatever - that is critical, and that is also part and parcel of what the job.