The Robert MacNeil Report

I am tired of hearing the same people who are the purported experts on this show. they provide little new views or perspectives and i do not know why the news for PBS Newshour should have so many contracted regulars when there are so many experts out there that have more insight to provide. Especially the Friday night editorializing which is really stupid as the two regulars that present simply provide there bias over and over. Judy Woodruff is boring and always saying "more to think about" and her interviews are shallow and lacking in direct challenges to those who lie on the program. She is really a weak interviewer and has little strength. Amanpour is so very much more well educated about the issues and direct in her speech and not as timid and weak as Woodruff, who i believe has passed her usefulness. I actually get angry when I listen to these regulars on PBS Newshour that are so redundant and lacking in depth. It is more of a small high school social group of people than real intellectual content and challenging ideas and good interview skills.

Overall, this is my favorite news program, although that doesn't mean I don't have my complaints. I DVR the show every night, and watch parts of it to get intelligent and insightful coverage and analysis of the days events.

The first 15-20 minutes is usually very informative and provides a well rounded summary of the days news. Unlike CNN and other networks they don't spend 99% of the time talking about Donald Trump or other meaningless news in order to grab people's viewership for shallow reasons. On Fridays they have Brooks and Shields which is my favorite part of the program. Two political pundits who have a genuine, intelligent, non- partisan discussion about political topics, it's one of the few places on television you can find that. Shields and Brooks is definitely the most important part of the show.

Unfortunately, after the first half of the program it usually goes down hill and I rarely would watch an entire episode. They go into depth on special topics and social issues which don't ordinarily get covered on news shows. While these special topics are certainly valuable and informative, it's not something I feel is appropriate for a "news" program because these special programs are not really news. I have a limited time in the evening to watch the news, and I don't usually have time to spend it exploring topics that don't particularly interest me on a daily basis. It would be better if there was a different program on PBS that covered these social issue segments and focus the news hour on actual news.

I thought that the show was better when Jim Lehrer in charge. Nowadays most of the main news cast are women. In my opinion, this gives the show a point of view which is a bit too feminist for my taste. They oftentimes express attitudes about issues which they think is objectively correct but to me seems biased (e.g. see the interview of the author of the discredited Rolling Stone rape story).

.... since all TV news shows followed the same basic format - Impartially speak in detail about the news stories of the day, with maybe a human interest story at the end. Then came the 80s, and newsrooms across the country were commercialized so that network and cable news alike resemble the National Inquirer. Everybody has staked out a demographic that they want and simply tells that demographic what they want to hear.

Thus, PBS NewsHour is a relic of a bygone era, and I'm glad it's still here. The show informs rather than pontificates, and employs actual journalists doing actual journalism. I dread the day it may no longer be available.

For the past few weeks, PBS News Hour has not allowed for the uninterrupted and Full Coverage of both the Democratic National Convention (DNC) or this week's Republican National Convention (RNC).

The Worst part came when towards the end of Night #3 for the RNC. Just as Music Artist, Trace Adkins, was about to sing the United States National Anthem of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (at the Historical Fort McHenry where this Anthem was Born), the camera cut back to your news anchor, Judy Woodruff.

What's even more Horrific is when Woodruff outright lied about the song Adkins was about to sing. She said that he was going to sing, "America the Beautiful", when they had instead, just announced our National Anthem! To cut someone off from singing the "Star-Spangled Banner", our Nation's Anthem was Disrespectful and Treasonous! Lying about doing so is even More disgraceful and deceitful! Even if he was going to actually sing a different song, you could have waited until the song was finished and the audience applauded. Then you can go back to commenting on the event.

I'm Sorely disappointed in last night's performance! 😤😠😡

When Jim Lehrer was in charge the Newshour had a much greater respectability, but since then has increasingly decreased in quality. It now lacks competence, seems to be run by a group of like minded associates, and is little more than msnbc. They extend beyond incompetence and obnoxious ideological bias to a degree of dangerous propaganda. It's a sad loss to American journalism, and probably should be defunded unless a new group is brought in to fix the administration and oversight.