Bill Moyers is Leaving PBS in November

[qanda]

Say it ain't so!!!! We *need* Bill Moyers.

AP Newsbreak: Bill Moyers to Leave PBS


NEW YORK - Bill Moyers, whose weekly magazine "Now" on PBS has capped a 30-year career in TV journalism, is leaving the broadcast after the November elections.

His next venture: Writing a long-planned book about Lyndon Johnson, whom he served before and during Johnson's presidency.

"It isn't because I feel old," Moyers, 69, told The Associated Press of his decision to move on, which was made official Thursday. "It's because I feel compelled to do something else now, that only I can do - which is that book."

Moyers has been host of the program as well as an executive editor and frequent reporter since its premiere in January 2002.

Airing Friday nights at 8:30 p.m. EST on most PBS stations, "Now" is a diverse mix of reports and in-studio interviews whose aim, in Moyers' words, "is to tell stories nobody else is telling and put on people who have no forum elsewhere."

(more)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54450-2004Feb19.html

[West Coast Democrat]

1. I love Bill Moyers' show!

one of the most information programs on TV!

[pmbryant]

2. The show will be much worse without him

David Brancaccio's (sp?) guests, segments, and interviews are quite noticeably inferior to Moyers'.

So unless they find another talent better than Brancaccio to fill Moyers' shoes, the show will likely go downhill in quality.

I hope otherwise, though. It is one of the best things on TV these days.

--Peter

[IrateCitizen]

13. Of course Brancaccio's segments aren't as good as Moyers!

After all, Moyers has something like 50 years of experience in journalism. To expect someone to come in and completely fill his shoes would be tilting at windmills.

While I think that Brancaccio can certainly improve, it's important to give him the opportunity to do so. I was rather skeptical of his appearance, after being familiar with him from his stint on NPR's "Marketplace" -- but he has won me over to a large degree.

Plus, name me one other news show on TV on which you'll see the kinds of subjects probed that you find on NOW -- with or without Bill Moyers.

[pmbryant]

15. Format may need to be changed somewhat post-Moyers

Moyers has a clear talent for the one-on-one interview.

I don't think Brancaccio's strengths are in that department, based on what I've seen. He may have to alter the format somewhat to better emphasize his own talents when he becomes the primary host (which I am assuming he will). The current format seems geared about Moyers' particular talents, which are obviously great.

But you are right that no other show covers the same breadth and variety of subjects that NOW does, whoever the host is.

--Peter

[otohara]

32. NOW Should Not Go Away, Just Because

Bill Moyers is retiring - The show is more than just Moyers - lot's of talented people help produce NOW. I like David Brancaccio - a lot

[demnan]

3. Bill Moyers rocks

and we'll miss him, but he's right. He's the only one who can write his LBJ book. I can't wait to read it.

[sadiesworld]

What a loss.

[stepnw1f]

4. I hope PBS replaces him with a like-minded person.

Sorry to see him go.

[BigDaddyLove]

8. Ever since the appearance of Brancaccio.......

I had a feeling that something like this was going to happen.

Sad.

[Suziq]

5. Oh No!

Another show dedicated to reporting the truth and stories you will not hear on right-wing media will be gone. Friday nights will no longer be as enlightening.

:hippie:

[qanda]

6. I know...

I plan my Fridays around NOW with Bill Moyers. It just won't be the same. I guess I can get a life now.

[myrna minx]

7. I love Bill Moyers...

This is such a loss. Now is like nourishment for the thinking person. I will miss his interviews and thoughtful insights. :cry:

[CaptainClark23]

9. No!

we need his voice!

[IrateCitizen]

10. I recall that Moyers said a while back he would quit at 70

While I am most certainly going to miss him, he has every right to do this, considering how much he has done for the integrity of true investigative reporting.

I was initially skeptical of Brancaccio, given his previous stint on NPR's "Marketplace" -- but he has won me over to a degree. I would be pretty confident that NOW will continue in its same basic form.

Hopefully they can coax Bill back once in a while to do a little editorial or something, just to placate his fans (like me!) if nothing else. :D

Best of luck, Bill, on your future endeavors!

[SpiralHawk]

11. At least Moyers is in the saddle till the election

"It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted
to a sick society." -- J. Krishnamurti (1895-1986)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"By making the right choices, we can make the right choices for our fut

[indepat]

16. And the support for what has happened these last three years is,

IMHO, indicative of just how sick this society is as we have become possibly the most reviled and feared nation on the face of the earth.

[Stephanie]

24. That is a real gift to us

We have to thank Bill Moyers for hanging on until the election is over. He really is a patriot.

[skippysmom]

12. I had read before that he was planning to leave

but I'm sad to hear he's picked a date.

I watch NOW every week, and I think Brancaccio does a pretty good job. As long as they keep hammering away at the crap this administration pulls.

[SeattleRob]

14. he's one of the last "real" journalists on TV

It will be a great loss to all of us who crave actual journalism on Television.

[SoCalDem]

18. The new crop of "journos" did not learn much from the "oldsters"

...probably because right about the time that the ones who are in their prime NOW started, was when the networks and papers started their "compression"..

In the past, the transfer of the mantle of authority was passed to the next generation, but all we have now (mostly) is a bunch of hacks who take shortcuts and who are willing to spin talking points into stories :(

I do like Brancaccio, and I hope that he has been paying attention to Moyers..

[qanda]

17. Kick

:kick:

[Hekate]

19. Bill Moyers is a national treasure

PBS still reliably runs his interview series with mythologist Joseph Campbell every year at pledge-drive time. Last year I finally got the CD set for a birthday present -- pledge money of course going to KCET in Los Angeles. That program by itself would be enough to place Moyers in the Pantheon, but we need him all the more now for news and analysis that is available nowhere else in TV-land.

Hekate

[RedEagle]

20. Moyers had done a good job, but not a complete one

Journalism would be much less than it already is without Moyers.

But, let's see if he tells the truth about LBJ, rigging elections and all.

He needs to do one more thing that he has avoided- deal with the voting systems issue. It would be his greatest show and greatest service to this country. It's not like we haven't been asking.

A replacement? Can't happen. An alternative: Greg Palast

[WillyT]

21. Hey Guys... You See This ???

<snip>

PBS PRESSURED TO CANCEL MOYERS' 'NOW.' MediaChannel's Danny Schecter (newsdissector.org) writes from the Digital Independence Conference in San Francisco that Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy (democraticmedia.org) reports PBS is under extreme pressure to cancel the Bill Moyers program NOW. "Unless we wake up to this and rally behind the program, NOW will soon become THEN." George W. Bush has named two major Republican donors to the nine-member board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, including Cheryl Halpern, who supports giving CPB board members the authority to intervene in program content, and Gay Hart Gaines, an ardent supporter of Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who as House speaker in 1994 proposed cutting all federal assistance to public TV. Contact your local PBS station to express support for Bill Moyers' NOW.

<snip>

From The Progressive Populist: http://www.populist.com/04.4.dispatches.html

Makes one wonder, no???

:grr:

[dpbrown]

23. Those bastards just want to squelch the truth

All Propaganda, All the Time

That's what they want the only motto for media to be.

I don't like Brancaccio's segments.

One I watched had him interviewing some shady group that believes we were justified invading Iraq because of Hussein's "oppression" of people.

The other time he was all about the fluff "horserace" bullshit over the Presidential election.

I have no doubt that Brancaccio is the "compromise" that PBS agreed to.

All the stories that Moyers uncovered would have never been attempted by Brancaccio.

He's just a Felix for the Man.

Dan Brown
Saint Paul, Minnesota

[qanda]

26. Thanks for posting this

While I was watching NOW tonight, I was thinking that I need to send PBS a donation in support of NOW. I will be calling my local station.

[burrowowl]

28. After the election

or selection if Bu$h wins, there will be no more PBS.

[oasis]

22. Well he won't have George Bush to kick around anymore. :-)

:-)

[cryofan]

25. moyers is a GOD of the Left

Hopefully, he has shown us others the light so that they can carry on.

[dpbrown]

29. He shows us just a little bit of what the right wants to hide

That's why they hate him so much.

Thank God for Bill Moyers.

Dan Brown
Saint Paul, Minnesota

[AgadorSparticus]

27. oh no! I'm so sad!!! I love NOW.

I hope his replacement will honor the spirit of that show.

[BootinUp]

30. Its the end of an era.

He's a great American so don't take this the wrong way... but

my parents listened to Bill Moyers. I'm 40. He has done his duty, let him move on and do what he needs to do. We need some new soldiers to step up and take his place on the front lines.

[otohara]

31. David Brancaccio Is Pretty Darned Wonderful Too

Bill has been prepping him to take over NOW -

Pat Mitchell, president and chief executive of PBS, said the network was in discussions with the show's executive producer, John Siceloff, about the future of the program, which has been co-hosted for several months by former public radio host David Brancaccio.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0220-10.htm