End of an era? Not to Lehrer

All the talk these days about how the era of the anchorman has ended amuses Jim Lehrer.

With good reason.

With Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather all leaving their newscasts during the last 11 months, there has been monumental change in TV news. But the Texas native, who has put in more years as anchor than any of them, each weeknight still brings 2.5 million Americans what many critics regard as the most dependable hour of information and analysis on television.

And Lehrer, who heads the PBS broadcast now known as "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer," which on Thursday marked its 30th anniversary, has no plans for change. At 71, he intends to remain at his desk "eyeball to eyeball with the viewer" for many nights to come, practicing a form of TV journalism in which facts and civility outweigh hype and razzle-dazzle.

"I have been kind of amused by all this stuff," Lehrer said the other day. "Everybody's saying, 'Well, it's the end of the anchorman era.' But then there's Brian Williams, who's got about 10 million people watching him every night on NBC, so what the ... is that all about? I've kept my powder dry on this. You're the first who asked me about it directly. But I've been amused, because I just don't get it."

Lehrer laments the departure from the anchor desks of journalists whom he respects and considers friends, including Ted Koppel, who will leave ABC's "Nightline" next month.

"But remember, who did they replace? Walter Cronkite, John Chancellor and Roger Mudd. The anchorman is a continuing process," Lehrer said. "Yes, there are all these other things happening in cable news and other media. But the basic function of delivering the news one-on-one is still alive and well, and that era is not going to ever end.... When I leave, it will be the end of the Lehrer era, but it won't be the end of anything other than that."

Technically, the Lehrer era did not begin precisely 30 years ago. The program that made its debut on Oct. 20, 1975, was known as "The Robert MacNeil Report." It was named after the former Canadian Broadcasting Corp. newsman who anchored public television's first nightly newscast alone from the studios of WNET in New York.

But in his role as Washington correspondent, Lehrer was featured prominently several nights a week. After six months, MacNeil invited Lehrer to serve as co-anchor on the retitled "MacNeil-Lehrer Report."