Finding the "Right Time" for Broadcast News

Jim Lehrer, co-anchor of the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, the nightly PBS news show. Lehrer is also a published novelist and playwright. His new novel is titled Kick the Can. Lehrer is also known to many viewers of PBS for his series on his own recovery from a heart attack.

Broadcast journalist Robert McNeil worked in Canada, England, and the United States. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about his experiences as a journalist in conflict zones, as well as his start in television broadcasting.

Broadcast journalist Robert MacNeil is producing a new television series called The Story of English, which examines how the language is changing. His experience working in three Anglophone countries--Canada, England, and the United States--has given him unique insights into the subject. He joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross to talk about his experiences as a journalist in conflict zones, as well as his start in television broadcasting.