Neil Kieran

I have been a watcher and fan of PBS Newshour for over 30 years and it has become a disappointingly weak show in the past few years, especially during the Trump presidency. It is frustrating to watch as the show has become a fluffy rehash of the news already provided by others sources. It is probably time for Judy Woodruff to go. She and her fairly new regular team have often been , miopic, unbalanced and lacking in substance in their coverage of the president and congress while perhaps being better on other topics. Ms. Woodruff often fails to ask tough questions of her guests and seems to concentrate on strategy rather than providing a larger picture through her questioning of the process in Washington. If she is in charge of who comes on the show and what questions they are asked, she is doing a poor job. It appears that PBS has lost the courage it was once known for to bring the public a deeper, and broader picture of what is happening while holding the powerbrokers in DC to a tougher standard in answering questions and providing real information. The newshour used to be a hard hitting, fact driven presentation where guest were politely but seriously grilled and then brought back to be held accountable for what they said. Now all we receive is a supposedly balanced but mostly spineless presentation of rehashed stories. It does look as if the newshour is either pro-Trump or afraid of him. While selecting often inarticulate partisans from both sides to bicker our time away, we are left with nothing thoughtful or helpful in gaining real perspective on very important issues we are facing. The PBS Newshour has become very disappointing and no longer worth the money.