Remembering acclaimed public TV journalist Bill Moyers

Amna Nawaz:

Finally tonight, we remember a legend in the world of journalism and a longtime member of the PBS family.

Bill Moyers died today at the age of 91. He was perhaps best known for the long-running programs and documentaries he produced at PBS. Some of those included the weekly "Bill Moyers Journal," along with "NOW" and special series, including "Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth," which drew 30 million viewers at the time.

Geoff Bennett:

Moyers covered stories in depth, frequently devoting whole episodes to a single issue such as Watergate, the Iran-Contra scandal or poverty and racial justice.

An ordained Baptist minister, Moyers was also a bestselling author of books on topics as wide-ranging as politics and poetry. He rose to prominence as a close aide and eventual press secretary to President Lyndon B. Johnson. He moved into journalism, also doing stints at CBS News over the course of his long career.

And he became known for sharp and stinging insights into how money and politics are interwoven.

Here he is warning about dangers to American democracy on his own program "Moyers & Company" back in 2013.

Bill Moyers, Host, "Moyers & Company": We are so close to losing our democracy to the mercenary class, it's as if we're leaning way over the rim of the Grand Canyon and all that's needed is a swift kick in the pants. Look out below.

The predators in Washington are only this far from monopoly control over government. They have bought the political system lock, stock and pork barrel, making change from within impossible. That's the real joke.

Geoff Bennett:

Joining us now are two "News Hour" colleagues who worked closely with Bill Moyers over the years, special correspondent Tom Casciato and our own William Brangham.

William, we will start with you. I know you had a close decades-long working relationship with Bill Moyers. What do you remember most about working with him and what made that partnership so meaningful?

William Brangham:

Bill was just an incredibly generous and passionate and funny man. His humor didn't always convey on TV, but he was a very, very funny person as well.

He was my first job right out of college 34 years ago, and I became a journalist because of him. And I just — I learned that a journalist, yes, you cover the company that spills the chemicals in the river and the people that were hurt by that and who wrote the legislation that allowed that and who funded their campaign, but that a journalist also covers poetry and the arts and science.

I remember Bill, I think it was in 1990, did a documentary about one song, about "Amazing Grace." We did a documentary series about how we care for people at the end of their lives in America and how we can do a better job of that. So he just had this incredibly huge, omnivorous and curious. Mind and I feel, as so many of his colleagues did, incredibly lucky to have worked with him.

Geoff Bennett:

And, Tom, you're en route to the Emmy Awards tonight, where you could actually win for a powerful long-running project that you and your wife did with Bill Moyers chronicling the lives of two families in Milwaukee.

What did it mean to do that work with him?

Tom Casciato:

Well, it meant the world.

We started in 1991. We have made a series of five films, Kathleen Hughes, and Bill and I. The most recent one was last year, 2024. We asked Bill to work with us on that, and he said: "Oh, no, Tom. I'm too old. You and Kathy can do this without me. Don't worry about it."

And then, as soon as we showed him a rough cut of the film, he said: "I want to do it. I want to do it." So we said: "OK, you will narrate it. We will just bring a sound person to your apartment. Don't worry about a thing."

He said: "No, no, I want to go to the studio."

So he and his walker and his full-time health attendant and Kathy and I went down, picked him up, went down to WNET studio, PBS studio in New York, and did the narration. And he was — I have never seen him as happy. He was so glad to be in the game again, working on the film, making contributions to the script, significant ones, and still being Bill, still working until the end.

Geoff Bennett:

And, William, Bill Moyers was one of public media's fiercest advocates. Why did he fight so hard for it? What did he think made public media so special?

William Brangham:

That's right, Geoff. He was an enormous champion of public media, often said we need to keep reminding ourselves to put the public in public media.

He sometimes took public media to task and journalists more broadly when he felt like we fell down on our essential mission. He also endured a fair amount of criticism for his own work. I mean, there were several Republican administrations that criticized him and attacked him for the way he covered their policies.

And, again, we are now seeing again a pronounced attack on public media in this country. But Bill's mantra always was, the only way that we're going to keep this democracy that we have got going is to have a feisty, free, and robust core of journalists continuing to do their work day in and day out. I will always remember that from him.

Geoff Bennett:

And, Tom, in the minute we have left, how did Bill Moyers' work in public service, how did that inform his journalism?

Tom Casciato:

You know, Bill was known as someone who talked — interviewed everyone, presidents, prime ministers, artists.

But what he really was, was someone who cared about regular Americans. I think he will go down as history — I think he will go down in history as someone who talked to America maybe better than anybody ever did for longer than anybody did on television. But I hope mostly he will be remembered as someone who listened to America on television.

And that was the most special thing about his work, and it will always remain so.

Geoff Bennett:

Certainly a voice of clarity and conscience in American life.

Our condolences to his family and friends and our thanks to the both of you, Tom Casciato and William Brangham.

William Brangham:

Thanks, Geoff.