'The Newshour With Jim Lehrer' Gets Funding From Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

By John Eggerton
( Broadcasting & Cable )
published

The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer will create a new global health unit thanks to a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The foundation, headed by the Microsoft co-founder and his wife, has given the show a three-year, $3.5 million grant to report on global health issues, including malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and others.

The plan is to use the money to produce 40 to 50 documentary-style reports over that time frame, as well as online content and a PR effort to put the reports in front of key policymakers, health professionals and others.

“Health stories and international reporting have always been important to The NewsHour and our audience,” said Linda Winslow, executive producer. “Thanks to the support of the Gates Foundation, we now have the resources to give global health the attention it deserves.”

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.