Robert MacNeil, 93, on April 12. Born in Montreal and raised in Halifax, MacNeil graduated from Carleton University in 1955. He worked at CBC throughout the ‘50s as both a radio and television host, including weekly children’s show “Let’s Go To The Museum.” From there, he joined ITV London, then Reuters and NBC News as a correspondent in Washington, D.C., and New York City, and eventually began covering American and European politics for the BBC. In 1971, MacNeil started hosting Washington Week in Review on PBS. He won an Emmy Award for his coverage of the Watergate hearings. Alongside Jim Lehrer, he analyzed some 250 hours of hearings, leading to the creation of The Robert MacNeil Report in 1975, later renamed The MacNeil/Lehrer Report and The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. MacNeil retired from the nightly program in 1995 after 20 years to write full-time, but remained involved with the program until 2013 under the banner of MacNeil-Lehrer Productions. MacNeil was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1997, was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999, and made a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1991. He received the RTDNA’s Paul White Award in 1990 and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2008.
Lou Cooper, 83, on April 10, at Prince County Hospital in Summerside, PEI. Cooper began his 50-year career as a journalist and news producer in Australia. A Melbourne native, he started his career in 1955 as a cub reporter for The Sun in Sydney, a reporter for TV Week, and a writer for ABC Television (Australia Broadcasting Corporation) in Tasmania. He began directing newscasts for ABC TV in Melbourne before leaving Australia in 1970. He joined CBC Toronto as a news production manager and assignment editor for a decade, before heading stateside to CBS News where he worked as a senior foreign producer in New York, as well as assistant bureau chief for CBS’ London bureau. From 1987-97, he held roles with both CBC and CTV, based in Toronto, as a foreign news editor, news producer, and resources manager. He went on to serve as president of News World International until 2004 when he and his wife retired to Prince Edward Island.
J.R. Reid, 74, on April 10. Reid is best known as one of the longest serving announcers on the original CFNY 102.1 in its Spirit of Radio era. Reid hosted middays on the station from 1978 to 1987, eventually falling to a round of budget cuts. Following CFNY, Reid was heard on Mix 99 (CKFM-FM) Toronto, where he worked part-time until 1992.
