Bill Moyers Is Retiring His PBS “Journal”

The Friday news dump and simultaneous Oprah/Palin eclipse (New Moon!) obscured one particularly dispiriting media announcement: Bill Moyers is retiring from weekly television and ending his PBS show Bill Moyers Journal, according to a report by the New York Times.

As with Oprah, the news comes well in advance of its actual implementation, as the last episode of the show will air April 30th, 2010, giving current affairs junkies plenty of time to nurse their addiction and avoid withdrawal symptoms. In the Times, Elizabeth Jensen reports that PBS requested Moyers stay through the Spring of next year in order to raise funds, which he agreed to do. It will also bring the show to its three year anniversary, having began in April 2007.

“I am 75 years old,” Moyers said. He seems to be telling the truth. The paper also included a statement from the network about its future plans:

“We’re all looking for places to continue that work.” PBS said in a statement that it was in the middle of a “review and reinvention” of its news and public affairs programming and would announce plans for its lineup in January.

Luckily, Bill Moyers Journal has a hell of an interactive and user-friendly website, and assuming you haven’t spent your last 100 Friday nights at home with public television, you have some catching up to do. Go learn something.

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