A lot of you are probably too young to remember Donahue, but he was there every single day on TV. Sometimes his topics were trivial, sometimes they were vital, but he always tried to push a progressive angle.
Never really watched the show, but yeah… he was like Oprah big before she took over.
Except with far more integrity. And much better politics.
The article I linked called him trailblazing, and I agree.
Some bits from the Wikipedia page on his show:
He focused on one guest or topic for the entire hour and invited the audience to ask questions. On November 6, 1967, Donahue hosted his first guest, atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair.[2][3] Though he would later call her message of atheism “very important”, he also stated she was rather unpleasant and that, off-camera, she mocked him for being Roman Catholic.[4] On May 19, 1973, Donahue’s guest was Dr. Cody Sweet who brought the subject of body language to the US nationally syndicated television audience for the first time.
In 1984, Donahue introduced many viewers to hip-hop culture, as a program featured breakdancing for the first time on national television, accompanied by a performance from the hip hop group UTFO.
The talk show field became increasingly saturated as the 1990s progressed. Many of these shows took an increasingly tabloid bent. Donahue shied away from this trend, continuing to take a “high-road” approach. These factors led to a marked decline in ratings. The show’s ratings also began to plummet after Donahue expressed his feelings regarding the first Gulf War.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phil_Donahue_Show
Also, from his main Wikipedia page:
In the 1980s, during the Cold War period of openness by the USSR, Donahue and Soviet journalist Vladimir Posner co-hosted a series of televised discussions, known as the U.S.–Soviet Space Bridge, among everyday citizens of the Soviet Union and the United States.[14] It was the first event of its kind in broadcasting history: Donahue hosted an audience in an American city while Posner hosted an audience in a Soviet city, all on one television program. Members of both audiences asked each other questions about both nations. While the governments of both nations were preparing for the possibility of nuclear war, Donahue said: “We reached out instead of lashed out”.
In 2024, Donahue was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.[29]
He really was a terrific person in so many ways. The only criticism I will make of him is that he campaigned for Nader in 2000, but he and Nader were also good friends- Nader was one of the most frequent guests on his show back when he was all about advocating for consumers.
