While in the United Kingdom, he worked for the "Daily Mail". After returning home to Canada, McNeill began working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He was the CBC's correspondent in Washington, D.C. and worked for "Newsmagazine". He reported on the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, and the Iranian Revolution for the CBC. McNeil later moved to the United States, where he worked for CBS News until 1987. He was the CBS News correspondent at Moscow. He later worked for Christian Science Monitor Television.