Gwen Ifill, Award-Winning Political Reporter and Author, Dies at 61 http://nyti.ms/2eyIYsW
The pioneering journalist moderated two vice-presidential debates and
was called ‘a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity’ in
the industry
Gwen Ifill took a leave from her nightly show for health reasons earlier this year.
Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Gwen Ifill, the veteran journalist and co-anchor of PBS’ Newshour
with Judy Woodruff, died Monday of cancer, the network said. She was 61.
“Gwen was one of America’s leading lights in journalism and a
fundamental reason public media is considered a trusted window on the
world by audiences across the nation,” Paula Kerger, the president and
CEO of PBS, said in a statement.
“Her contributions to thoughtful reporting and civic discourse simply
cannot be overstated. She often said that her job was to bring light
rather than heat to issues of importance to our society,” Kerger said.
A former newspaper reporter – she reported for the Boston Herald, the
Washington Post and the New York Times – Ifill switched to television
and worked for NBC News and PBS.
Ifill took a leave from her nightly show for health reasons earlier
this year, never making her illness public. A week ago she went on leave
again, taking her away from election night coverage.
She moderated two vice-presidential debates
in previous races, including 2008’s debate between Joe Biden and Sarah
Palin. In 2009 she penned the book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race
in the Age of Obama.
Sara Just, PBS Newshour executive producer, called Ifill “a standard
bearer for courage, fairness and integrity in an industry going through
seismic change”.
In a 2013 interview, after being named a co-anchor of PBS’s Newshour,
Ifill spoke about her role in creating a more diverse media,
particularly for women of color.
“When I was a little girl watching programs like this – because
that’s the kind of nerdy family we were – I would look up and not see
anyone who looked like me in any way. No women. No people of color,” she told the New York Times.
“I’m very keen about the fact that a little girl now, watching the
news, when they see me and Judy [Woodruff] sitting side by side, it will
occur to them that that’s perfectly normal – that it won’t seem like
any big breakthrough at all,” she said.
‘NewsHour’ Appoints First Female Anchor Team http://nyti.ms/17vDUGj
