Gwen Ifill

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Gwen Ifill
Born (1955-09-29) September 29, 1955 (age 68)
New York City, New York, USA
EducationSimmons College
OccupationJournalist
Notable credit(s)The New York Times
News Hour with Jim Lehrer
The Washington Post
Washington Week

Gwen Ifill (born September 29, 1955) is an American journalist, television newscaster and author. She is the managing editor and moderator for Washington Week (PBS) and a senior correspondent for The NewsHour (PBS). She is a political pundit, appearing on various programs. Ifill is known for her role as moderator of the Vice Presidential debates.

Biography

Early years

Ifill was born New York City, the fifth child of African Methodist Episcopal minister, Urcille Ifill, Sr., a Panamanian of Barbadian descent who emigrated from Panama and Eleanor Ifill, who was also from Barbados.[1][2][3] Her father's ministry required the family to live in several cities throughout New England and the Eastern Seaboard during her youth. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts in 1977.[4] In her childhood Ifill lived in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts church parsonages and federally-subsidized housing in Buffalo and New York City.[5]

Career

Ifill first interned for the Boston Herald where she was later hired as an apology by editors after a co-worker left a note for her that said "Nigger go home."[5] Later she worked for the Baltimore Evening Sun (1981-1984), The Washington Post (1984-1991), The New York Times (1991-1994), and NBC.[4] In October 1999, she became moderator of the PBS program Washington Week in Review. She is also senior correspondent for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Ifill has appeared on various news shows, including Meet the Press.[6]

She serves on the board of the Harvard Institute of Politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Museum of Television and Radio and the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism.[6]

With Kaitlyn Adkins, Ifill co-hosted Jamestown LIVE!, a 2007 History Channel special commemorating the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Virginia.

Vice-presidential debates

On October 5, 2004, Ifill moderated the vice-presidential debate between Republican candidate Dick Cheney and Democratic candidate Senator John Edwards. During the debate, Cheney said that he would need more than the allotted 30 seconds to react to a statement by Edwards, Ifill replied: "Well, that's all you've got." Ifill said that, although it was not her intent, Democratic partisans were delighted with her because she was seen as being "snippy" to Cheney.[7]

Ifill moderated the October 2, 2008 vice-presidential debate between Democratic Senator Joe Biden and Republican Governor Sarah Palin at Washington University in St. Louis.[8] The debate's format offered Ifill freedom to cover domestic or international issues.[9]

First book

Ifill is writing a book with the title The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, which is scheduled to be released January 20, 2009, Inauguration Day.[10][11] The book is expected to deal with several African American politicians, including Barack Obama as well as other up and coming black politicians such as Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick and Newark, New Jersey mayor Cory Booker. Ifill did not inform the debate comission about her book, though it has been available for some time on pre-sale and has been mentioned in several major media outlets in the months preceding the debate.[12] The publisher, Random House, says of the book "Drawing on interviews with power brokers like Senator Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict and the 'black enough' conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history."

2008 debate controversy

Prior to the 2008 vice presidential debate, Ifill's neutrality as moderator for the debate was questioned by conservative talk radio, blogs and cable news programs because of her upcoming book due for release on 20 January 2009, the day of the inauguration of the 44th United States president. Of concern was why the book had not been disclosed to the debate commission. Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain said he was confident Ifill would do “a totally objective job (in the 2008 vice presidential debate),” but stated, “Does it help that she has written a book that’s favorable to Senator Obama? Probably not.”[13]

This notwithstanding, the upcoming book was reported on and appeared in trade catalogues as early as July 2008, well before Ifill was selected by debate committee.[14][15] Ifill dismissed the idea that could not be objective, citing stating, "I've got a pretty long track record covering politics and news, so I'm not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation. The proof is in the pudding. They can watch the debate tomorrow night and make their own decisions about whether or not I've done my job."[12]

Post-debate reviews of Ifill's handling of the debate were initially positive.[16]

Personal life

Ifill is unmarried, offering, "I don't know why I'm not married. I just know I will be, so I don't sweat it."[5]

Bibliography

  • Ifill, Gwen (2009). The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama (First edition ed.). New York: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385525015. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

References

  1. ^ "Gwen Ifill Biography". Biography. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  2. ^ Carol Brennan (2008). "Black Biography: Gwen Ifill". Contemporary Black Biography. The Gale Group. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  3. ^ Gwen Ifill RTNDF First Amendment Awards Dinner
  4. ^ a b "Gwen Ifill". The Notable Names Database. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-06. Cite error: The named reference "nndb" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c Time magazine Debate Moderator Gwen Ifill
  6. ^ a b Russert, Tim and David Broder, John Dickerson, Gwen Ifill, Andrea Mitchell, Richard Wolffe (April 27, 2008). "Political Roundtable". Meet the Press. NBC. Retrieved 2008-04-27.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Kurtz, Howard. "In a Historic Year, Ifill Has One Thing to Do: Her Job". The Washington Post. September 4, 2008. Page A24.
  8. ^ Santucci, John (2008-08-05). "Who Gets to Ask the Tough Questions?". ABC. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  9. ^ AP Ifill hits jackpot in moderating VP debate
  10. ^ Ifill's book was no secret Yahoo News, October 1, 2008)
  11. ^ VP Debate Moderator Writing Pro-Obama Book
  12. ^ a b Questions raised about moderator's impartiality, The Associated Press, October 1, 2008
  13. ^ Jim Rutenberg (2 October 2008). "Moderator's Planned Book Becomes a Topic of Debate". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  14. ^ Kinney Littlefield (23 July 2008). "Smiley Faces Blog Anger: Obama Remarks Targeted". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  15. ^ "Doubleday Spring 2009 format=.PDF". Doubleday Books. 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-01. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Missing pipe in: |title= (help)
  16. ^ James Rainey (2008). "Gwen Ifill was a true journalist: fair". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-10-03.

External links

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