About
"I really want to keep my mind open to all possibilities. If I make up my mind in advance what I believe about something ... I stop listening. We all stop listening once you've made up your mind … I want to be curious. I want to maintain my curiosity about what the answers to the question might be. And I want to hold out for the possibility that someone will surprise me."
In her hour-long interview, Gwen Ifill (1955-2016) discusses her early love of writing and reading and how that carried her into a career in journalism. She talks about knowing at the age of nine years old that she wanted to be a journalist, and later majoring in communications at Simmons College [University] to help make her dream a reality. She describes working in print journalism for many years, covering politics for The Baltimore Evening Sun, presidential elections for The Washington Post, and Clinton's election and the White House for The New York Times. She recalls her first appearance on television and shares how mentor Tim Russert convinced her to get into television full-time. Ifill details stories she covered at NBC News, and outlines her transition from NBC to PBS. She speaks of becoming the first female, African American moderator of Washington Week and talks of her work on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (aka PBS NewsHour). She discusses her experiences moderating Edwards/Cheney and Palin/Biden vice-presidential debates and expresses her thoughts on the Saturday Night Live sketch with Queen Latifah that parodies the Palin/Biden debate. Ifill offers tips on how to be a good moderator and gives her views on the future of television news. Karen Herman conducted the interview on October 20, 2011 in Washington, D.C.
Highlights
Gwen Ifill on moderating Washington Week and changes she brought to the program
Gwen Ifill on topics she covered on NBC News and Meet the Press
Gwen Ifill on moderating a Palin/Biden Vice-presidential debate
Gwen Ifill on how she keeps her personal views out of her reporting
Gwen Ifill on tips for being a good moderator
Gwen Ifill on Queen Latifah playing her in a Saturday Night Live sketch
Full Interview
Chapter 1
On her early years and influences; on being a serious-minded child and loving to read and write; on watching the news with her father; on knowing she wanted to be a journalist at age nine; on majoring in Communications in college
On her work in print journalism -- covering food, Boston school systems, and writing about politics at The Baltimore Evening Sun; on working at The Washington Post and covering Presidential elections; on covering Clinton's election and the White House for The New York Times
On her first television appearance; on Tim Russert talking her into going into television full time; on topics she covered on NBC News and Meet the Press; on certain stories being better for print than for television, and vice versa; on writing a blog
On how stories were assigned at NBC; on transitioning to PBS; on moderating Washington Week and changes she brought to the program; on her weekly preparations for Washington Week; on tips for being a good moderator
On moderating two Vice-presidential debates: Edwards/Cheney and Palin/Biden; on her 2009 book The Breakthrough, Politics And Race In The Age Of Obama and how it complicated her moderating the Palin/Biden Presidential debate; on the power of U.S. Presidential debates
On starting on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aka PBS NewsHour; on finances at PBS; on Jim Lehrer stepping down from NewsHour; on the show's online presence; on covering 9/11
On Queen Latifah playing her in a Saturday Night Live sketch; on the future of television news; on advice to aspiring journalists; on her proudest career achievement
Shows
Huntley-Brinkley Report, The
Gwen Ifill on watching The Huntley-Brinkley report as a child with her father
Meet the Press
Gwen Ifill on Tim Russert talking her into going into television full time
Gwen Ifill on topics she covered on NBC News and Meet the Press
PBS NewsHour
Gwen Ifill on starting on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aka PBS NewsHour; on finances at PBS
Gwen Ifill on Jim Lehrer stepping back from NewsHour; on the show's online presence
Saturday Night Live
Gwen Ifill on Queen Latifah playing her in a Saturday Night Live sketch
Washington Week
Gwen Ifill on moderating Washington Week and changes she brought to the program
Gwen Ifill on her weekly preparations for Washington Week
Gwen Ifill on covering 9/11
Topics
9/11
Gwen Ifill on covering 9/11
Barack Obama
Gwen Ifill on her 2009 book The Breakthrough, Politics And Race In The Age Of Obama
Bill Clinton
Gwen Ifill on covering Clinton's election and the White House for The New York Times
Technological Innovation
Gwen Ifill on PBS NewsHour's online presence
Underrepresented Voices
Gwen Ifill on knowing she wanted to be a journalist at age nine and seeing a role model in African-American journalist Melba Tolliver
Gwen Ifill on being the first female and first African-American to moderate Washington Week
Women
Gwen Ifill on learning to be an assertive woman in college and how it applies to her career
Gwen Ifill on being the first female and first African-American to moderate Washington Week
Gwen Ifill on moderating a Palin/Biden Vice-presidential debate
Professions
Journalists & News Producers
Gwen Ifill on knowing she wanted to be a journalist at age nine
Gwen Ifill on Tim Russert talking her into going on television full time
Gwen Ifill on starting on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aka PBS NewsHour and starting to anchor
Genres
News and Documentary
Gwen Ifill on topics she covered on NBC News and Meet the Press
Gwen Ifill on moderating Washington Week, changes she brought to the program, and preparations for the weekly broadcast
Gwen Ifill on starting on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aka PBS NewsHour; on finances at PBS
Gwen Ifill on moderating a Palin/Biden Vice-presidential debate
People
Bill Clinton
Gwen Ifill on covering Clinton's election and the White House for The New York Times
Gwen Ifill on covering Clinton's impeachment trials for NBC News
Bryant Gumbel
Gwen Ifill on the show Flashpoint with Bryant Gumbel
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Gwen Ifill on her proudest career achievement
Jim Lehrer
Gwen Ifill on starting on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aka PBS NewsHour
Gwen Ifill on Jim Lehrer stepping back from NewsHour
Sarah Palin
Gwen Ifill on moderating a Palin/Biden Vice-presidential debate
Gwen Ifill on Queen Latifah playing her in a Saturday Night Live sketch
Tim Russert
Gwen Ifill on Tim Russert talking her into going on television full time
Gwen Ifill on tips for being a good moderator and what she learned from mentor Tim Russert