Gwen Ifill

Journalist


The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About
About this interview

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.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"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." 

People Talking About ...
Highlights
Gwen Ifill on moderating Washington Week and changes she brought to the program
02:57
Gwen Ifill on topics she covered on NBC News and Meet the Press
01:36
Gwen Ifill on moderating a Palin/Biden Vice-presidential debate
02:14
Gwen Ifill on how she keeps her personal views out of her reporting
01:21
Gwen Ifill on tips for being a good moderator
01:12
Gwen Ifill on Queen Latifah playing her in a Saturday Night Live sketch
01:08
Full Interview

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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

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Gwen Ifill on watching The Huntley-Brinkley report as a child with her father
00:48

Meet the Press

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Gwen Ifill on Tim Russert talking her into going into television full time
02:58
Gwen Ifill on topics she covered on NBC News and Meet the Press
01:36

PBS NewsHour

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Gwen Ifill on starting on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aka PBS NewsHour; on finances at PBS
03:29
Gwen Ifill on Jim Lehrer stepping back from NewsHour; on the show's online presence
04:01

Saturday Night Live

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Gwen Ifill on Queen Latifah playing her in a Saturday Night Live sketch
01:08

Washington Week

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Gwen Ifill on moderating Washington Week and changes she brought to the program
02:57
Gwen Ifill on her weekly preparations for Washington Week
03:55
Gwen Ifill on covering 9/11
03:00
Topics

9/11

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Gwen Ifill on covering 9/11
03:55

Barack Obama

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Gwen Ifill on her 2009 book The Breakthrough, Politics And Race In The Age Of Obama
03:08

Bill Clinton

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Gwen Ifill on covering Clinton's election and the White House for The New York Times
00:53

Technological Innovation

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Gwen Ifill on PBS NewsHour's online presence
02:51

Underrepresented Voices

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Gwen Ifill on knowing she wanted to be a journalist at age nine and seeing a role model in African-American journalist Melba Tolliver
01:21
Gwen Ifill on being the first female and first African-American to moderate Washington Week
01:38

Women

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Gwen Ifill on learning to be an assertive woman in college and how it applies to her career
00:35
Gwen Ifill on being the first female and first African-American to moderate Washington Week
01:38
Gwen Ifill on moderating a Palin/Biden Vice-presidential debate
02:14
Professions

Journalists & News Producers

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Gwen Ifill on knowing she wanted to be a journalist at age nine
01:21
Gwen Ifill on Tim Russert talking her into going on television full time
02:58
Gwen Ifill on starting on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aka PBS NewsHour and starting to anchor
01:33
Genres

News and Documentary

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Gwen Ifill on topics she covered on NBC News and Meet the Press
01:36
Gwen Ifill on moderating Washington Week, changes she brought to the program, and preparations for the weekly broadcast
06:52
Gwen Ifill on starting on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aka PBS NewsHour; on finances at PBS
01:33
Gwen Ifill on moderating a Palin/Biden Vice-presidential debate
02:14
People

Bill Clinton

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Gwen Ifill on covering Clinton's election and the White House for The New York Times
00:53
Gwen Ifill on covering Clinton's impeachment trials for NBC News
02:27

Bryant Gumbel

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Gwen Ifill on the show Flashpoint with Bryant Gumbel
00:58

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Gwen Ifill on her proudest career achievement
01:01

Jim Lehrer

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Gwen Ifill on starting on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer aka PBS NewsHour
01:33
Gwen Ifill on Jim Lehrer stepping back from NewsHour
01:10

Sarah Palin

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Gwen Ifill on moderating a Palin/Biden Vice-presidential debate
02:14
Gwen Ifill on Queen Latifah playing her in a Saturday Night Live sketch
01:08

Tim Russert

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Gwen Ifill on Tim Russert talking her into going on television full time
02:58
Gwen Ifill on tips for being a good moderator and what she learned from mentor Tim Russert
01:12

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