Gwen Ifill
Gwen Ifill
Gwendolyn L. "Gwen" Ifillis an American journalist, television newscaster, and author. She is the moderator and managing editor of Washington Week and co-anchor and co-managing editor, with Judy Woodruff, of PBS NewsHour, both of which air on PBS. She is a political analyst, and moderated the 2004 and 2008 Vice Presidential debates. She is the author of the book The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNews Anchor
Date of Birth29 September 1955
CityQueens, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I actually think agendas are more often found in State of the Union speeches than in inaugural speeches.
I find that those who voted for George W. Bush are less offended by his religious references, and those who voted for Bill Clinton did not seem offended at all when people prayed at his inauguration.
It's rare for a first lady to be running for president.
We used to say in the black community that if somebody else caught a cold, we caught pneumonia.
We needed someone to recognize the importance of check and balances, accountability, transparency. There was a real systemic problem at South Carolina State, a problem that has gone on for 25 or 30 years
I spent my career trying to speak to the broadest possible audience whether it's in print or whether it's in television.
Because I would never work for a niche publication or a niche program on television and because I am a journalist and not an opinion person, my job is to try to see how many different points of view I can represent or how. It's not even a question of who you don't offend because you are always going to offend somebody. The question is how can you get people to listen to the information you have to present.
Change comes from listening, learning, caring and conversation.
I'm not quite certain how you can force a candidate to stick by the rules.
It's not surprising that you wouldn't see that side of me on television, but in real life I find the world to be quite a funny place.
People are always surprised when they see me speak live that I have a sense of humor. And I say, Well, you know, there's not much opportunity to laugh when you're reporting the dread news of the day.
I see a pretty bright line between analysis and opinion. And so, to that end, my goal on Friday nights is to try to assemble the smartest reporters who are available to me that week who have been involved in covering the news.
I think I'm careful. My goal is to try to stay away as much from opinion journalism as possible.
All of our panelists are deeply engaged in the topics at hand, so that leaves me free to convene a little dinner party, sans alcohol, and invite the rest of America to listen in.