The pioneering journalist moderated two vice-presidential debates and was called ‘a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity’ in the industry

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Gwen Ifill, the veteran journalist and co-anchor of PBS Newshour with Judy Woodruff, died Monday of cancer, the network said. She was 61.

The president paid tribute to Ifill and her work on Monday afternoon.

“Gwen was a friend of ours,” said Barack Obama.

“She was an extraordinary journalist. She always kept faith with the fundamental responsibilities of her profession, asking tough questions and holding people in power accountable and defending a strong and free press that makes our democracy work,” he said.

“I always appreciated Gwen’s reporting, even when I was at the receiving end of one of her tough and thorough interviews,” said the president.

“She not only informed todays’ citizens but she inspired tomorrow’s journalists.”

Ifill 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.

“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,” said 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.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gwen Ifill moderates a debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards in 2004. Photograph: Dennis Brack/Pool/EPA

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.



Many posted on Twitter to pay tribute to Ifill:

Cecilia Vega (@CeciliaVegaABC) The amazing Gwen Ifill paved the way for so many journalists of color. Her loss leaves a deep hole in our hearts and our newsrooms

Lester Holt (@LesterHoltNBC) Very sad to learn we have lost Gwen Ifill. Gwen represented the best of broadcast journalism. Our hearts are broken.

Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) I'm devastated at the lost of Gwen Ifill. A journalist of superior stature, & a woman uninhibited intelligence. She was the best of humanity

Scott Pelley (@ScottPelley) Devastated about the passing of one of the greatest journalists of her generation. RIP @gwenifill