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Ifill died
surrounded by family and friends after several months of
treatment for cancer, PBS said in a statement. The network said
on Nov. 2 that she would be off the air as she dealt with
unspecified health problems.
"Gwen was a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity
in an industry going through seismic change," said Sara Just,
PBS NewsHour executive producer.
She called Ifill "a journalist's journalist" who combined warmth
and authority so well that people on the street who had seen her
on television would hug her.
Ifill was moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week," a
prime-time news program, and co-anchor and managing editor for
"The PBS NewsHour" with Judy Woodruff.
Ifill joined the programs in 1999 from NBC News, where she was
chief congressional and political correspondent, according to a
biography on the "NewsHour" website.
She also had been White House correspondent for the New York
Times and a reporter for the Washington Post, Baltimore Evening
Sun and the Boston Herald American.
On the "NewsHour website, Ifill said that "public broadcasting
provides the best of both worlds - combining the depth of
newspapering with the immediate impact of broadcast television."
Ifill was the best-selling author of 2009's "The Breakthrough:
Politics and Race in the Age of Obama" and moderated the vice
presidential debates during the 2004 and 2008 national
elections.
She covered seven presidential campaigns and won the George
Foster Peabody Award in 2008 for bringing "Washington Week" to
live audiences around the country.
A native of New York and a graduate of Boston's Simmons College,
Ifill received more than 20 honorary doctorates. She was
included in Ebony Magazine's list of 150 Most Influential
African Americans.
In a bipartisan reaction, Republican House of Representatives
Speaker Paul Ryan and Obama, a Democrat, expressed sorrow about
Ifill's death. On Twitter, Ryan called her "an incredibly
talented and respected journalist."
"I always appreciated Gwen's reporting, even when I was at the
receiving end of one of her tough and thorough interviews,"
Obama said at a White House news conference.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Dan Grebler, Bernard Orr)
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