Gwen Ifill, ‘PBS NewsHour’ Co-Anchor, Dies At 61 “Gwen was a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity in an industry going through seismic change.”

11/14/2016 02:16 pm ET

Gwen Ifill, moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week” and co-anchor of “PBS NewsHour,” has died, Politico and The Daily Beast reported Monday.

Gwen Ifill was a “journalist’s journalist,” said “PBS NewsHour”
executive producer Sara Just.

She was 61 years old. 

WETA President and CEO Sharon Percy Rockefeller confirmed the news to staff in a Monday email, saying the journalist died of cancer.

“I am very sad to tell you that our dear friend and beloved colleague Gwen Ifill passed away today in hospice care in Washington,” she wrote. “I spent an hour with her this morning and she was resting comfortably, surrounded by loving family and friends.”

A veteran journalist, Ifill moderated the 2004 and 2008 vice presidential debates. She was set to receive the 2016 John Chancellor Award from Columbia University for “her unflinching pursuit of the truth, healthy skepticism of those in power and her commitment to fairness.” The award ceremony, scheduled for Nov. 16, was recently postponed.

Prior to her career at PBS, Ifill worked at The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC News. She joined PBS in 1999, and in 2013, Ifill and her “PBS NewsHour” co-host Judy Woodruff became the first women to co-host a nightly news program.

“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,” PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement.

Sara Just, “PBS NewsHour” executive producer, praised Ifill as a “journalist’s journalist.” more