Gwen Ifill - Career

Career

While at Simmons, Ifill interned for the Boston Herald-American and was hired after graduation by editors deeply embarrassed by an incident during her internship in which a co-worker left a note for her that read "Nigger go home." Later she worked for the Baltimore Evening Sun (1981–1984), The Washington Post (1984–1991), The New York Times (1991–1994), and NBC.

In October 1999, she became moderator of the PBS program Washington Week in Review. She is also senior correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. Ifill has appeared on various news shows, including Meet the Press.

She serves on the board of the Harvard Institute of Politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Museum of Television and Radio and the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism.

On February 7, 2011, Ifill was made an Honorary Member of Delta Sigma Theta during the sorority's 22nd Annual Delta Days in the Nation’s Capital.

With Kaitlyn Adkins, Ifill co-hosted Jamestown LIVE!, a 2007 History Channel special commemorating the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, Virginia.

The Ombudsman for PBS, Michael Getler, has twice written about the letters he's received complaining of bias in Ifill's news coverage. He dismissed complaints that Ifill appeared insufficiently enthusiastic about Sarah Palin's speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention, and concluded that Ifill had played a "solid, in my view, and central role in PBS coverage of both conventions."