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Gwen Ifill’s Death to be Honored with Journalism Fellowship Program: She Was the Best of the Best

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

Gwen Ifill moderated the 2004 and 2008 vice presidential debates and covered eight presidential campaigns during her career. (Center for American Progress)

The legacy of veteran journalist Gwen Ifill, who died of cancer in November, will live on as she is honored with a journalism fellowship.

The Gwen Ifill/PBS NewsHour Journalism Fellowship, announced by PBS NewsHour — where Ifill served as co-anchor and managing editor — and the Washington Press Club Foundation Wednesday, March 1, will be a 10-week internship. Applications will open this month on the NewsHour and WETA job pages, as well as the WPCF’s internships page. The program, which is funded by the WPCF, begins in June and is open to undergraduate and graduate journalism students in financial need.

“Gwen Ifill was the best of the best, a remarkable journalist with boundless curiosity, who insisted on the highest standards for herself and her colleagues,” PBS NewsHour executive producer and WETA senior vice president Sara Just said in a press release. “At a time when the world needs Gwen Ifill more than ever, her passing reminded us just how many seeds she planted through mentorship and friendship with up-and-coming journalists. We are grateful for the generosity of the Washington Press Club Foundation for the opportunity to honor Gwen’s legacy in this way and guiding young people into practicing journalism with her high standards.”

The Washington Press Club Foundation, which finances opportunities in local newsrooms for students in economic hardship to go into the journalism industry, noted the Gwen Ifill Journalism Fellowship “will ensure that the next generation of reporters benefits from the impact that Gwen’s life and work made on the news profession.”

“We are proud to partner with PBS NewsHour for this special fellowship in memory of a journalist who was a role model for so many in our field,” Margaret Talev, Washington Press Club Foundation board president and Bloomberg News Senior White House Correspondent, said in a statement. “Gwen embodied so much of the core mission of the Washington Press Club Foundation, and it is our intention, with this fellowship, to help train the next generation of journalists to follow in her footsteps.”

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