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AAPRC Weekly: Gwen Ifill

Gwen Ifill
Managing Editor/Moderator, "Washington Week"
Senior Correspondent, "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer"
Washington DC


Presidential election season makes Gwen Ifill nostalgic. Watching the footage of cheering crowds, stump speeches and throngs of reporters sends her back to her days on the campaign trail. She doesn't miss the twenty-hour workdays or the poor diet, just the adrenaline. "This is the one time all year that I look longingly at some of these rallies and wished I was there," says Ifill. "There's so much energy, there's so much excitement in an election like this. You don't get that anywhere else."

Ifill did her time on the campaign trail in 1988 and again in 1992, reporting on the candidates from the seat of a campaign plane and getting very little sleep. This time around, though, she's viewed the race from a very different seat. As moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week," the longest-running public affairs show on television, Ifill holds court with Washington's star journalists on the week's top stories. Plus, as senior correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," Ifill does the sort of in-depth reporting about which journalists on traditional half-hour shows only dream. In addition, Ifill moderated this year's debate between Vice-President Cheney and Senator Edwards. So, while she's not on the campaign trail, Ifill is still in the thick of things. It's where she's always wanted to be.

Ifill's family––her parents and then five siblings––immigrated from Barbados and her father, an African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) minister, was active in the Civil Rights Movement. They were a household of news junkies. "We read afternoon papers in our house everyday," says Ifill, who was raised in New York City. "We sat down and watched the evening news together every night and I lived, in my childhood, through amazing times with the assassinations of President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King as well as the Vietnam War. When you live through times like that you pay close attention in the way so many young people paid close attention to this election this year."

In addition to her predilection for current events, Ifill also enjoyed writing, and found that she wrote best when there was a deadline. From a young age she decided working for a newspaper would be a good fit and pursued a career in the field with an enviable, clear-eyed focus. "Everything I did, every internship I had as an undergraduate, was geared toward that goal," says Ifill, who attended Boston's Simmons College. "I briefly did an internship in television when I was an undergraduate, to see if I wanted to do that, and I hated it. No one is more shocked than me that I turned up in television in the end."

By the summer of 1976, just before her senior year, Ifill was working for the Boston Herald American (now the Boston Herald). She remembers the place as an old-line newsroom where she ran around ripping wire copy and her co-workers, crusty newsmen from South Boston, said things like: "honey, get me a re-write." Ifill was an anomaly. "They'd never been exposed to an educated Black person, let alone a young Black woman," Ifill recalls. "They didn't quite know how to cope with me although they were all pretty friendly-–with one exception and that's what got me my job."

Ifill came to work one day to find a note that said: "Nigger go home." She was 20 years old and green enough to wonder for a moment who the note was for. She passed it on to her boss, who sent it up the chain of command. "Everyone, for the record, was so horrified that they offered me a job anytime I wanted it when I graduated," says Ifill.

Given her experience there, Ifill told herself she'd never return to the Herald American. Post-graduation, however, when there were no other job offers, she reconsidered. Starting out in Boston meant politics were a large part of Ifill's journalistic diet from the very beginning. "Everything was through a political veil, and I began to appreciate…how the decision that's made by two squabbling lawmakers can affect whether your kid gets to go to the right school or not," says Ifill. "There was always a direct connection to me between political maneuvering and people's lives and I tried never to lose sight of that."

As Ifill developed as a journalist, she found herself moving, geographically and professionally, toward the nation's political heart, Washington, DC. Three years in Boston were followed by three years at The Baltimore Evening Sun, where she covered City Hall and her first election campaigns. Then, in 1984, the Washington Post brought Ifill inside the Beltway. For seven years she covered local mayoral races, the U.S. Senate and, finally, in 1988, her first Presidential campaign. The little girl who'd grown up a news junkie was fast becoming one of the country's top political journalists and she was enjoying the ride. "I was always conscious of the fact that I was fortunate, unlike a lot of people I knew, to have settled on the thing I wanted to do early," says Ifill. "It's always been the thing I loved and I've always continually had the opportunity to do it. A lot of people love it but can't make a career of it."

In the late eighties, while Ifill was still with The Washington Post, The New York Times approached her with a job offer. She turned it down because she felt the position wasn't a good fit or a step-up. A year later The Times returned with a better offer and Ifill accepted. She covered Congress and eventually became the paper's White House correspondent. In 1992, she was given her pick of Presidential candidates. Ifill chose the campaign of a little-known but charismatic outsider from the South––Arkansas governor Bill Clinton.

"I had learned from previous campaigns, that if you're going to spend a lot of time on the road with somebody, it's got to be somebody who looks like they might be interesting," says Ifill of the choice. "I'd spent a lot of time in [1988] with Jesse Jackson who exhausted me and was so stressful to cover. I had no idea that Bill Clinton would be even more stressful…I was just looking for a good story."

In spite of the grueling schedule, life on the campaign trail was an important learning experience for Ifill the journalist and for Ifill the person. Campaigns have brought her to all 48 contiguous states and as far afield as the world of far right Christian fundamentalists–-the latter during Pat Robertson's run for President in 1988. "Turns out they were just nice, good Christian people who were very happy to talk to me and who were very pleasant and welcoming," says Ifill of her interaction with Robertson's supporters. "The more you go out on campaigns with different kinds of candidates who attract different kinds of people, the more your presumptions about what people of a certain state think and what people of a certain age think. They're all stripped away and it gives you a better sense of America."

In the years since she'd moved to Washington, Ifill had been making appearances on programs like "Meet the Press" and PBS' "Washington Week," a groundbreaking show that was the first to use a panel of journalists to review the key news events of the week gone by––a format that's been replicated ad infinitum. She'd done a bit of television in Baltimore as well and, in spite of her aversion to the medium in college, now found it interesting. Through the occasional appearances, Ifill had become friends with "Meet the Press" moderator Tim Russert, who suggested she make the leap to television for good. "I scoffed at him," she says. But the word got out that Gwen Ifill was thinking about television and suddenly her phone was ringing with offers from the networks. "When that happened I began to think maybe God's hand is in this. When this many people come at you with the same kind of pitch, who am I to be such a coward that I don't try it?"

Taking great care not to burn any bridges with The Times, Gwen left the paper for NBC News, and for five years was the network's chief congressional and political correspondent. "It was learning how to write for broadcast and look for broadcast and talk for broadcast," she says of her first days in television. "I fortunately had a great producer who taught me all of these things with infinite patience."

In 1999, another opportunity presented itself. The producers of "Washington Week" and the producers of "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" combined forces to bring Ifill to PBS. "If it had only been 'The NewsHour' or if it had only been 'Washington Week,' neither would have felt, by itself, good enough reason to leave [NBC]," says Ifill. "But when they said you can have your own show and be part of 'The NewsHour,' it seemed like way too much candy in the jar. How could I say no?" Yet another can't-refuse opportunity presented itself this year when the Commission on Presidential Debates chose Ifill as moderator of the Vice-Presidential debate. "It was a fabulous opportunity to do something that put everything I've trained to do into one place..." says Ifill. "The hardest part was the weeks leading up to it as I prepared, cause the one thing you don't want to do is embarrass yourself in front of 45 million people."

In the end, though, she didn't need to worry. Once she took her seat on stage she realized, one, that she knew what she was doing, and, two, that Cheney and Edwards were much more nervous than she. Ifill commanded the stage with cool professionalism while the two candidates snapped at each other. "Fortunately, they were so mad at each other they ignored me," Ifill laughs. "I was prepared to vacate the stage if need be." Instead she managed to keep Cheney and Edwards in check. At one point she responded to the Vice-President's insistence that his answer would take longer than 30 seconds with: "Well, that's all you've got."

"I think a lot of people were getting exasperated by the non-answers," says Ifill of that memorable moment. "When I called him on the time I think I spoke for people who were going 'what?!'"

So what's next for the news junkie who's climbed nearly every mountain in American journalism? "I never know and I never want to know," says Ifill of her future. "That's the one thing I've loved about this election––honestly not knowing how it's going to turn out. I live a life which is guided by God and he hasn't let me down so far so why would I start worrying now?"

What, in your opinion, is the most significant question the Presidential candidates haven't been asked?

The Presidential candidates were asked a wide array of questions during the Presidential campaigns. They participated in dozens of town hall meetings, gave many more briefings for the press and participated in four debates altogether. The questions were asked--many were unanswered, including questions about the health of the inner city and the future of the Supreme Court.

During the Vice-Presidential debates, you asked Cheney and Edwards to comment on the alarming rates of HIV/AIDS among African-American women in the U.S., and neither had enough knowledge to fill even 30 seconds. Were you completely surprised by their responses (or lack thereof)?

I was very surprised. I have since learned that both men were prepared to get a question about the U.S. commitment to global AIDS spending, but were not expecting a question about the domestic side of the equation. This was especially surprising since Senator Edwards represents a state (North Carolina) that has a high incidence of HIV infection among young Black women.

As we delve further into the information age, it seems each set of political leaders is more adept than the last when it comes to manipulating media images and information. How does this impact the way you interact with both the public and the politicians you cover?

On one hand, it is important that we all learn to use the technology at hand to communicate more efficiently and widely. My concern is that the efficiency can lead to a more narrow discussion. As reporters, we have to be aware that the people we are covering are often communicating on several levels at once. It used to be television advertising and direct mail. Now it is also radio, the Internet, automatic mass phone calling and many other targeted methods that use everything from Palm Pilots to church bulletins to reach specific audiences. We have to be as up-todate as the people we cover.

You've covered the White House for nearly two decades. Have there been any significant changes that you've observed in the relationship between the administration and the White House press corps?

I have lived in Washington for two decades, but only covered the White House--in the strictest sense--for a few years. That distinction is important, because many of the most telling things that happen in Washington do not happen in the White House. In fact, I think many full-time White House reporters would tell you that it can be very confining to rely on White House stage management for news. So, rather than focusing on the sometimes dysfunctional relationship between the White House and the press, the smartest reporters look elsewhere in Washington to tell the story.

Aside from your own news organization, what other media outlets do you depend upon to stay on top of national and international news?

I usually read or skim about five newspapers a day, including the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. I watch the morning network shows in the morning, keep CNN or MSNBC on in the office all day (usually with the sound turned low), keep track of the AP wire on my desktop, and skip around to four or five news web sites during the day.

As an observer of this country's cultural and political landscape, about what are you most optimistic?

I am optimistic that people really got engaged in this election this year. Although half the country is apparently disappointed in the outcome, half are energized. I would like to think this is the beginning, not the end, of a robust national dialogue about government's role and responsibility in our lives.

If you had to give diversity efforts in print and broadcast journalism a grade, what would it be?

Sadly, I believe we are close to a failing grade, especially on the national stage. There are few of us on the air, but fewer people of color in the places where the camera does not go--making the editorial decisions in newsrooms and producing the stories on the evening newscasts. We still have a long way to go.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I usually begin my day with an editorial meeting of some kind, where we map out the program for the night--either the "NewsHour" or "Washington Week." After that, there is no "typical." It is a mix of commitments, research, writing and reporting that prepare me to get on the air.

What's the single best piece of advice you have for young journalists?

Write and stay curious. Write about everything you know. And research everything you don't. Understand that this is the foundation of journalism.

Tell us one thing people would be surprised to know about you.

I'm a pretty good dancer.

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