Gwen Ifill | The New York Observer

Atlantic Publisher David Bradley Fêtes 'Beloved' Gwen Ifill on Inauguration Eve

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:17:30 -0500

On the evening of Monday, January 19th, the publisher David Bradley, stood in the opulent living room of his Georgian mansion off of Embassy Row in Washington D.C., across the road from the Naval Observatory, and spoke of existential angst.

"All of us have those middle of the night sentiments of, ‘Does any of what I’m doing matter?'” said the publisher of The Atlantic and The National Journal. "'Will anyone ever remember? How...

Online Campaign Asks NBC to Think Beyond Caucasian Males When Hiring Next Moderator of Meet the Press

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:10:09 -0400

Last week, Margot Friedman, a public relations professional in Washington, D.C., launched a Web site encouraging NBC News executives to rethink their strategy for picking the next moderator of Meet the Press.

"The New York Times has reported that NBC will name a new moderator for 'Meet the Press' between Election Day and early December," reads the Web site http://dontletnbcdiswomen.org/. "Chuck Todd and David Gregory are in the running. Both men are fine journalists,...

Palin Clears a Low Bar But Still Doesn't Win

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:14:22 -0400

The ingredient that turned the confident, authoritative Sarah Palin that Americans met at the Republican convention into the alarmingly shaky and ill-informed Miss Teen South Carolina clone they saw in her recent television interviews isn’t exactly a secret: follow-up questions.

At the convention, the Alaska governor (and former television anchor) read from a text, threw in a well-timed ad lib and delivered a mesmerizing performance that she’d had a week to rehearse. When she sat...

Palin Hits Washington, Biden Hits McCain

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:00:29 -0400

ST. LOUIS—This time, Sarah Palin wasn’t going to let the questions get in her way.

“I may not answer the questions the way either you or the moderator want to hear,” she said. “But I’m going to speak straight to the American people.”

In her closing remarks, she suggested she’d like to debate again and answer questions “without the filter of the mainstream media.”

What she wanted to do was talk about taxes and energy (and...

All Quiet in St. Louis for Now

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:43:18 -0400

Here's the press filing center at Washington University in St. Louis where Joe Biden will debate Sarah Palin tonight.

Except for Lynn Sweet, chatting with a couple of the filmmakers who have been working on an Obama documentary since the beginning of the campaign, it's pretty much empty....

Gwen Ifill Breaks Ankle; Will Still Moderate Thursday's VP Debate

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:43:50 -0400

On TVNewser, Alissa Krinsky breaks the news that Gwen Ifill broke her ankle Monday night falling down the stairs in her home while carrying "research related to her moderating duties at Thursday's Vice Presidential debate in St. Louis."

According to TV Newser, despite the injury, Ms. Ifill will still moderate Thursday's debate.

Odd coincidence: According to Wasilla legend, when Sarah Palin was in high school she prevailed in a pivotal basketball game despite having...

Commission on Presidential Debates Teams Up with MySpace on Fall Debates

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:53:16 -0400

Today executives with News Corporation's MySpace announced that they have formed a partnership with the Commission on Presidential Debates to create MyDebates.org—a site that will include a downloadable application capable, in part, of streaming the fall presidential and vice presidential debates live.

Yesterday, the commission announced the slate of moderators for the fall debates, which will include PBS's Jim Lehrer, NBC's Tom Brokaw, PBS's Gwen Ifill, and CBS's Bob Schieffer. It's an...

Lehrer, Ifill, Brokaw, and Schieffer to Moderate 2008 Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:20:33 -0400

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced today the roster of moderators for the three presidential and one vice-presidential debates coming up this fall.

PR Newswire has the details:

First presidential debate
Friday, September 26
The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
Jim Lehrer
Executive Editor and Anchor, The NewsHour, PBS

...

Journalists Whine--But Judy Miller Has (Finally) Served the Calling

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:41:41 -0500

Yesterday on "Meet the Press," a bunch of journalists rued the new landscape created by Patrick Fitzgerald and his star witness Judith Miller. Tim Russert, Gwen Ifill, Howard Kurtz—they all feared damage to professionalism, that the public might see the press as in bed with powerful officials. (Aren't they?) Even as they complained, the journalists seemed to fear their own loss of privilege. Kurtz talked about professionalism in an entitled manner. Gwen Ifill said...