Gwen Ifill arrived at the 2008 vice-presidential debate in a wheelchair because of a broken ankle but gritted her teeth and still moderated the debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin without the use of pain pills.
Five years later, Ifill spoke to a packed Baker University Center Ballroom on Monday about why journalism is not dead. Her speech was the first of five presentations for the fifth annual Schuneman Symposium.
“We are the essential go-between for the folks who have better things to do like raising kids and bringing home a check instead of getting people to answer questions,” Ifill said. “Everything is politics, and everything demands explanations.”
Ifill, current managing editor for Washington Week, and a senior correspondent for PBS NewsHour, talked to Ohio University students, faculty and Athens residents about her past experiences in moderating two vice-presidential debates, which she said were very humbling. The first debate she moderated was between Dick Cheney and John Edwards in 2004.
“I learned from moderating that even though the answers aren’t always what I had in mind, the questions are what mattered,” she said. “The moderator is behind the point, whether they are biased or ask follow-up questions. In the end, the candidate is the one on the stage; you will only see my back, because you need to hear their words.”
Both students and faculty alike called Ifill’s speech inspiring.
“Her speech renewed my commitment to be the best professor I can be,” Associate Professor of Journalism Eddith Dashiell said.
Ifill expressed an opinion that newspapers and print journalism are the logical place for students to start and learn journalism.
“It’s easier to teach a reporter television than it is to teach a television reporter journalism,” she said.
Lauren Chemas, a junior studying journalism, said Ifill gave her hope for the field of journalism.
“I think it was a great opportunity for students who came to hear her talk,” Chemas said. “She helped me realize that there are careers in journalism, and there are important topics out there, you just have to look for them.”
Robert Stewart, director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, ended the evening by presenting Ifill with the Carr Van Anda Award, which was established in 1968. Ifill is the 73rd recipient of the award.
“Gwen represents what I would call the classic no flash, no razzle dazzle, just good solid reporting, where journalism is the star,” Stewart said. “Journalism is what she is about, and she isn’t trying to do cartwheels on stage; she is all about the story.”
af234909@ohiou.edu
