Gwen Ifill Wins National Press Club's Fourth Estate Award; Dinner To Honor Her and Support NPCJI Oct. 15

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May 01, 2015, 03:23 ET

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Gwen Ifill, moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week" and co-anchor and managing editor of the "PBS NewsHour," has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the Fourth Estate Award, the National Press Club's most-honored prize.

Ifill will receive the award at a gala dinner on Thursday, Oct. 15. She is the 43^rd recipient of the Fourth Estate Award, which recognizes a journalist who has made significant contributions to the field through a lifetime of excellence. The National Press Club Board of Governors voted to give Ifill the award.

"Gwen Ifill embodies the core values of journalism at a time when the industry is undergoing tremendous change,'' said National Press Club President John Hughes, who is also an editor at Bloomberg News' First Word. "Whether working in print or broadcast, she has been a voice of balance, fairness and depth throughout her career.''

The National Press Club has been giving the Fourth Estate Award since 1973. The first recipient was Walter Cronkite. Other winners included Bob Woodward, Mary McGrory, Christiane Amanpour, Simeon Booker, Helen Thomas, Bob Schieffer and Brian Lamb.

Before joining PBS in 1999, Ifill was chief congressional and political correspondent for NBC News, White House correspondent for The New York Times, and a local and national political reporter for The Washington Post. She also reported for the Baltimore Evening Sun and the Boston Herald American.

She is the best-selling author of "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama." She has covered seven presidential campaigns. She moderated the vice presidential debates in 2004 and 2008.

A native of New York City and a graduate of Simmons College in Boston, Ifill has received more than twenty honorary doctorates. She has also been honored for her work by the Radio and Television News Directors Association, Harvard's Joan Shorenstein Center, The National Association of Black Journalists, Ohio University and recently received the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism and the 2015 Urbino Press Award.

She also serves on the board of the News Literacy Project, on the advisory board of the Committee to Protect Journalists and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The dinner is a fundraiser for the NPC's Journalism Institute, the Club's non-profit arm, which provides professional development and training services to the journalism community, and scholarships to aspiring journalists.

"Gwen Ifill has written about breakthrough politicians and she is a breakthrough journalist. With her multi-faceted talent, she makes a unique contribution in every medium," said Barbara Cochran, president of the National Press Club Journalism Institute. "She also serves as a role model and mentor. She inspires younger journalists with her enthusiasm for independent reporting and her devotion to journalistic principles."

The nominating committee that led to the selection of Ifill by the Board of Governors included David Callaway, editor in chief of USA Today; Betsy Fischer Martin, Washington editor of MORE magazine and formerly of ``Meet The Press;'' Kevin Merida, managing editor for the Washington Post; Gordon Peterson, former anchor at WJLA; Madhulika Sikka, executive editor at NPR; Rachel Smolkin, executive editor of CNN Politics; and Marilyn Thompson, deputy editor of Politico.

Contact:
Jodi Schneider, chair, Fourth Estate Dinner committee
[email protected]
Julie Schoo, executive director, NPCJI
[email protected]
(202) 662-7507

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SOURCE National Press Club