Journalist Gwen Ifill Dies Of Cancer At Age 61

NPR reports:

Gwen Ifill, one of the most prominent African-American journalists in the country, has died, multiple sources tell NPR. She was 61. Ifill, the host of PBS NewsHour and Washington Week, was a veteran Washington journalist who covered seven presidential campaigns and moderated the vice presidential debates in 2004 and 2008. Ifill was also the best-selling author of The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.

CNN notes that Ifill died of an unnamed cancer while in hospice care. She had quietly taken a leave of absence from PBS several months ago.