PBS Journalist Gwenn Ifill to discuss her career covering Washington politics

Evanston, IL  –  Journalist Gwen Ifill, moderator and managing editor of “Washington Week” and senior correspondent for “The PBS NewsHour,” will discuss her career covering Washington politics Thursday, Oct. 7, when she delivers the 2010 Minow Lecture in Communications.

The free and public event will take place at 4 p.m. in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum, 1870 Campus Drive on the Evanston campus. A reception and refreshments will follow.

During her distinguished journalism career, Ifill has reported on Washington politics for NBC News, The New York Times and The Washington Post as well as the Public Broadcasting Service. The best-selling author of “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama,” she has covered six presidential campaigns. In 2008, she moderated the debate between vice presidential candidates U.S. Senator Joe Biden and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Established in 1981, the Minow Visiting Professorship in Communications at Northwestern University allow a distinguished member of the communications field to visit Northwestern and exchange ideas with students and faculty.

“Gwen Ifill brings a wise perspective from years of witnessing our government, our politicians and our media in action in the nation’s capital,” said Newton N. Minow, who established the lecture with his wife, Josephine Baskin Minow. “Ifill knows the difference between noise and news, and we are lucky to have her teach our students the highest standards of journalism.”

For more information on the lecture sponsored by the Medill School of Journalism, call (847) 491-5401, e-mail jpgilbert@northwestern.edu or visit http://www.medill.northwestern.edu.