Gwen Ifill: Wonderful and Studious Reporter Has Passed Away

[OneTampa]

She was hard hitting but fair. 

Following is an example of her question approach when moderating the 2004 Vice Presidential Debate and asking about HIV/AIDS:

"Moderating the 2004 vice-presidential debate, Gwen demonstrated her knack for bringing forgotten issues to the center of the national discussion. After pressing Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic vice-presidential nominee John Edwards on the economy, Iraq and Iran, she turned to the issue of the startlingly-high rate of HIV/AIDS among black women in America.

“I want to talk to you about AIDS — and not about AIDS in China or Africa — but AIDS right here in this country,” she said. “Black women between the ages of 25 and 44 are 13 times more likely to die of the disease than their counterparts. What should the government’s role be in helping to end the growth of this epidemic?”

After describing the epidemic as “a great tragedy” against which America had “made great progress,” Cheney admitted he wasn’t aware of the data about black women in America."

Link: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/remembering-gwen/