RIP: Gwen Ifill dies at 61

Gwen Ifill, the veteran journalist and newscaster who co-hosted PBS NewsHour, has died, her close friend Michele Norris confirmed on Monday. Ifill, 61, had been battling cancer.

PBS said in a statement that she died Monday "surrounded by family and friends." "Gwen was one of America's leading lights in journalism and a fundamental reason public media is considered a trusted window on the world by audiences across the nation," Paula Kerger, president & CEO, said.

"She often said that her job was to bring light rather than heat to issues of importance to our society," Kerger said.

Ifill, who worked at The Washington Post, The New York Times and NBC News, became moderator of PBS's "Washington Week in Review" in 1999 and co-host of NewsHour in 2013. She and co-host Judy Woodruff were the first women to co-host a nightly news broadcast.

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