Gwen Ifill, managing editor and moderator of PBS’s “Washington Week,” will give a lecture on diversity and inclusion in journalism Monday night at the Walter Cronkite School.
“The Cronkite School has always striven for a greater degree of diversity and inclusion in journalism, and I think this event is a good way to celebrate that,” said Megan Calcote, senior events coordinator for the Cronkite School.
Ifill has been a widely recognized and respected professional for over a decade. She has been honored by the Radio and Television News Directors Association; Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy; and Ebony Magazine.
In addition to managing “Washington Week,” Ifill is a senior correspondent for “PBS NewsHour.” She wrote her bestselling book “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama” while covering the presidential campaign of 2008; she has also covered five other presidential campaigns and moderated two vice presidential debates.
The presentation is part of the Cronkite School’s ongoing Must See Mondays lecture series. Ifill’s appearance is funded by the College Award for Contributions to Institutional Inclusion, given to the Cronkite School by ASU’s Office of Institutional Inclusion.
The office created the award to recognize individual colleges for outstanding efforts toward including a wide variety of educational perspectives within the university.
“In order to tell news stories accurately or completely, you have to look at them in an inclusive light,” said Christopher Callahan, dean of the Walter Cronkite School and vice provost for the Downtown campus. “The notion of diversity within journalism permeates the school … We’re trying to reflect an incredibly diverse population.”
The award is presented to the dean of a college where integrated efforts within the curriculum specifically reflect the value the university places on inclusion. Upon receiving the award, a college is required to use it to host a visit from a renowned scholar whose work embodies both excellence and inclusion in higher education. The award provides $5,000 to fund the scholar’s visit.
“Gwen was on top of virtually everyone’s list,” Callahan said as he described how the school had chosen which scholar to invite as part of the award.
The Cronkite School uses resources based in the complementary perspectives of people, programming and policy to create and maintain an inclusive educational standpoint, Callahan said. This is the first time the award has been presented.
Journalism freshman Greg Cameron said he thought the lecture would be interesting.
“Diversity is kind of essential if you want to cover a wide array of topics,” Cameron said. “You can get certain demographics to cover things that affect them.”
Ifill will be giving her Must See Mondays presentation at 7 p.m. in the First Amendment Forum.
Contact the reporter at marianna.hauglie@asu.edu
