PBS anchor Gwen Ifill wins Fourth Estate Award; dinner set for Oct. 15

Gwen Ifill, moderator and managing editor of "Washington Week" and co-anchor and managing editor of the “PBS NewsHour,” has been selected as the 2015 recipient of the Fourth Estate Award, the National Press Club’s most prestigious prize.

Ifill will receive the award at a gala dinner on Thursday, Oct. 15. She is the 43rd recipient of the Fourth Estate Award, which recognizes a journalist who has made significant contributions to the field through a lifetime of excellence. The National Press Club Board of Governors voted to give Ifill the award.

"Gwen Ifill embodies the core values of journalism at a time when the industry is undergoing tremendous change," said Club President John Hughes, who is also an editor at Bloomberg News' First Word. "Whether working in print or broadcast, she has been a voice of balance, fairness and depth throughout her career."

The dinner is a fundraiser for the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Club's non-profit arm, which provides professional development and training services to the journalism community and scholarships to aspiring journalists.

"Gwen Ifill has written about breakthrough politicians and she is a breakthrough journalist. With her multi-faceted talent, she makes a unique contribution in every medium,” said Barbara Cochran, president of the NPC Journalism Institute. “She also serves as a role model and mentor. She inspires younger journalists with her enthusiasm for independent reporting and her devotion to journalistic principles."

The Fourth Estate nominating committee included David Callaway, editor in chief of USA Today; Betsy Fischer Martin, Washington editor of MORE magazine and formerly executive producer of "Meet The Press"; Kevin Merida, managing editor for the Washington Post; Gordon Peterson, former anchor at WJLA-TV; Madhulika Sikka, executive editor at NPR; Rachel Smolkin, executive editor of CNN Politics; and Marilyn Thompson, deputy editor of Politico.