A friend says: Gwen Ifill of Washington Week died of cancer. I understand the reasons her colleagues are heaping praise on her, even though I think she was not a balanced journalist as they claim, but what I really find annoying is that the obits omit two things: First they don’t mention anything about the type of cancer she had or how long ago she was diagnosed and second, they mention nothing about her relatives, are her parents alive, does she have sibilings, has she ever been married, to whom, has she been divorced, is she gay or straight, does she have children.
It would do a lot more the press when they call for transparency from politicians if they would hold themselves to the same standards.
I never remember her asking an interesting question or advancing an interesting angle on a story, let alone breaking a story. As a journalist, she was without accomplishment. She was a affirmative-action hire. Just to think what if a real reporter could have had her opportunities, what he might have done with them?
I love how the New York Times headlines: “Gwen Ifill, a Reporter Who Broke Barriers, Dies at 61”. Pfft. They say she broke barriers because they can’t find any stories she broke.
