PBS journalist Gwen Ifill dies of cancer
By Associated Press
Nov 14, 2016 1:25 PM CST
FILE - In this Oct. 2, 2008, file photo, PBS journalist and debate moderator Gwen Ifill and then-Democratic vice presidential nominee, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., left, shake hands at the end of his vice presidential debate with Republican rival, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in St. Louis, Mo. Ifill died on Monday,...   (Associated Press)

NEW YORK (AP) — Gwen Ifill, the veteran journalist and co-anchor of PBS' "NewsHour" with Judy Woodruff, died on Monday of cancer, the network said.

She was 61.

A former newspaper reporter, Ifill switched to television and worked for NBC News and PBS. She moderated two vice presidential debates.

She took a leave from her nightly show for health reasons earlier this year, never making public her illness. A week ago, she went out on leave again, taking her away from election night coverage.

Sara Just, PBS "NewsHour" executive producer, called Ifill "a standard bearer for courage, fairness and integrity in an industry going through seismic change."

See 4 more photos