PBS journalist Gwen Ifill dies of cancer

Veteran PBS journalist Gwen Ifill died today after a battle with cancer. She was 61. Ifill began her career as a print journalist, writing for The New York Times and The Washington Post. She began working for NBC News, covering politics and Congress, in the 1990s. Ifill joined PBS in 1999 to host Washington Week and work on stories for the nightly NewsHour program. She became the NewsHour co-host in 2013. Ifill specialized in presidential politics, moderating vice presidential debates in 2004 and 2008 and writing The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. She took a month-long leave from PBS this spring, for health reasons, but did not provide specifics. She left again shortly before Election Day.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.