WETA sets up scholarship fund in honor of Gwen Ifill

WETA, producer of PBS NewsHour and Washington Week, has set up a scholarship in the memory of Gwen Ifill, who died Nov. 14.

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Ifill

The Gwen Ifill Fund for Journalism Excellence will “bring into public TV younger, diverse journalists who will make a career with us and who will be trained and mentored by WETA and this scholarship,” said Sharon Rockefeller, president and c.e.o. of the Washington, D.C., station. The scholarship “will become part of her amazing legacy,” Rockefeller said.

Ifill died at the age of 61 after receiving treatments for cancer for several months.

“She mentored a lot of young minority women, and primarily African-American women, and she just collected friends and acquaintances, so she was terrific on air and equally amazing off air,” Rockefeller said.

Even stations that Ifill didn’t work for are seeing donations in her honor.

We just found out a bunch of you have been making donations to KQED in Gwen Ifill's name.

Truly, this means so much to us. Thank you.

— KQED (@KQED) November 17, 2016

I just made a donation to my location @PBS station in memory of @gwenifill. We need her type of journalism now more than ever.

— Geoff Garin (@geoffgarin) November 14, 2016

WETA will open the scholarship competition shortly, Rockefeller said. Donations to the fund can be made online or mailed to WETA, In Memoriam, 3939 Campbell Ave., Arlington, VA 22206.