Top 40 Gwen Ifill Quotes

Diversity is essential to the success of the news industry, and journalists must include diverse voices in their coverage in order to reach a broader audience. We have stories to tell, but many in our audience have stopped listening because they can tell that we’re not talking about them.

I learned how to cover race riots by telephone. They didn’t pay me enough at my first newspaper job to venture onto the grounds of South Boston High School when bricks were being thrown. Instead, I would telephone the headmaster and ask him to relay to me the number of broken chairs in the cafeteria each day.

When the President was asked about global warming at a public appearance yesterday, he responded by talking about America‘s addiction to oil. You make the connection.

I believe if we only are talking to people who agree with us, we are failing in some way to understand our world and our country.

One of the best features of my career is that I have gotten to meet and work with some of the most stellar people in the business. From Tim Russert and Jim Lehrer to Bryant Gumbel, Andrea Mitchell and Judy Woodruff, I have learned from the leading lights.

We can’t expect the world to get better by itself. We have to create something we can leave the next generation.

When population shifts – brought about by fair housing laws, affirmative action and landmark school desegregation rulings – political power is challenged as well.

Folks who are getting their strokes in the South are not as unhappy with Howard Dean. You don’t see anybody starting any movement to get him out of office.

There seems to be more abiding interest in unearthing old memos abroad than there is here.

Authentic apology is a tricky thing to pull off in politics, which is why it so seldom occurs. Plausible deniability must be preserved. True contrition has to be displayed. Traitors to the cause must be immediately be jettisoned. Most of all, the goal is to stop the bleeding.

I wish more people read hard copies of the newspaper and watched the evening news from start to finish.

We will wait to see if it is a doozy before we decide how to cover it, and what it all means.

Barack Obama‘s historic 2008 presidential campaign touched on all the themes I have covered throughout my career and all of the layers of meaning that run through black politics. Ambition. Aspiration. Fear. Folly. It was all on display as Obama boarded the roller coaster that ultimately led to the White House.

I’m a preacher‘s kid, and we were always told, Act right all the time, because someone‘s always watching.

Did I say that the President’s entire job is image management? Of course not.

If someone is complaining about the question or the questioner rather than providing an answer, they’re usually trying to change the subject.

Journalists are accused of being lapdogs when they don’t ask the hard questions, but then accused of being rude when they do. Good thing we have tough hides.

I loved covering presidential politics – not so much because of the candidates but because of the people it allowed me to talk to.

On immigration, there are a lot of hurdles before anything arrives at the White House.

I’ve been fortunate enough to write a book and travel the country to sign and sell it, so I can safely say that a five-second burst of conversation while you‘re scribbling your name, over and over, is not the most reliable way to bond with Americans.

I got my first job by exceeding expectations.

Truth is, in fact, an elusive concept. It depends almost entirely on where you are standing at the time. It is a human instinct to confuse belief with truth.

If Donald Trump has proved anything, it is that there is nothing more powerful than a candidate’s voice.

We’re not paying attention to the fact that Hillary Clinton is running in 2006. Everyone is looking to her for the future. It’s the same with anybody else who’s positioning themselves.

If you start to catalog Hillary Clinton’s positions between now and 2008, we’re going to have a lot of conversations because there are a lot of places for her to go.

Can’t disagree with the need for a grasp of history.

One of the things that Africa needs, everybody seems to agree, is some measure of debt relief.

Tony Blair – good thing there are not parliamentary elections in this country.

As someone who asks questions for a living, there are few things that annoy me more than people who won‘t ask for themselves. Social media is a great help, but so is something as simple as turning on your television or powering up your laptop to watch a smart news show.

Is it unreasonable to have proof of citizenship when entering another country?

I make more money in a week than my father made in a year.

The common agenda both sides seem to share is: Whatever works.

I was very conscious of the world being this very crazed place that demanded explanation. I didn’t see a whole lot of people who looked like me doing it on television.

It’s been years, decades, since a president has lost a major trade initiative. That would be bad headlines.

Americans don’t mind rich politicians. History is full of them. What they do mind are people who ask for their vote but don’t connect with them.

People do still cheer for the President. And some of the military audiences are more likely to cheer than others. I have seen him speak lately in front of groups like Freedom House, where the applause was a long time coming.

You would like me to say that the veil will be ripped from the voters‘ eyes sometime between now and November, thereby restoring the proper version of Democracy to the House and Senate. I won’t say that, of course. The simple reason is, I don’t know.

Don’t count out other amazing programming like Frontline. You will still find more hours of in-depth news programming, investigative journalism and analysis on PBS than on any other outlet.

History shows that people often do cast their votes for amorphous reasons-the most powerful among them being the need for change. Just ask Bill Clinton.

My job as a reporter is not to know what I think.