Comments on: Why Not Gwen?

By: Viva La Gwen « black girl blogging.

Viva La Gwen « black girl blogging. — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:10:10 +0000

[...] Ifill would be moderating the much-anticipated Veep debate. Though my fellow black woman blogger Afrobella agreed with me, I’m pretty sure I was in the minority when I thought Gwen Ifill should have [...]

By: Facts And Opinions About This Gwen Ifill Drama | afrobella

Facts And Opinions About This Gwen Ifill Drama | afrobella — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 05:14:14 +0000

[...] facts about the Gwen Ifill story that Drudge got wrong. So allow me to speak my piece. Because I sincerely respect and admire Gwen Ifill like [...]

By: bygbaby

bygbaby — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:30:26 +0000

You know the other day when i was writing up a mini post about this, I pondered to myself, why not Gewn???

I do like her & I know she would turn it out but like someone mentioned above, she does not have an loud personality but I’m not sure if it is really needed.

Brian Williams looks like a hot mess by the eyes & Tom Brokaw could put a dead man to sleep. I am not sure if I can handle watching MTP with Tom’s lack of personality.

Thx,
Tafari

By: AfricanViolet

AfricanViolet — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:24:33 +0000

OMG! THANK YOU GIVING VOICE TO THIS POSSIBLE PICK MEET THE PRESS SISTER!
I know Gwen would rip it on Meet The Press…to whom should we write to push this ideal further along?
Great Idea!

By: Longform Links - Popping Off, Gwen Ifill, Rape as a Weapon of War at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:00:30 +0000

[...] Afrobella – Why Not Gwen? Ifillâ€™s first love was print journalism, but Russert helped her transition into the world of television, as she recalls in this touching tribute, â€œFarewell to a Standup Brother,â€ featured on The Root (love that site, BTW). â€œThere is quite a line of people who, at various times, have taken credit for my career. I usually let them do it, even if I remember events quite differently. But Tim deserves the credit. He not only talked me into switching to TV against my first instincts, but â€” five years later â€” he engineered a way for me to leave NBC when I was offered the chance to become the first African American to host a weekly public affairs program, Washington Week, over on PBS. He not only talked NBC executives into getting me out of my contract, but he also looked me in the eye and told me this was something I absolutely, positively had to do.â€ [...]

By: Bridgette

Bridgette — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:16:11 +0000

I agree with you, Gwen would certainly be someone to strongly consider. She is one of those rare people that excels at both print and broadcast journalism. I had the pleasure of meeting her in Vegas last year at the NABJ conference and she was sweet as pie. Gwen is a trailblazer that far too many sleep on.

Great post!

By: The Beautiful One

The Beautiful One — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:25:54 +0000

Ok, this is what Whoop said on The View:

“I’m really glad to see you because …any time you see black folks on the news, particularly women, they have no teeth, and the teeth that they have have gold around them and they can’t put a sentence together and perhaps now, we can, this is, you are helping to change a perception. I know it sounds funny and silly but If you are a black women and you are tuning in and everytime you see someone who is supposed to represent black women and women not very very fair skin women, I am talking about dark black women, I just want to say thanks.”

I think her comment was uncalled for. She could’ve said that in private and by the looks of every one of her colleagues at the table, including Mrs. Obama, they too wished that she would’ve said it in private.

By: The Beautiful One

The Beautiful One — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:18:54 +0000

I know that this is off topic but maybe not.
I hope that you write a post about what Whoopi Goldberg said during the time that Mrs. Michelle Obama was a guest host on today’s The VIew. Whoopi thought that she was complimenting the exquisite Mrs. Obama when she said how proud she was of her for basically being an upstanding, intelligent African-American woman.
Then Whoopi dropped the bomb and left me and the rest of the women sitting near her a little stunned when she said “you know, when you usually see Black women on t.v. they don’t have any teeth, or if they do have teeth, they are made of gold through out their mouths, they aren’t articulate” and it goes on and on.
I sat there stunned. She really thought that she was paying Mrs. Obama, who may very well be our next First Lady, a compliment! I do not know if this was aired earlier as I have returned to this country just a couple of weeks ago, but I’m so stunned and embarrased for Whoopi, who IS a Black woman on television as well as the big screen.

What does this say about how she views Black women as well as herself? I don’t know what t.v. shows she has been watching but she needs to stop watching them and actually look around at the great Black women of media as well as in her family.

Any thoughts?

Felicia
This Time in Seoul

By: Tamra

Tamra — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:41:10 +0000

I love Gwen myself, but I’m torn. I’m with novie on the “it factor” thing. Gwen could definitely get the job done, but she just doesn’t strike me as having the personality. On the other hand, I heard rumors that NBC might entertain the thought of bringing Katie Couric back–to me she has too much personality. And, I don’t see her as being able to be neutral *all the time*.

The thing I liked about Tim is that you never knew what his politics were. We need that kind of person if Meet the Press needs to continue Tim’s legacy. I see Gwen Ifill as being able to be thorough and neutral. Chris Matthews could possibly do that too–there are times when I thought I had him pegged as being one thing only for him to rip into the other side and knock ‘em down.

KO? I love him but Lordie no.

This is going to be really interesting to watch…

Oh, and the other thing about Gwen though with regards to the rest of America being ready–that might just be a little too much black for people right now (with the Obamas being so in everybody’s face). You know we have to break folks in slowly so they don’t think we have any evil plots to try to take over the world (Pinky & The Brain theme cues up…).

By: novie

novie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:55:43 +0000

Beware, slightly long opinion ahead…
As someone who watches Gwen regularly on PBS’s NewsHour I just don’t think it’s worth it for her to return to network tv. Sure she would gain a wider audience, but she would lose out the the scope of what she’d cover day to day. Meet the Press and other similar shows cover what’s relevant on the American political scene. NewsHour covers important happenings in the world–US or not, politically-centered or not and that’s what keeps it interesting to viewers and journalists covering the stories.
Besides, as others have been saying concerning the “it factor” there is a cult of personality in hosting network shows. People want to see the host and secondarily listen to the discussion. Fondness for the show is linked more to the host and the style of the show, than to the substance of the program from week to week. That mentality (which isn’t necessary a bad one), probably works against Gwen since she’s not a loudmouth or overtly agressive. Also would be able to she get the sort of ratings a network would expect their host to achieve and sustain in order to be worth their money (Think Katie Couric, who’s still struggling at CBS and the massive amount they spent to get her).
I think it’s best to go to (or stay in) a place where you have the best opportunity at variety and where your particular approach is respected and valued. I don’t think it’s simply a question of America’s readiness to see certain faces in certain venues. It might not even be something Gwen Ifill cares to do at this point in her career. Afterall she has her own weekly show, and I assume she’s on the short list (crossing my fingers on that one) to take over the NewsHour once Lehrer retires w/in the next couple of years.

Speaking of range, Bella, I love that you post about a whole range of topics. I’ve been reading this blog for almost two years and I still find it refreshing!!