Yamiche Alcindor to host ‘Washington Week’ on PBS
“I also feel this incredible responsibility to think deeply about taking this on and making it a show that people want to watch, that people will feel is living up to its great legacy," Alcindor told the New York Times.
Journalist Yamiche Alcindor is making history by becoming the second Black woman to moderate Washington Week, following her mentor, Gwen Ifill.
This Friday, the PBS NewsHour White House correspondent will film her first episode in the moderator’s seat for the acclaimed primetime news program. Alcindor’s move follows the 2020 departure of journalist and previous moderator, Robert Costa from the show.
“I know how much ‘Washington Week’ meant to Gwen, and how much she put her stamp on the legacy of the show,” Alcindor, told the New York Times. “I also feel this incredible responsibility to think deeply about taking this on and making it a show that people want to watch, that people will feel is living up to its great legacy.”
Before her appointment to Washington Week, Alcindor served as the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, where she continued her years-long coverage on race and politics. According to the Times, she is also a contributor for NBC News and MSNBC and will continue her work there.
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On Tuesday, the 34-year-old Alcindor shared her joy on Twitter, saying, “my guiding light will be focusing on the impact of politics on everyday people and vulnerable populations. Join me this Friday.”
Alcindor is a daughter of Haitian immigrants and has focused on civil rights and racial justice for years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Government with a minor in African-American studies at Georgetown University. During her undergrad, she interned at The Seattle Times, the Miami Herald, and The Washington Post. In 2015, Alcindor received a master’s degree in “broadcast news and documentary filmmaking” at New York University.
As a reporter for USA Today, Alcindor traveled to Sanford, Ferguson, and Baltimore to cover the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the trial of George Zimmerman, and protests spurred by the police killings of Mike Brown and Freddie Gray.
In 2013, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) named Alcindor the Emerging Journalist of the Year, and in 2020, she won the RTDNA John F. Hogan Distinguished Service Award.
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As the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, Alcindor reported on the Trump Administration, including its management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The prickly exchanges between Alcindor and former president Donald Trump caught national attention with the latter calling her questions “nasty”, “racist”, and “threatening” during various press briefings.
The first episode of “Washington Week” moderated by Alcindor will air on PBS this Friday.
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