Yamiche Alcindor Named Moderator of "Washington Week"

ARLINGTON, VA — Sharon Percy Rockefeller, president and CEO of WETA, the flagship public media station in the nation’s capital, announced today the selection of Yamiche Alcindor as the new moderator of Washington Week, the Peabody Award-winning weekly PBS news analysis series produced by WETA.

Alcindor is currently the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, a position she will retain. She is also a political contributor for NBC News and MSNBC and has worked as a reporter for USA Today and The New York Times. She will officially join Washington Week as moderator beginning Friday, May 7, 2021. In addition to moderating Washington Week, which airs live on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on PBS stations nationwide, Alcindor will file periodic digital reports.

“Yamiche is the right person at the right time for this role,” said Rockefeller. “One of the most respected voices in journalism today, Yamiche is known for her command of public-policy issues and her intrepid work as a member of the White House press corps. With composure and tenacity, she has covered some of the most momentous political stories of our time, continually demonstrating the highest standards of journalism.” 
     
“I am incredibly honored and grateful to take the helm of Washington Week,” Alcindor said. “This show has an amazing legacy, and I am thrilled to step into it. I hope to build on it, to expand it and to bring this show forward distinctively into these times of challenge and controversy. In doing so, my guiding light will be serving our audiences and not shying away from the hard conversations about power and politics.”

Alcindor will be the ninth moderator in Washington Week’s 54-year history, following Washington Post political reporter Robert Costa, who held the position from 2017 to 2021, and Gwen Ifill, who moderated the program from 1999 until her death in 2016. Alcindor has served periodically as a guest moderator since Costa’s departure in January 2021.

Alcindor has covered the White House for PBS NewsHour since 2018. Prior to that, she covered the campaigns of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders for The New York Times. During the 2020 presidential election season, Alcindor was a moderator for the sixth Democratic primary debate. She is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions for her work, including the 2020 Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage from the White House Correspondents’ Association and the 2020 Gwen Ifill Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF).

“Building on the strong tradition of Washington Week, Yamiche will bring new voices, insights and perspectives around the table, helping our audiences understand the policies and politics that drive conversations in our country and across the world. PBS welcomes her into this important role,” said Paula Kerger, PBS president and CEO.
 
“Yamiche understands the unique, critical role public media plays in providing timely and thoughtful public affairs programming to all our citizens,” said Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “Her extensive experience reporting for USA Today, The New York Times and PBS NewsHour – and her award-winning work – speak to the expertise and integrity she brings as the new moderator of Washington Week.”

Alcindor was born in Miami, Florida, to Haitian parents. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English, government and African American studies from Georgetown University. In 2015, she received a master’s degree in broadcast news and documentary filmmaking from New York University.

Washington Week moderators prior to Costa and Ifill included John Davenport, public affairs director for WETA and the show’s inaugural moderator; Lincoln Furber, former CBS newscaster; Max Kampelman, prominent Washington, D.C. attorney; Robert MacNeil, future co-anchor of The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour; Paul Duke, veteran NBC journalist; and Ken Bode, former NBC and CNN correspondent.

Washington Week is known for its depth, balance and civil discourse. The program features a roundtable of journalists from print, broadcast and online news organizations who provide analysis of the week’s major national news stories and their impact on the lives of Americans. For over 50 years, dating back to the premiere broadcast on February 23, 1967, Washington Week has delivered the most interesting, informative and reporter-driven conversation of the week. It is the longest-running primetime news and analysis program on television and was recognized for its journalism excellence with a 2008 Peabody Award, among other honors.

Washington Week is a production of WETA, Washington, D.C. Jeff Bieber is executive producer; Ann Klenk is consulting producer; Sandy Petrykowski is senior producer. John F. Wilson is executive producer in charge. Washington Week is broadcast live 52 weeks a year and reaches 98 percent of U.S. television households. Since 1975, the program has been carried by the American Forces Network to U.S. service personnel and civilians at U.S. Department of Defense locations around the world. 

Funding for Washington Week is provided by Consumer Cellular, Otsuka, Kaiser Permanente, Estate of Arnold Adams, The Yuen Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS.

For more information about Washington Week, visit pbs.org/washingtonweek and follow on social media via @washingtonweek and facebook.com/washingtonweek. Follow Yamiche Alcindor on Twitter via @Yamiche. An electronic press kit for Washington Week, including downloadable photos for promotional use, is available at pressroom.pbs.org.
 

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