GWEN'S TAKE

Split-Screen: The Art of Watching 2 Things at Once

Not long ago, I was at the army installation at Fort Bragg, N.C., reporting a story for the PBS NewsHour when my cellphone began to vibrate with news of a big earthquake back home in Washington, D.C. We'd felt nothing.

Remembering and Reimagining August 28, 1963

My daily commute takes me south along the Potomac River and past the neoclassical majesty of the Lincoln Memorial, a beautiful drive I try not to take for granted. But I had been living and working in the nation's capital…

And They’re Off: The GOP Campaign, in Full Effect

By Gwen Ifill

DES MOINES, Iowa | About halfway through my grilled pork chop on a stick at the State Fair, I was reminded why covering politics in Iowa is so different than anywhere else. Gwen Ifill and NewsHour Political Editor David Chalian…

Gwen’s Take: All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men

By Gwen Ifill

In the fine tradition of the well-executed post-mortem, we now find ourselves in the season of the "tick-tock" -- the well-reported explanations of how a big story unfolded. We have been treated to the finest of the genre in the…

Debating the Debate: When Words Substitute for Action

As Washington's debt ceiling debate approaches its deadline, those of us who watch and cover it anxiously await its drop-dead date. Or its do or die moment. Or, its my-way-or-the-highway climax. Skyrocketing interest rates. Huge tax hikes. Bottom lines.

Gwen’s Take: Eating One’s Peas and Other Dilemmas

The national debt clock ticks on in April, 2011. Photo via Getty Images. It's a conundrum. We in the news business are constantly justifying to ourselves why we cover the stories we cover, and why you should care. It…

Gwen’s Take: Why Are Grand Bargains So Elusive?

Photo by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images I've been afflicted this week with a disorienting sense of déjà vu that affects any reporter who has covered Washington long enough. Even the most consequential and operatic standoffs begin to seem eerily familiar.

Scolding and Scheming: Politics at Its Best

President Obama updates reporters on debt talks. White House photo. The president knotted his tie and strode into the White House press briefing room Thursday to announce that he'd just concluded a "very constructive" meeting with members of Congress.

Gwen’s Take: The View from Aspen

ASPEN -- Since we established in this space that I am a professional skeptic, I arrived at the Aspen Ideas Festival -- a kind of Rocky Mountain think-fest -- prepared for a pretty dreary recounting of where the nation…

The Skeptics vs. the Cynics: And When It’s Tough to Make the Distinction

I am a great champion of the notion that it helps to be skeptical, but hurts to be cynical. But weeks like this one make it tough to distinguish between the two. Because I strive to maintain my balance,…