PBS newscaster Gwen Ifill remembers the first time she came to Chattanooga — to cover Al Gore’s 1996 vice presidential campaign for NBC News.
“Unfortunately, we popped in and out of town so quickly that it’s kind of a blur,” the 55-year-old veteran political journalist told the Chattanooga Times Free Press in an e-mail interview. “I do, however, somehow still have a little Chattanooga Choo-Choo refrigerator magnet from that trip in my office.”
On her next trip to the Scenic City, a major political figure won’t be the center of attention. Instead, it will be Ifill herself.
She is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at WTCI-TV’s 2011 Be More Awards, set for March 9 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.
Having Ifill speak at the event is “an honor,” said Mary Kilbride, a WTCI board member and co-chairwoman of the event.