Television news anchor Judy Woodruff says she will step away from the PBS NewsHour by the end of the year in order to focus on other projects.
Woodruff’s last day at the PBS NewsHour will be Friday, December 30, the program announced in a press release.
“I have loved anchoring this extraordinary program, initially with my dear friend Gwen Ifill,” Woodruff said in a statement. “To follow in the footsteps of Jim Lehrer and Robert MacNeil has been the honor of a lifetime. Now, I am thrilled to be embarking on this new project to try to understand the most divided time in American politics since I started reporting.”
That project, “Judy Woodruff Presents: America at a Crossroads,” will be Woodruff’s sole focus in 2023 and 2024. Woodruff will leave her hosting and managing editor duties at the PBS NewsHour to become a special correspondent during that time.
“I want to listen to the American people themselves, in cities, small towns and rural areas, from one end of the country to the other, to ask them about their hopes and fears, how they see their role as citizens, and to have long conversations with people who’ve given these questions careful though,” Woodruff said.
Woodruff was named co-anchor of the PBS NewsHour with Ifill in 2013. Prior to that, she served as a rotating anchor of the program. In 2016, she became the sole anchor of the program when Ifill died from cancer.
Woodruff’s successor is expected to be named by the end of the year.
