Television’s longest-running primetime public affairs program is going to need a new host after Yamiche Alcindor announced on Monday that she is stepping away from the moderator role at Washington Week.
Alcindor says that she wants to focus on her commitments at NBC News, where she is the network’s Washington correspondent, and to finish her upcoming memoir.
Some personal news: After deep thought & some meaningful conversations, I have decided to step away from the moderator role of Washington Week. This move will allow me to focus full time on my commitments to NBC News & to finish my upcoming memoir.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) February 13, 2023
“The work we do is not easy, and it has been an honor to assist our audience in making sense of it all,” she said in a note. “Beyond that, serving in this capacity has also allowed me the extraordinary opportunity to honor the life and legacy of Gwen Ifill, an iconic journalist and the longtime Washington Week moderator who loved the program and personally mentored me and so many other women.”
Alcindor, named moderator of Washington Week in 2021, will end her tenure on Friday, February 24.
WETA CEO, Sharon Rockefeller, said that the public station (which produces the show) would draw on “the strong roster of journalists at PBS NewsHour and in the Washington press corps” as it looks for a permanent host for Washington Week.
Washington Week airs live on Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on PBS stations across the country.