Washington Week

Washington Week with The Atlantic (originally Washington Week in Review from 1967 to 2005 and Washington Week from 2005 to August 2023) is an American public affairs television program, which has aired on PBS and its predecessor, National Educational Television, since 1967. Unlike other panel discussion shows which encourage informal (sometimes vociferous) debates as a means of presentation, Washington Week consistently follows a path of civility and moderation. Its format is that of a roundtable featuring the show's moderator and two to four Washington-based journalists. The program is produced by WETA-TV in Washington, D.C.

Washington Week
Also known as	Washington Week in Review (1967–2005) Washington Week (2005–2023)
Presented by	John Davenport (1967–1968) Lincoln Furber (1968–1969) Max Kampelman (1969–1971) Robert MacNeil (1971–1974) Paul Duke (1974–1994) Ken Bode (1994–1999)^[1] Gwen Ifill (1999–2016) Robert Costa (2017–2021) Yamiche Alcindor (2021–2023) Jeffrey Goldberg (2023–present)
Narrated by	Paul Anthony
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	55
No. of episodes	over 2,000
Production
Production locations	WETA-TV Studios, Washington, D.C.
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	WETA-TV (1967–2021) NewsHour Productions (2021–present)
Original release
Network	NET (1967–1970) PBS (1970–present)
Release	February 23, 1967 (1967-02-23) – present

Logo used from July 13, 2018 to August 4, 2023

History

Washington Week in Review was first broadcast on February 23, 1967, on National Educational Television and was picked up by PBS in 1970. Since its first episode in 1967, the program's announcer has been Paul Anthony.^[2]

In 1999, Dalton Delan fired Ken Bode^[3]

Gwen Ifill was the host from then until her death on November 14, 2016. A successor was not announced immediately. It was Ifill who shortened the name of the program when she took over, as a sign that "the show would spend more time looking forward."^[4] On April 20, 2017, WETA announced that Robert Costa of The Washington Post would become the next moderator of Washington Week.^[5]

On January 8, 2010, Washington Week began broadcasting in high definition, with broadcasts presented in letterboxed and pillarboxed format for viewers with standard-definition television sets watching either through cable or satellite television. The program also introduced a new set and upconverted its existing graphics package to HD.^{[6][failed verification]}

 

Ifill and other personalities chat after filming a special edition at the Hanna Theatre in Cleveland during the 2016 Republican National Convention

On July 13, 2018, the program underwent its first major change in presentation in years, adopting a new graphics package and a reorchestrated version of its theme music (with a new set, and music by Stephen Arnold).^[7][8][9]

In January 2021, Costa left the program to devote his time to co-authoring an upcoming book with veteran journalist Bob Woodward; guest moderators were used in Costa's place.^[10]

In May 2021, Yamiche Alcindor, at the time the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, became the ninth moderator of Washington Week. Alcindor had previously been a regular Washington Week panelist.^[11] In December 2021, WETA subsidiary NewsHour Productions began producing Washington Week.^[12] In February 2023, Alcindor announced that she would step down to focus full-time on her job at NBC and writing her memoirs, saying that her final date as moderator would be February 24.^[13] After Alcindor's departure, various other journalists served as guest moderator until August 2023.

On August 2, 2023, it was announced that Jeffrey Goldberg, who has served as editor-in-chief of The Atlantic since 2016, had been named as the program’s tenth moderator, and that the politics and culture publication would also enter into an editorial partnership with the television program – which was retitled accordingly as Washington Week with The Atlantic – similar to the earlier collaboration with the National Journal.^[14][15] The first episode under the longer title, and with Goldberg as moderator, was the one broadcast on August 11, 2023.^[16]

National Journal

In 2006, Washington Week made an agreement with National Journal which ensured that at least one National Journal reporter would be on the show.^[17] This agreement is no longer in effect.

Format

Since moving to PBS, Washington Week has used a panel discussion format moderated by a host. Panelists come from various national media organizations.

Distribution

Washington Week is on PBS's national primetime lineup. Because of the subscriber nature of PBS, local presentation of Washington Week is scheduled by individual stations, and air times vary by market. The most common airing pattern is the show leading off primetime on Friday evenings with weekend afternoon encores on most PBS member stations, and several airings per week on the affiliated network, World Channel.

Notable personalities

Moderators

• 1967–1968: John Davenport
• 1968–1969: Lincoln Furber
• 1969–1971: Max Kampelman
• 1971–1974: Robert MacNeil
• 1974–1994: Paul Duke
• 1994–1999: Ken Bode
• 1999–2016: Gwen Ifill
• 2016–2017: Amy Walter (main interim moderator)
• 2017–2021: Robert Costa^[5]
• 2021–2023: Yamiche Alcindor
• 2023–present: Jeffrey Goldberg^[14]

Regular panelists

• Peter Baker
• Molly Ball
• Dan Balz
• Jeffrey Birnbaum
• Gloria Borger
• Michael Crowley (journalist)
• Jeanne Cummings
• Lisa Desjardins
• John Dickerson
• Major Garrett
• Georgie Anne Geyer
• John Harwood
• Carl Hulse
• Haynes Johnson
• Katty Kay
• Indira A.R. Lakshmanan
• Mark Landler^[18]
• Mara Liasson
• Peter Lisagor
• Neil MacNeil
• Charley McDowell^[19]
• Jonathan Martin^[20]
• Doyle McManus
• Amna Nawaz
• Jack Nelson
• Susan Page
• Martha Raddatz
• Philip Rucker
• Stephanie Ruhle
• Vivian Salama
• David Sanger
• Jake Sherman
• Alexis Simendinger
• Hedrick Smith
• Kayla Tausche
• Karen Tumulty
• Amy Walter
• Pete Williams
• Nancy Youssef
• Janine Zacharia

Further reading

• Hirsch, Alan (1991). Talking Heads: Political Talk Shows and Their Star Pundits. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-05521-9.

See also

• Inside Washington
• Agronsky & Co.
• Gordon Peterson

Reception

Washington Week has received generally positive reviews from television critics. Barry Garron of Current wrote, "Favor[s] balance over frivolity."^[21]

References

1. Shepard, Alicia C. (June 1999). "Unplugged". American Journalism Review. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
2. "Washington Week | The Backstory: The Voice of Washington Week". YouTube. February 22, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
3. Kurtz, Howard (February 23, 1999). "Ken Bode's Bad 'Washington Week'". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
4. Ifill, Gwen (November 30, 2006). "Washington Week". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
5. "Meet Robert Costa, new Washington Week moderator". PBS.org. April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
6. Ifill, Gwen (January 8, 2010). "Washington Week". WETA. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
7. P. Hill, Michael (July 23, 2018). "'Washington Week' on PBS debuts new set, part of larger makeover". NewscastStudio. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
8. P. Hill, Michael (July 23, 2018). "'Washington Week' overhauls logo, graphics and music". NewscastStudio. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
9. "Stephen Arnold Music Updates PBS' 'Washington Week' Identity With New Sonic Brand And Custom Music Package". SHOOTonline. August 8, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
10. "Washington Week Host Robert Costa Departs Program". WNET. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
11. Weprin, Alex (May 4, 2021). "Yamiche Alcindor Named Moderator of PBS' 'Washington Week'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
12. Wyllie, Julian (December 6, 2021). "NewsHour Productions takes over management of 'Washington Week'". Current. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
13. Mastrangelo, Dominick (February 13, 2023). "Yamiche Alcindor leaving PBS's 'Washington Week'". The Hill. from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
14. "Jeffrey Goldberg named new moderator of Washington Week". PBS (Press release). August 2, 2023. from the original on March 2, 2024.
15. Malone, Michael (August 2, 2023). "'Washington Week' Gets New Moderator, New Name". Broadcasting & Cable. Future US, Inc. from the original on August 3, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
16. "Jeffrey Goldberg moderates Washington Week with The Atlantic". YouTube. PBS. August 11, 2023. from the original on March 3, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
17. "'Washington Week' Forges Editorial Partnership with 'National Journal'" (Press release). WETA. April 29, 2005. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
18. "Washington Week: Mark Landler". PBS. April 26, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
19. . harrisonkinney.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2003. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
20. "Jonathan Martin". Washington Week. PBS. July 23, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
21. Garron, Barry (August 1, 2017). "New 'Washington Week' host aims to favor balance over frivolity". Current. Retrieved January 15, 2020.

External links

• Official website
• https://www.youtube.com/@WashingtonWeekPBS/videos
• http://feeds.pbs.org/pbs/weta/washingtonweek-audio
• http://feeds.pbs.org/pbs/weta/washingtonweek-video
• Washington Week at IMDb