Judy Woodruff prepares to step down as ‘PBS NewsHour’ anchor, launch reporting project

Longtime public broadcaster Judy Woodruff will step down as anchor of “PBS NewsHour” at the end of the year and launch a special reporting project, the network said on Friday.

PBS said that for the next two years, Woodruff will be working on a special reporting project that aims “to understand better how the American people see their country and whether today’s deep political divisions can be healed.”

“I have loved anchoring this extraordinary program, initially with my dear friend Gwen Ifill,” Woodruff said. “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.”

Woodruff, who spoke to The Hill earlier this week on guiding the network’s coverage of the midterms, served as Washington, D.C., correspondent for PBS for a decade starting in 1983 and anchored the documentary series “Frontline.” After a number of years at CNN, she returned to “NewsHour” in 2007 and later was named anchor and managing editor.

The longtime broadcaster told The Hill in September that she’s “not about to disappear” and would continue working on projects for PBS.

PBS said Friday that a replacement for Woodruff at the “Newshour” anchor desk will be announced later this year.

“We are extraordinarily grateful that she will continue to report with precision and insight on those issues that help us better understand our country and our world,” Sharon Percy Rockefeller, WETA president and CEO and president of NewsHour Productions, said in a statement. “We look forward to this next chapter in her vital work on behalf of the public.”