WASHINGTON, D.C. Nov. 15 (DPI) – With almost Biblical timing after the most controversial election in American history, longtime PBS broadcaster Gwen Ifill, a  journalist in whom the public embraced a Cronkite-like trust, died of cancer yesterday.

Reader comments  – in huge contrast to all the other news comments this week – universally voiced sadness, appreciation and respect for the 61-year-old  journalist. Ifill had worked for both The Washington Post and The New York Times before moving to television, and was “part of the family” to many who watched her news broadcast every weeknight.

Her obituary on The New York Times site drew more than 2,000 comments by this afternoon – more than five times the number of comments on any of the front-page reports, most of them focusing on Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

At a time when the most of the  mainstream media remain wounded by the stunning results of last week’s presidential election, the surprising news yesterday that Ifill had passed away had come as another great shock. Not since the sudden death of Tim Russert in 2008 has the media and political class been so impacted by the loss of one their most beloved personalities.

Among the most popular comments today:

At a moment when the news media are under attack, and overwhelmed by non-trustworthy news from partisan websites, we will miss a professional like Gwen Ifill, always with a sober, fact-based and trustworthy presentation of the issues. That she broke one of those glass ceilings was also a fully deserved and remarkable achievement. I wish there were more like her.