Lori Montenegro, a highly regarded Hispanic-American journalist, came to speak at the AHS “Meet the Press” ceremony for aspiring journalism students in the Lecture Hall on Tuesday, December 8.
Montenegro has 25 years of experience in journalism, and currently works in Washington D.C. as a national news correspondant for Telemundo, a prominent Hispanic news channel. She covers a variety of subjects from politics, to immigration, to the war in Afghanistan and says she loves her job.
Montenegro shared her experiences, both good and bad, and talked about the challenges she faced when she first tried to begin her journalistic career. These challenges included an occasion when her boss made a racist comment to her, just because she had found a new job, and several times when male superiors wanted her for her body and not her brains, all of which required immense moral strength and courage to surpass.
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But she also had many good experiences, like getting to meet different famous people including Sonia Sotomayor and having exceptional bosses like Robert Hall, who Montenegro said really helped her at a time of need.
It is because of Hall, Montenegro said, that she vowed to always lend a “helping hand” to any young journalists, whenever possible, just as Hall had done with her. And she did exactly at AHS by giving aspiring young journalists at AHS advice, and answering any questions they had.
She talked about the importance of integrity, trusting your gut and being as unbiased as possible as a journalist.
“Keep an open mind”, Montenegro said, “go forth and do what you know how to do best.” With those words of advice, Montenegro fulfilled her goal of lending a “helping hand” to young journalists.
