Lourdes Duarte[1] is an American television journalist for WGN-TV, where she is an investigative reporter and co-host of the WGN Evening News at 4pm.
Lourdes Duarte | |
|---|---|
 Duarte in 2015 | |
| Born | 1976 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | DePaul University |
| Occupation(s) | Co-anchor, WGN Evening News |
| Years active | present |
Early life and education
editDuarte was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois,[1] to Cuban parents.[2] Growing up, she also lived in Puerto Rico and Florida.[2][3] She graduated from DePaul University with a bachelor of arts in communications.[3]
Career
editDuarte started out as a freelance reporter for Spanish television network Telemundo in Chicago, before moving on to Metro Networks radio stations WLRN-FM and WTMI-FM in Miami. She then held television news jobs at WHOI-TV in Peoria, WXIN-TV in Indianapolis and WJBK-TV in Detroit.[1][4] While in Indianapolis, she launched and hosted the station's public affairs program, Hoy en Dia, which aired monthly on WTTV.[4][5] The show covered community issues and events, and was at the time the only local Spanish programming.[3]
Duarte joined WGN-TV in 2007 as a general assignment reporter. In 2009, she began anchoring WGN-TV's weekday newscast WGN News at Five with Mark Suppelsa, as well as hosting WGN's biweekly public affairs show Adelante Chicago.[1] In November 2012, in addition to her main job as anchor of WGN News at Five, she began delivering news briefs in Spanish on weekday afternoons on WLEY-FM, a Spanish station known as La Ley, alongside midday show host Martin Omar Novela.[1] In August 2014, Duarte moved from afternoons to mornings, becoming co-host of WGN Morning News, alongside Dan Ponce.[6] According to media blogger Robert Feder, the new pairing of anchors led to the station's biggest ratings boost in that time slot.[7] In 2014, as a celebration of their Latin roots, Duarte, Ponce, and reporter Ana Beleval starred in telenovela parody series Noticias de mi Corazon, with short episodes appearing on WGN.[8][9]
Personal life
editDuarte became engaged to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's press secretary, Matt McGrath in February 2019.[10] Duarte announced that she was pregnant in an episode of Noticias de mi Corazon in June 2019.[11] Duarte and McGrath welcomed their baby girl in August 2019.[12]
Awards
editDuarte has won four Chicago / Midwest Emmy Awards for general assignment and investigative reporting.[2][13] She won her first Emmy Award for Hoy en Dia, the public affairs program in Spanish that she launched and hosted in Indianapolis,[3] and won a Society of Professional Journalists Award for Minority Issues Reporting for her work on the show.[14] She also won Emmy Awards for her work on Adelante Chicago,[4] and for Outstanding Achievement for News Specialty Report/Series – Human Interest, as a reporter on the WGN segment "Angel of Lower Wacker Drive" in 2014.[15]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Robert Feder, "WGN's Duarte putting her Spanish to good use on radio," Time Out Chicago, October 26, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Q&A With WGN's Lourdes Duarte," Modern Brown Girl, September 22, 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Success Stories," DePaul Magazine, Summer 2008, p. 12.
- ^ a b c "WGN News' Anchor Lourdes Duarte to Give Daily News Briefs on WLEY-FM 'La Ley 107.9FM' With Omar 'El Plebe'," Channel 1 Los Angeles, October 26, 2012.
- ^ Abe Aamidor, "Speaking the Right Language," The Indianapolis Star, July 5, 2003.
- ^ Robert Feder, "Anchors realign in WGN news boost," robertfeder.com, August 20, 2014.
- ^ Robert Feder, "More news is good news for WGN," robertfeder.com, December 1, 2014.
- ^ "Dan, Lourdes & Ana star in WGN's new telenovela 'Noticias de mi Corazon'," WGN-TV, December 11, 2014.
- ^ Robert Feder, "WGN anchors star in new telenovela 'Noticias de mi Corazon'," robertfeder.com, December 11, 2014.
- ^ "Robservations: Amy Guth to host daily podcast for Crain's - Robert Feder". www.robertfeder.com. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ WGN anchor reveals pregnancy in new telenovela 'Noticias de mi Corazon', retrieved 2019-10-16
- ^ Duarte, Lourdes (2019-08-28). "She's here! We love you Madeline. She's healthy and strong!!pic.twitter.com/RZYnB8tc9A". @LourdesWGN. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
- ^ Lourdes Duarte, wgntv.com. Accessed August 22, 2016.
- ^ "WGN-TV's Lourdes Duarte To Become Daily Contributor To WLEY-FM," Chicagoland Radio and Media, October 25, 2012.
- ^ "And the Chicago/Midwest Emmy Winners Are…" Screen, November 3, 2014.
External links
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