Fred de Sam Lazaro

Fred de Sam Lazaro
Born (1956-07-21) July 21, 1956 (age 70)
Bengaluru, India
EducationCollege of Marin
College of St. Scholastica
OccupationJournalist
Years active1980-present
Known forPBS NewsHour
SpouseKay de Sam Lazaro
Children3

Fred de Sam Lazaro (born July 21, 1956) is an American television journalist, best known for his work on the PBS NewsHour. He is one of the program's two longest-serving correspondents, having joined it in 1985, the same year as Paul Solman.

Early life and education

De Sam Lazaro was born in Bengaluru, India, the youngest of 12 children. His parents were Bernardino and Alda de Sam Lazaro of Goa, which during their time there was within the Portuguese State of India.

Bernardino de Sam Lazaro was a musician, piano manufacturer and music store owner in Shanghai, whose eldest six children were from his first marriage to Alda's sister Esmerelda; a prominent figure among Portuguese expatriates in Shanghai, he served on a relief commission assisting Portuguese nationals during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Alda (née da Silva) was a medical doctor who during their time in China devoted herself to raising the family's (then) nine children. They lived in the Shanghai French Concession.

When his father's businesses were nationalized after the Chinese Communist Revolution, de Sam Lazaro's mother took the children to India and established a medical practice in order to support them. His father, who had been detained by the new government for his capitalist leanings, reunited with the family in Bengaluru a year later.

They built a home in Bengaluru's central Cooke Town neighborhood and had three more children. His mother operated a maternity clinic next door to their home. De Sam Lazaro, whose father was 68 years old at the time of his birth, has described his adolescent self as a "somewhat reserved" and "underachieving" student at a conservative evangelical Christian school, whose family were "strictly observant" Roman Catholics.

1n 1975 he and his mother immigrated to the United States, joining one of his sisters in the San Francisco Bay Area three years after his father's death. The following year he met his future wife, Kay Drechsler, who was working as an au pair during a gap year in Marin County, while he was a student at the College of Marin. He joined her in her native northern Minnesota in 1979, enrolling along with her at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, where he earned a degree in media arts in 1981.

Early career

An internship at a radio station based on the St. Scholastica campus, WSCD — an affiliate of Minnesota Public Radio — led to a full-time job there. His radio reports brought him to the attention of Jim Russell at Twin Cities Public Television, who recruited him for its new public affairs series Almanac. After a brief stint on that show, de Sam Lazaro began working in TPT's new bureau for the recently expanded McNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.

PBS NewsHour

De Sam Lazaro has reported for the NewsHour on a broad range of topics — frequently on poverty and issues related to it, as well as on healthcare, South Asia, and matters pertaining to Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. Notable figures he has interviewed include the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, and Leonard Peltier.

Jim Lehrer, who anchored the program during the first 25 years of de Sam Lazaro's tenure there, praised him as "the ultimate professional", saying "he works hard, he works fast and he works fair."

Since 2006, his reports have been produced under the auspices of the Under-Told Stories Project — of which he is founder and executive director, and which is based at the University of St. Thomas.

International reporting

A prime focus of the Under-Told Stories Project is living conditions for the poor in developing nations and the work of those making efforts to improve them. De Sam Lazaro has said that the global nature of his work began when he would file stories about his country of origin while vacationing there, demonstrating to NewsHour producers that he could do high-quality reporting for them from India "for a fraction of the normal cost because I could function as a native and was well-networked."

De Sam Lazaro and his associates have reported from 70 countries. In 2004, he and his team were the first American television crew to report from Sudan on the War in Darfur.

A longtime beat for him was AIDS — in particular, the impact and treatment of it in the developing world — which he reported on for two decades, including during his time as the NewsHour's medical correspondent from 1993 to 1995.

Coverage of social and labor unrest in Minnesota

The first NewsHour story assigned to de Sam Lazaro was the 1985 Hormel meatpackers' strike, considered one of the most significant, protracted and contentious American labor actions that decade. He returned to the Austin plant and headquarters of Hormel in 2025 for a piece on the strike's 40th anniversary.

He was a primary correspondent for the program in its coverage of the murder of George Floyd and its aftermath, filing more than two dozen reports on Floyd's death and the unrest it spurred; the trial and conviction of Derek Chauvin; local protests following the killing of Daunte Wright in a Minneapolis suburb during the trial; and police reform efforts in the Twin Cities area related to those events.

De Sam Lazaro also extensively covered Operation Metro Surge for the NewsHour, with more than a dozen reports in 2025 and 2026 on Department of Homeland Security immigration actions in Minnesota and their impact on its residents — including those in the Somali community — and on the killings by Federal agents of nonimmigrant U.S. citizens Renée Good and Alex Pretti.

Other work

In addition to the NewsHour, de Sam Lazaro has contributed to other PBS programs. He was a correspondent and substitute host for Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and directed two documentaries for Wide Angle: "Democracy in the Rough" (2006), about the first free elections after decades of dictatorship in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and "The Dying Fields" (2007), which examined an epidemic of suicide among farmers in the Vidarbha region of central India.

In the 1990s and 2000s, he served as a producer of local programs including NewsNight Minnesota for Twin Cities Public Television. He has written occasional opinion pieces — often drawing on his own perspective as an Indian American and immigrant — for the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Awards, honors and public service

Awards

Year Nominated work CategoryAward ResultNotesRef.
2002 Seth Eastman: Painting the Dakota Bronze Wrangler Western Heritage Awards Won Executive producer, for Twin Cities Public Television; shared with producer/director Kristian Berg and narrator Peter Coyote
2003 Stem Cell Research Outstanding Story SAJA Journalism Awards Won For Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
2008 The Dying Fields Professional News Analysis CINE Golden Eagle Awards Won For Wide Angle
2011 In Middle East, Coalition Tries to Ease Tension over Water Outstanding Single Story Society of Environmental Journalists Awards Won For PBS NewsHour
2015 Rwanda Genocide: 20 Years First Place, Television News Magazine Religion Reporting Excellence in Religious Reporting Awards Won For Religion and Ethics Newsweekly
2025 Toxic Trifecta Outstanding Climate, Environment and Weather Coverage News and Documentary Emmy Awards Nominated Two-part NewsHour report about the dumping of junk cars, electronic waste and used clothing by the West in Ghana
2026 Immigration Crackdown News Peabody Awards Won Contributed segments on Operation Metro Surge to ongoing NewsHour coverage of tightening U.S. Federal immigration enforcement

2026 Cuts & Consequences Outstanding Continuing Coverage: Short Form News and Documentary Emmy Awards Nominated Contributed segment on funding cuts for tuberculosis prevention and treatment in Bangladesh to ongoing NewsHour coverage of the shutdown of USAID

Honors

De Sam Lazaro holds honorary doctorates from institutions including Arcadia University and St. John's University; he has also served as commencement speaker at St. John's, as well as at Carleton College

He has been a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan; a Kaiser Media Fellow; a Senior Distinguished Fellow at the St. Mary's University of Minnesota's Hendrickson Institute for Ethical Leadership; and a frequent grantee of the Pulitzer Center.

Public service

De Sam Lazaro has served on the boards of MinnPost, the Children's Law Center of Minnesota, the Asian American Journalists Association and the South Asian Association for Leaders of Tomorrow, and as a trustee of his alma mater, the College of St. Scholastica.

Personal life

Fred and Kay de Sam Lazaro live in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota and have three adult children.

An impromptu conversation in 1992 with staff at a Minneapolis music store about his father's career as a piano maker led to his locating, six years later, a Lazaro upright built by him, which he bought and had shipped from Shanghai to Minnesota.

Notes

  1. ↑ Judy Woodruff’s tenure began in 1983; she was not associated with the program while at CNN from 1993 to 2005, returning in 2006.

References

  1. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Kay (July 21, 2025). "Happy Birthday Wishes". Facebook. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hennes, Doug (Summer 2018). "Storyteller, Changemaker: UnderTold Stories Project Brings the World Home". St. Thomas Magazine. University of St. Thomas. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Judy Woodruff / About Judy". PBS News. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Fred de Sam Lazaro / About Fred". PBS News. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Paul Solman / About Paul". PBS News. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 de Sam Lazaro, Fred (December 21, 1998). "The Keys To His Past". The Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. A11. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 3 4 de Sam Lazaro, Fred (March 18, 2005). "A Recent Change In Attitudes On Immigrants". The Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. A21. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "The day India freed Goa from Portuguese rule". BBC. London, England. 19 December 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Meier, Peg (April 10, 2006). "Foreign Reporter In Fly-Over Land". The Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. E1. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Deaths". The North - China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette. Shanghai. November 10, 1937. p. 207. ProQuest 1369981887. Retrieved June 8, 2026 – via ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chinese Newspapers Collection.
  11. ↑ Wang, Zhicheng (May 2000). Portuguese in Shanghai (PDF). Coloane, Macau: Macau Foundation. pp. 82, 101, 112. Retrieved June 6, 2026.
  12. ↑ Lopes, Helena F.S. (September 1, 2022). "A Name, a Photograph, and a History of Global Connections". Visualizing China. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Marriages". The North - China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette. Shanghai. February 26, 1941. p. 352. ProQuest 1369991961. Retrieved June 8, 2026 – via ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Chinese Newspapers Collection.
  14. 1 2 3 4 de Sam Lazaro, Fred (August 14, 1997). "50 or 5,000? India Is a Young Republic In an Ancient Land of Contrasts". The Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. 22. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 de Sam Lazaro, Fred (August 24, 2015). "My Story As an Indian Immigrant". MinnPost. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Murphy, Anne (July 7, 2025). "Forty Years On, de Sam Lazaro's Story is Told". MyVillager. St, Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Faith Focus: Discussion on Ethics Inspired by Dalai Lama". The Post-Bulletin. Rochester, Minnesota. November 14, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 de Sam Lazaro, Fred (August 3, 2025). "Will Minnesota Still Be the "Good Life" for Today's Immigrants?". The Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. A11. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ Brangham, William; Couzens, Ian (October 1, 2025). "Jimmy Carter's work promoting global public health remembered as core piece of his legacy". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved May 21, 2026. I want to play a clip from a 2010 story that my colleague Fred de Sam Lazaro did. He went to South Sudan with Jimmy Carter. This was on one of their Guinea worm eradication missions there
  20. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred (October 13, 2025). "Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier on adjusting to life at home after decades in prison". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Our Mission". Under-Told Stories Project. St. Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  22. ↑ "About / Biographies: Fred de Sam Lazaro". Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  23. 1 2 "PBS Journalist To Speak at SJU Commencement". The St. Cloud Times. St. Cloud, Minnesota. May 28, 2001. p. 9. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ Rachleff, Peter J. (1993). Hard-pressed in the Heartland: The Hormel Strike and the Future of the Labor Movement. South End Press. p. back cover. ISBN 978-0-89608-450-6 – via Dokumen.pub. Jeremy Brecher: The movement of workers at the Hormel company in Austin, Minnesota was perhaps the signal labor struggle of the 1980s
  25. ↑ Moody, Kim (1988). An Injury to All: The Decline of American Unionism. Verso Books. ISBN 978-1-78478-783-7 – via Internet Archive. The strike by Local P-9 of the UFCW at the Austin Hormel plant, which lasted from 17 August 1985 until a UFCW trusteeship was upheld in court in June 1986, was one of the most visible and controversial labor struggles of the 1980s.
  26. ↑ Baier, Elizabeth (August 7, 2010). "25 years ago, Hormel strike changed Austin, industry". MPR News. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  27. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred; Lancaster, Simeon (October 1, 2025). "How a Bitter Strike and Immigrant Labor Transformed Hormel's Hometown". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  28. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred (April 19, 2021). "Here's what happened during closing arguments in the Derek Chauvin trial". PBS News. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  29. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred (April 13, 2021). "Minnesota on edge following the police killing of Daunte Wright". PBS News. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  30. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred; Lane, Sam (February 18, 2022). "Former Minneapolis police officer Kim Potter sentenced for killing Daunte Wright". PBS News. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  31. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred (August 5, 2020). "Minneapolis officials grapple with question of police reform -- or replacement". PBS News. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  32. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred; Lancaster, Simeon; Lane, Sam (December 5, 2025). "Fraud scandals and Trump's rhetoric escalate fears in Minnesota's Somali community". PBS News. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  33. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred; Fecteau, Mary; Lane, Sam; Lancaster, Simeon; Carlson, Frank (January 8, 2026). "Minnesota leaders and protesters push for accountability after ICE shooting". PBS News. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  34. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred; Fecteau, Mary; Lane, Sam; Lancaster, Simeon (January 26, 2026). "Sadness, anger and exhaustion grip Twin Cities after latest killing by federal agents". PBS News. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  35. ↑ "Democracy In the Rough". PBS / Wide Angle. 11 July 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  36. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (August 8, 2007). "In India, Debting Farmers Who Reach Despair's Depths". The New York Times. New York, New York. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  37. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred (June 1, 1998). "To Some, Nuclear Fears Know no Boundary". The Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. 8. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred (October 19, 2007). "Sizing Up India — Both of Them". The Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. A17. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ↑ de Sam Lazaro, Fred (September 11, 1997). "A Mission Pure: Serving the Poorest". The Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. 18. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ↑ "Western Heritage Awards 2002". National Cowboy Museum. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  41. 1 2 3 4 "Awards". PBS News. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  42. ↑ "Spring 2008 CINE Golden Eagle Award Recipients". CINE. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  43. ↑ Williams, Donna (September 3, 2015). "PBS's Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly Sweeps Religion Newswriters Association Awards in 'TV News Magazine Religion Reporting'" (PDF). WNET. New York, New York. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  44. 1 2 "Under-Told Stories Project Nominated for Peabody and Emmy Awards". University of St. Thomas. St. Paul, Minnesota. April 13, 2026. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  45. ↑ "86th Peabody Winners Announced". Peabody. Athens, Georgia. April 23, 2026. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  46. ↑ "47th Annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards News Category Winners" (PDF). National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved May 28, 2026. Outstanding Continuing Coverage, Short Form: 'Earthquake in Myanmar', BBC News
  47. ↑ "Honorary Degree Recipients". Arcadia University. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  48. ↑ "Philosophy Major Addresses Fellow St. John's Grads". The St. Cloud Times. St. Cloud, Minnesota. May 28, 2001. p. 6B. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  49. ↑ "Commencement Speakers". College of Saint Benedict / Saint John’s University. Collegeville, Minnesota. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  50. ↑ Schindler-Payne, Luna (April 22, 2026). "Documentarian Fred de Sam Lazaro to deliver Carleton convocation on 'Storytelling to Make the Foreign Less Foreign'". Carleton News. Northfield, Minnesota. Retrieved May 15, 2026.
  51. ↑ "Past Kaiser Media Fellows". KFF. 25 January 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  52. ↑ St. Anthony, Neal (April 7, 2001). "Ethics Forum To Feature Social Capitalist Novogratz". The Star Tribune. Minneapolis, Minnesota. p. D2. Retrieved April 2, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  53. ↑ "Grantee Stories". Pulitzer Center. Washington, DC. Retrieved May 20, 2026.