Journalist Yamiche Alcindor Speaks About Reporting and Politics

While there is no singular quality that makes a good journalist, there are certain attributes and practices that are critical to the profession: a healthy dose of courage, a commitment to truth, a willingness to listen and, perhaps most of all, a deep and sincere curiosity. "My mom will tell you she didn't like this when I was a little girl, but my favorite question was 'why?' " said Yamiche Alcindor, NBC News Washington correspondent. It was the kind of question that seemed simple at the time, but which she would spend "a whole lifetime, a whole career, trying to answer."

Alcindor shared the history of her journalism career as the first speaker in Bucknell's 2024-25 Forum series, which is focused on the theme "World in Transition." Following a private question-and-answer session with students, she delivered a keynote address entitled "Truth in Journalism: Reporting on Politics and Identity in America" on Sept. 24 in the Weis Center for the Performing Arts.

NBC News Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcindor attends a question-and-answer session with Bucknell students. Photo by James Giffen, Marketing & Communications

Before joining the NBC News team, where she covers the Biden administration and the intersection of race, culture and politics, Alcindor was public broadcasting's White House correspondent for the national news flagship PBS NewsHour and the anchor of PBS' Washington Week. She has worked as a reporter for The New York Times and USA Today and is a frequent MSNBC contributor. The recipient of the White House Correspondents' Association Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage and the 2020 National Association of Black Journalists Journalist of the Year Award, Alcindor has traveled all over the world to cover politics and breaking news.

"I became a journalist because of a woman named Mamie Till who used her pain to bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice in the name of her son," said Alcindor, relaying the story of Emmett Till, an African American teenager who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman. Till's mother's courageous decision to hold an open casket funeral — based on a desire to draw attention to the violence of racism and the vulnerabilities of democracy — motivated Alcindor to become a "professional witness" and "bring hard truths to the forefront of America."

Alcindor's commitment to shining a light on truth has led her to cover stories about environmental racism in Lowndes County, Alabama; abortion rights in Idaho; and access to clean water in Baltimore. During the question-and-answer session with students, she was asked about the "worst story" she had ever covered. "My journalism also brought me to Newtown, Conn., to cover the consequences of one of the worst mass shootings in America. That, of course, being the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School," Alcindor said. "It is still one of the worst stories I've ever covered, but it's also one of the stories that I'm proudest of because we have to look things like that in the face. We have to look horrible, horrible things like that in the face to understand the hard truth in America."

As the daughter of Haitian immigrants, Alcindor shared how important her familial background has been in shaping her coverage of Springfield, Ohio, and Charleroi, Pa., two communities which have garnered national attention after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance spread debunked claims about Haitian immigrant communities.

"There are few Haitian journalists on TV who can speak in Creole and translate an interview," said Alcindor. "So I really embrace that and see that as a challenge and a skill." While objectivity is central to her work as a journalist, Alcindor shared that these stories have served as crystallizing moments in her career, in which the totality of who she is can be used as a tool on the job.

Alcindor closed her speech by reminding the audience that we are roughly six weeks out from a national election. "We're gearing up for an election like nothing any of us has experienced," she said. "We're in this moment where the world is chaotic, both globally and domestically, and where each person is being called, in my view, to use their skills in any way possible, and their talent in any way possible."

Up Next

The Bucknell Forum speaker series will continue this fall with W. Kamau Bell on Oct. 22. Bell is an Emmy-award winning comedian, TV host, author and producer.