Lourdes Duarte

Duarte 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]

Duarte 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]

Duarte 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]

Duarte 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]

• Profile at WGN-TV