About Fred
Fred de Sam Lazaro is director of the Under-Told Stories Project at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, a program that combines international journalism and teaching. He has served with the PBS NewsHour since 1985 and is a regular contributor and substitute anchor for PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.
He also has directed films from India and the Democratic Republic of Congo for the documentary series Wide Angle. Fred has reported from more than 60 countries: from Haiti to sub-Saharan Africa to south Asia. He has focused on stories that are under-reported in the mainstream U.S. media. In addition to regularly covering AIDS, public health concerns, development issues and social entrepreneurship, he led the first American crew to report on the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region.
Fred is the recipient of two honorary doctorates, numerous journalism awards and media fellowships from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the University of Michigan. He serves on the board of Minnpost and was a trustee at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota, his alma mater. He also has served on the boards of the Asian American Journalists Association and the Children's Law Center of Minnesota.
Fred’s Recent Stories
Science Dec 19
Research Chimps to Retire to Louisiana SanctuaryChimps socialize and snack at Chimp Haven. Image by Cameron Hickey. The NIH announced plans on Tuesday to move more than 100 chimpanzees from the New Iberia Research Center into retirement at Chimp Haven, a 200-acre chimpanzee…
World Nov 02
Health Care Workers Brace for New Cholera Outbreaks in HaitiPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Hurricane Sandy might have saved its fullest fury for America's mid-Atlantic coast, but its earlier blows in the Caribbean wreaked havoc in Haiti. Already struggling to recover from the effects of Hurricane Isaac in August,…
World Oct 17
Profile: Illac Diaz Brings Clean, Cheap Light into Filipino HomesPhoto of Illac Diaz by Fred de Sam Lazaro/PBS NewsHour Filipino Illac Diaz began a project called Liter of Light to do two things in his home country: provide light to those who need it and recycle otherwise…
Arts Sep 25
Helping Where ‘There Are More Cell Phones Than Toothbrushes’Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was one of the speakers at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City. Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images. NEW YORK CITY | The annual Clinton Global Initiative is intended to bring together…
Arts Apr 03
One Acre Fund: a Nonprofit’s Business Approach to Helping Small FarmersMaurice and Joyce Soita were able to send their four children to school after becoming One Acre Fund members. Photo by Fred de Sam Lazaro. Most international aid agencies are headquartered in major cities: New York, Geneva or…
Nation Mar 19
Final Message From HEAL Africa’s ‘Mama Lyn’: Tell Them Not to CryLyn Lusi (right) with some of the women who received help from HEAL Africa. Photo by Nicole See for the NewsHour. HEAL Africa co-founder Lyn Lusi, who died Saturday from cancer at age 62, spent most of her…
World Mar 07
Anonciata’s Story: Seeking Healing After Congo’s Brutal Civil WarPhoto of Anonciata by Fred de Sam Lazaro for the PBS NewsHour. Few nations are more endowed with mineral resources than the Democratic Republic of Congo and none has endured a more staggering human cost in the scramble for…
World Aug 30
Brazil’s Shifting Views of Church, Abortion and LifestyleFamily in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo by Nicole See. Brazil's plummeting birth rate would seem like a triumph for the country's women's movement, which has long fought for information about, and access to, contraception. Today, in what remains the…
Health Aug 12
In Senegal, a Movement to Reject Female CircumcisionWatch the full episode. See more Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. This segment originally aired on PBS' Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. The practice of "female circumcision" is…
Health Aug 04
Reporter’s Notebook: India’s New Baby BoomIndian surrogate mothers. Photo by Fred de Sam Lazaro Thursday on the NewsHour, you'll see an excerpt of the film "Made in India," which documents the journey of an infertile American couple and their Indian surrogate. It's part of…
