By: Carley Hutchison

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) — Award-winning journalist Cecilia Vega was on campus this past week, mentoring students, sharing her experiences, and giving advice. 

Vega spoke to students during classroom visits doing a Q&A interview, watching some of her past work, and discussing what goes into making an impactful story. 

“Getting to listen to Cecilia Vega was so fulfilling. Not only did we gain journalistic knowledge, but also life advice from one of the best,” Karringtin Deffebaugh, U of A senior, said. 

Vega last worked as a news correspondent for 60 Minutes on CBS for over 3 years, after covering the White House for ABC News for 6 years. 

She has also previously worked anchoring Good Morning America and the Saturday edition of World News Tonight. 

On Monday, at Georges Majestic Lounge, an event was hosted by the Center for Media Ethics and Literacy in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media, honoring Vega. 

At the public event, she shared her experiences and opened the floor up for questions from students and Northwest Arkansas residents. 

“She is a trailblazer, as the first Latina correspondent on 60 Minutes and the first Latina chief White House correspondent for an English-language news network,” Gina Shelton, director of the Center for Media Ethics and Literacy, said. 

Vega began her career as a hometown print reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle before transitioning into broadcast journalism at ABC’s San Francisco affiliate, KGO.

She then joined ABC News in 2011, thus beginning her national reporting career. 

Vega has covered every midterm and presidential election since 2012, including the presidencies of Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama. 

Some of her field experience includes reporting inside the Bureau of Prisons, traveling to the Caribbean island nation of Dominica to learn about sperm whale communication, and the Minneapolis ICE crackdown.

Vega has won an Emmy for reporting on border issues and was named 2024 Latina Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.