Broadcaster Lara Moritz '90 to Present Journalism Lecture

Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist Lara Moritz, a 1990 Knox College graduate, will present the 2013 Joe W. Morgan Memorial Lecture at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 10 in the Alumni Room of Old Main on the Knox campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Her lecture is titled "Giving a Voice...Even When It's Uncomfortable." Moritz, who anchors the 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts at KMBC 9 News in Kansas City, Missouri, will talk about the power of listening in her work as a journalist.

During her 18 years at KMBC 9, Moritz has interviewed a wide range of people, including serial killers, teenage cancer survivors, President Barack Obama, and first lady Michelle Obama.

In addition to two Emmy Awards, she has won two Edward R. Murrow awards for her reporting.

Last year, Moritz was selected for the Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievement Award, which recognizes an individual who reinforces self-worth and self-confidence in women. The award comes with a $10,000 scholarship, which winners may donate to an institution of their choice. Moritz donated the funds to Knox to establish a scholarship for journalism students.

Moritz graduated from Knox with a bachelor's degree in creative writing, and she earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.

The Joe W. Morgan Memorial Lecture at Knox College is sponsored by the Joe W. Morgan Memorial Fund, created to support educational activities of the college's journalism program.

Ann Lee Morgan, a 1962 Knox graduate, established the fund in honor of her father, a 1934 Knox graduate and longtime editor with United Press International. During his four-decade career, Joe Morgan covered stories including the trial of Alger Hiss, the death of Joseph Stalin, the launching of Sputnik, the first manned space flight and the assassination of Robert Kennedy.