Hartford Business.com
August 28, 2008
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Fox 61 TV anchor Laurie Perez has covered a wide range of topics, ranging from the impact of migrant workers on the farming economy to developmental racism. In addition to her current reporting gig in the state, Perez has also worked as a journalist in Washington state and South Carolina.
But she earned her first dollar far away from a television camera and on a tennis court. Growing up in South Windsor, Perez’ interest in tennis developed at young age because her entire family played the game. That interest led to years on the high school and college-level teams.
And it eventually paid off when she was hired as a tennis pro by her hometown recreation department.
“I taught lessons for the kids in town from beginner to the high school level,” Perez said. “It was cool to introduce 5-year-old kids to the sport with racquets bigger than them.”
Notably, it was her first and last job outside journalism.
After graduating with a master’s degree from Northwestern University in Chicago, she followed a job opportunity to KEPR-TV in Kennewick, Wash.
“I just had a bed and a TV and ate only tuna and spaghetti,” Perez said. “I thought, ‘I just paid $50,000 for grad school and this is how I’m living.’”
Regardless, Perez became familiar with the two big issues in that state: farming and the Hanford nuclear site. She stayed for a year before moving to a CBS affiliate in a larger television market in Greenville, S. C.
The pervasive problem in that area was developmental racism. Perez noticed that many new factory developments, as well as countless liquor stores, tended to be located in poorer areas of town. It was a lesson in the powerlessness that comes with poverty.
“People tried to organize protests, but they didn’t have the resources to fight what was going on,” Perez said. “It was just such a poor region.”
Perez stayed in South Carolina for three years before deciding that it was time to move back to Connecticut.
She started as a lead reporter at Fox 61 WTIC-TV covering breaking news such as the Cheshire home invasion, the discovery of a missing girl in a West Hartford home and the hit-and-run death of University of Connecticut freshman Carlee Wines.
Now Perez is weekend anchor at the station, something that she’s always aspired to be.
“The thing I love about reporting is that you get in situations that you never would have if you worked anywhere else,” said Perez.
She also enjoys anchoring because it helps develop additional skills, and she hopes to make the shows more interactive. “Guests and live interviews make the job more of-the-moment,” she said.
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