When she was 14, a school trip from Barranquilla, Colombia, took Alejandra Ortiz Chagín to the Fundación Niños de los Andes outside Bogotá. The shelter rescued children from the streets. Ortiz Chagín recalled that many children had no parents, and some days went without food. The visit shocked her.

“I lived in a social bubble,” she said. At the foundation, she confronted a harsh reality. One boy pressed a note into her notebook: “Alejandra, thanks to people like you, I’m still alive.” She broke down in tears. “It completely changed my life,” she said.

That experience shaped her approach to journalism, tracing her sense of responsibility back to that initial moment of empathy.

Originally from Barranquilla, Ortiz Chagín said she embraced communication early. She organized a fundraiser at the Colombian Embassy in Miami, raising thousands for children with cancer and HIV. She said the experience showed her the power of communication to mobilize people — a lesson that has guided her journalism.

Ortiz Chagín’s professional break came unexpectedly. While in a group chat for a Bogotá mayoral candidate, Andrés Mora, then director of special projects at Compañía de Medios de Información (CM&), noticed her profile photo — a picture of her in front of the CNN Atlanta sign. 

He asked if she was interested in an on-camera casting. “Just from a photo,” Ortiz Chagín said. The encounter launched a career that accelerated quickly.

After five years at CM&, where she often worked 16-hour days and anchored every program, she said she felt devalued.

“I was working 16 hours a day and they didn’t raise my salary,” she said. “I got to a point where I said, ‘I have to stand up for my rights and my value as a professional,’ and I started knocking on doors outside, in the United States.”

She took a week of vacation and flew to Miami, determined to find a new path. During a visit to the Telemundo Miami studios, a cameraman friend introduced her to the station manager, who encouraged her to attend the National Association of Hispanic Journalists conference to meet the network’s leadership.

She followed that advice and met with Telemundo executives at the conference, building on the connections she had made during her studio visit.

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Her commitment to service and ethical reporting was tested in October 2017 while covering the Las Vegas mass shooting, where a gunman killed 58 people.

“The Las Vegas massacre changed my perspective on life,” she said. “I realized how life can change in 10 seconds.”

Witnessing the devastation and the desperate need of families for accurate information cemented a core principle for her. “I realized how important it was to provide information responsibly,” she said. “Everything had to be verified, precise and balanced.”

Her former coworker, Andrés Martínez, an assignment editor at Telemundo 52, praised her consistency in a demanding newsroom. “It’s a tough industry, and it gets stressful. But she always has a smile. It’s always good to be around that kind of energy,” he said. 

Martínez added that her reliability extended beyond the studio: “Whenever there’s breaking news, especially about immigration, she’s the first to share it with her followers. It’s nice to see that she takes it out of the newsroom and into the community.”

Dunia Elvir, a longtime Telemundo anchor who worked closely with Ortiz Chagín, said she sees a distinction between people who want to be on television and those who want to be journalists. “Alejandra is a journalist at heart.”

Ortiz Chagín has received multiple Emmy Awards, but one win in particular stood out — the year she earned three nominations after just one year at Telemundo Las Vegas. She said the recognition caught her by surprise, especially while competing against veteran anchors. 

At the time, she was anchoring four newscasts on her own for months, and during election season, her days often stretched from waking at 6 a.m. to going to bed at 2 a.m.

“One Emmy was like a reward for that hard work,” she said. “It showed me that when you go the extra mile and give 200 percent, there will always be recognition. It’s impossible to fail if you give it your all.”

For Ortiz Chagín, journalism is not just reporting events. She said it is a way to connect with people, help them make informed decisions, and highlight the experiences of communities that often go unheard. The lesson she learned at 14, she said, has shaped her career from the start.

“Every story I tell is a chance to make a difference, to help someone see the world more clearly,” she said.

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