Illustration: Lauren Tamaki Yamiche Alcindor recently became the host of Washington Week, the high-profile PBS series that dissects the news with a panel of reporters. But it’s not the first time the 34-year-old journalist has been in the spotlight. While covering the Trump administration for PBS, her name was splashed across headlines after the former president called her questions “nasty” and “racist” and told Alcindor: “Be nice. Don’t be threatening.
I watched the video and cried the entire train ride from Brooklyn to my office, watching his little daughter try and calm her mother down. I came into the office and said, “Look, I can’t write about Bernie Sanders today. I want to find out how the next generation is impacted by police violence.” I lean into emotions for story ideas, but then I create boundaries to execute them and do hard-core reporting. I’m not going to cry during interviews or be unprofessional.