Chenue Her, a 2013 UNWSP Media Production grad, became the first Hmong Male Anchor in the U.S. on Monday October 4 when he joined the Good Morning, IOWA show at WOI-TV in Des Moines. He says for the first time in a long time his Dad was proud of him.
KARE 11’s Gia Vang surprised Chenue with a on-air message of congratulations and then CBS Morning News featured Chenue on their national newscast on Friday morning, October 8, 2021. When his story landed nationally on CBS, he exclaimed on Twitter, “I’m still dreaming! Someone pinch me.”
Chenue, who will join the Media Business class via Zoom on Wednesday Oct 13, says there were times when stations where he applied asked him whether he would change his name but he refused. He says that’s a deal breaker because eritage matters and it’s important to be himself and represent his family and culture.
Chenue began his career with the Northwestern Live TV workshop in the basement of the MEL and advanced his career with local internships at KSTP and WCCO. He landed his first job working at a station in Eugene, Oregon and then spent four years in Norfolk, Virginia and two in Atlanta, Georgia before joining WOI in Des Moines.
Update: He also appeared on KARE 11 Friday to tell his story.
Links to the stories from Chenue’s twitter feed are below.
