Lolita Baldor, the military/national security correspondent for The Associated Press, will be the keynote speaker at the 39th annual High School Journalism Day.
Baldor has covered military, counterterrorism and national security issues for the Associated Press since 2005, including travel with top defense, military and national leaders all over the world.
High School Journalism Day will be held on Friday, Oct. 18 from 8:30 to noon at the Adanti Student Center, and will feature more than a dozen sessions on journalism topics, as well as Baldor’s keynote speech.
Baldor was assigned to cover the Pentagon for The AP from 2005 to 2009. During that time, she traveled abroad extensively with the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, including frequent trips to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Middle East and Asia, as well as with military service leaders and the vice president of the United States.
During 2009-2010, she covered counterterrorism and cybersecurity, leading the AP’s development of a new terrorism reporting team. She focused on terrorist groups, threats, funding and investigations into a number of planned and executed attacks against the United States.
In January 2011, she returned to the Pentagon beat to focus on national security, counterterrorism and Defense Department issues. She has continued to travel with military and defense leaders, including multiple trips to Syria, visits to U.S. warships in the Middle East and travel to Israel after the start of the war. She has reported on issues ranging from international defense policies involving wars in the Middle East and conflicts around the world to military operations, training and planning. She also has focused on military personnel issues such as recruiting, suicides, sexual assaults and the expanding role of women in combat.
She joined the Associated Press in Washington in April 2003, and covered Congress, politics, defense spending, and other issues for Southern New England AP bureaus for the first two years.
Prior to joining AP, Baldor was the Washington Correspondent for the New Haven Register and the Connecticut Post, covering a wide range of political, Congressional and defense issues.
Baldor was born and raised in Laconia, N.H., and is a graduate of Michigan State University.