NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University student Lia Portillo Cantarero has been awarded the Orland Dodson Scholarship from the Shreveport Journalism Foundation.
Portillo, a junior communication major from Galliano, is editor of Northwestern State’s student newspaper, the Current Sauce. A native of Honduras, Cantarero believes in the power of journalism to bring about change.
“I have always wanted to change the world, but I learned early that one way to do that is through my writing,” said Portillo. “Even when I was in my home country of Honduras, I wanted to change the violence, the restrictions and corruption that I witnessed. The stories that I read in the newspaper when I was young and the stories that I continue to read of journalists dying at the hands of war, gangs or governments made me shy away from the field. To me, choosing to be a journalist was like digging my own grave, until I realized that journalism was the opposite: it made me feel alive.”
As a student at South Lafourche High School, Portillo learned U.S. history from teacher Erin Friedlander who went beyond the basics and opened a new area of interest for her.
“She taught me the impact that journalists have made throughout the course of history,” said Portillo. “I had no idea how to write an article back then, but I loved the concept of exposing the secrecy and corruption tainting our communities.”
When Portillo went on a campus tour of Northwestern State, her top priority was seeing the Current Sauce newsroom.
“I couldn’t wait to see the newsroom,” she said. “I saw the editor-in-chief running with a newspaper in her hand and her photo editor trailing behind her, excited to deliver the paper around campus. When I saw them, I imagined what it would be like to chase stories in that newsroom. Today, that girl with big dreams on that tour is me. I am now the Editor-in-Chief of The Current Sauce. It’s a long way from Honduras when I couldn’t even speak English, but I know that I am following the path that started back when I was reading those newspapers, listening to the radio, and watching television and dreaming of being the person who gets to make those stories instead of just reading or hearing them.”
Portillo wants to pursue a journalism career because she says it gives her hope.
“Journalism allows me to transform communities that I care about and give voice to those who feel they are voiceless,” said Portillo. “The world needs journalists now more than ever, and I want to be a part of this movement.”
The Shreveport Journalism Foundation, chartered in 1984 as a Louisiana nonprofit corporation and recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization in 1985, is dedicated to excellence in journalism education through scholarships and professional development. Through 2022, the Foundation has awarded 59 scholarships totaling $59,000 to students from 8 institutions.
Dodson was a radio, television and print journalist. The scholarship was established in his memory in 1991. The annual award was increased to $1,500 in 2021. Recipients of the scholarship must either have a permanent residence or attend school within a 100-mile radius of downtown Shreveport.
