The Coe Times Interviews Lester Holt in Kerry Park

By Max C. 

 

In late May, we got a call from a friend in Queen Anne alerting us about an NBC News crew at Kerry Park. We rushed over to find out what was happening. It turned out it was Lester Holt and the Nightly News crew traveling the country for his ‘Across America’ series. We waited until after the news report and asked a producer if The Coe Times could interview Mr. Holt. The producer gave us a press pass and helped made it happen. Here’s what we learned:

 

Max: When did you decide you wanted to be a journalist? 

Lester: When I was 14 year old, I wanted to be on the radio and play music. And only later when I got my first opportunity did I decide I wanted to do news.

 

Max: What is it like being on NBC News? 

Lester: You know, it’s very exciting because you get to go to a lot of exciting places and meet a lot of interesting people, but it’s also really neat when I sit and think about how many millions of people are watching and that they trust me and my colleagues to give them the news. That’s a big responsibility because it’s a very complicated and confusing world sometimes and people have a lot of questions and we’re doing our best to get the answers. So it brings me a lot of pride.

 

Max: What advice would you give a young school newspaper journalist?
Lester: Read a lot! Really be exposed to information and learn how to determine what’s true and what’s not. That’s an important part of what we do. There’s a lot of information but we always want to make sure we can validate it and make sure we understand what it’s all about. That and the other part is really work on your writing skills--your ability to tell a story in a way that people can appreciate it and understand all the little things about it so really focus on being a strong writer.

 

Max: You have a special news show for kids. Can you tell us about it? When and where can kids see the show? 

Lester: You can watch NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition on Thursdays at 4pm ET on YouTube and also on nbcnews.com/NightlyKids. All of our episodes are also posted here as well.

 

Max: Tell us about your favorite summer memory.

Lester:

 

Max: Thank you for your time.

Lester: You’re welcome. Thank you for the questions.