Michele LaFountain
Encyclopedia
Michele LaFountain is the first Puerto Rican
to become anchor of ESPN
's Spanish
version of SportsCenter
.
. She earned a Bachelor's degree
in English
and American Literature
at Harvard University
. She also received a Master's degree
in Mass Communication
s from Boston University
.
, the Telemundo
station in New York City
, and served as anchor for the nightly newscast "Noticiero 47" (News Center 47) and also as the host of "Deportes 47" (Sports 47), a weekly sports show. Michele was also the New York correspondent for "Titulares Telemundo," a national sports show. She received three Emmy Award
nominations for her work at Telemundo.
Michele returned to ESPN
in 2003, when she was named anchor together with Heriberto Murrieta, Fernando Palomo and Jorge Eduardo Sanchez to launch the Spanish version of ESPN SportsCenter on ESPN Deportes
. She also hosted an interview program created by ESPN called "Primera Plana" (Headliners), featuring exclusive chats with sports stars of the moment.
In 2008, LaFountain became a regular anchor on ESPNews
.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
to become anchor of ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
version of SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
.
Early years
Michele was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
. She earned a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in English
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
and American Literature
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. She also received a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Mass Communication
Mass communication
Mass communication is the term used to describe the academic study of the various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media to large segments of the population at the same time...
s from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
Career at ESPN
In 1997, Michele began her sports broadcasting career as a co-anchor for ESPN's SportsCenter International. In 2000, Michele joined WNJUWNJU
WNJU, channel 47, is the flagship station of the Spanish-language Telemundo television network, licensed to Linden, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State area television market. WNJU is owned by NBCUniversal, and is one-half of a duopoly with NBC network flagship WNBC-TV...
, the Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
station in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and served as anchor for the nightly newscast "Noticiero 47" (News Center 47) and also as the host of "Deportes 47" (Sports 47), a weekly sports show. Michele was also the New York correspondent for "Titulares Telemundo," a national sports show. She received three Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nominations for her work at Telemundo.
Michele returned to ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
in 2003, when she was named anchor together with Heriberto Murrieta, Fernando Palomo and Jorge Eduardo Sanchez to launch the Spanish version of ESPN SportsCenter on ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes
ESPN Deportes is a cable television and radio network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day to the Spanish-speaking community in the United States...
. She also hosted an interview program created by ESPN called "Primera Plana" (Headliners), featuring exclusive chats with sports stars of the moment.
In 2008, LaFountain became a regular anchor on ESPNews
ESPNEWS
ESPNEWS , launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel...
.
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- French immigration to Puerto RicoFrench immigration to Puerto RicoThe French immigration to Puerto Rico came about as a result of the economic and political situations which occurred in various places such as Louisiana , Saint-Domingue and in Europe....