sonya@kuam.com

Sonya Artero was born in Hagatna, Guam but was mainly raised in Southern California as a military dependent. Her parents are Josephine Artero and Mike McKeever. Sonya received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism from California State University Long Beach, California.

After graduation, Sonya worked as a News Reporter and Anchor for AAOCN, Around & About Orange County News. At the same time, she worked for former President, Richard Nixon at the Nixon Library as a Public Relations Coordinator.

Sonya Artero originally joined the KUAM News team in the spring of 1995 where she worked the cops & court beat in addition to Producing and Anchoring the “Weekend Edition” of the news. Now ten years later, Sonya has come home to Guam and the KUAM News Team in June of 2005 after covering the news for a total of seven years in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

During her stint in the CNMI, Sonya first worked as a Bureau Chief of Saipan Cable News. She later assumed a position with KMCV7 News where she wore many hats including News Director, Anchor, Producer and Reporter, where she produced and anchored the daily primetime newscast in addition to the weekend edition of “Week In Review.”

Living in the heart of the CNMI’s political arena, Sonya made the transition into government politics where she became Federal Policy Advisor and Press Secretary for the CNMI Governor. Learning that her true passion was for reporting the news, rather than making it, she moved back to Guam in the hopes of getting back into the media.

“My Mother always taught that if you set your mind on doing something, do it right the first time or don’t do it at all.” “This is why I put my heart and soul into everything I report. My goal as a broadcast journalist is to make a difference by getting to the heart of the issues that affect our island community as a whole who will then be empowered to make real changes.

Sonya says the best part of her job is starting each workday with a clean slate and having the unique opportunity of meeting new people and learning something every day, through each interview. No other job can top that.

In 2008, Sonya's work was also featured in the KUAM production "Survivors: In Their Own Words", which was named that year's outstanding regional documentary, winning the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio & Television News Directors Association.

You can see Sonya Artero weeknights on KUAM News Extra program at 6:30PM.