Veronica Ortega is excited to be back in the Midwest! She came to 13 ON YOUR SIDE in April 2021 as an anchor/reporter. She became a journalist because of her passion for storytelling and to tell stories that matter in local communities.
Veronica is a Chicago native, the city not the suburbs. She grew up on the northwest side but that doesn’t make her a Cubs fan, she is a die-hard White Sox fan and proud of it. She attended DePaul University in Chicago where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and a Master of Arts degree in Journalism.
Veronica started her career as a multimedia journalist at the ABC affiliate in Lincoln, NE. There she won an AP award in writing for “Gigi’s story”. She also spent time reporting at WSBT in South Bend, IN. where she reported on the historic flood of 2018.
In December of 2018, Veronica became an anchor/reporter for 5NEWS in Fayetteville/Fort Smith, AR. She co-anchored the 4&5 newscasts Monday-Friday and reported every day. 5NEWS is a sister station of 13 on your side under the same parent company, Tegna.
Veronica is a dog mom! Her rescue dog Jingles is a very popular staple on her social media pages and has made many appearances on TV. Because of Jingles, Veronica is an advocate of animal adoption and fostering. Veronica and Jingles spend a lot of time together exploring new places and then coming home to binge watch their favorite shows on Netflix.
She is happy to be closer to her family in Chicago and excited to explore everything that western Michigan has to offer.
13 Questions with Veronica Ortega:
