Three years ago, JD Conte was studying at Suffolk University, writing stories for his school paper.
Last month, Conte brought home his first Lone Star Emmy as a reporter at KLTV 7 in Tyler, Texas.
After a storm caused devastating damage to Tyler, Conte brought light to the impact and damage it had on local families. He then continued telling their story a year later to get their names on a flooding prevention repairs list.
Conte grew up in Wallingford, Connecticut, with family ties to East Boston, Massachusetts. Committing to Suffolk “felt natural,” and gave him his start in journalism.
While at Suffolk studying broadcast journalism and political science, Conte was the sports editor for The Suffolk Journal and a student reporter for NECN’s partnership segment, “Suffolk in the City.”
He also had a number of internships during his undergrad, including as a legislative intern for state representative Adrian Madaro and a control room intern for Delaware North, the organization that owns the Boston Bruins’ and Celtics’ home venue, TD Garden.
Upon graduation, Conte described his decision to leave Boston as one fueled by the fear he would get stuck without job prospects in the city like some of his peers.
With a few offers after graduation, Conte had to make a decision where his future was going to take him. That decision ended with Conte and his father on a one-way ticket to Texas with an entry-level reporting job and a dream.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” said Conte. “I came down here with absolutely nothing. Me and my dad got on a plane, and I shipped some of my belongings down, like my PlayStation and my clothes. It took every dollar I had.”
Not only was it Conte’s first professional job in the industry, but it was a total adjustment in the setting of an unfamiliar newsroom, city and state.
“The first year of not really knowing anyone, it was really hard. It got to a point where there was one night where I just said to my dad, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ And my dad ended up just saying, ‘All right, why don’t you try to go to a church around there,’” said Conte. “I said, ‘Fine whatever’ and I ended up tumbling into the church I go to now.”
Conte credits the positive shift in his career to this moment and the life and talent he has to his relationship with God.
Despite the rough days and nights in the newsroom and the difficult transition to a new part of the country, Conte describes it as “the best thing [he] ever did.”
Conte spent his first couple of years at Suffolk undecided on what field of journalism he wanted to pursue. With a love of sports and an interest in news, he had options for where he would go after graduation.
“I knew that I just wanted to be in journalism and then as I got to the senior year level, I realized I wanted to be in hard news,” said Conte.
In Tyler, Texas, that was exactly what Conte was waking up every morning to do.
His Emmy-winning story, along with the help of the rest of the KLTV 7 newsroom, focused on housing damage from a storm. Conte talked to residents whose homes had been damaged or destroyed and was given confirmation from the city that these individuals would be added to a project list for flood prevention repairs.
Conte recalled that close to a year later, the list was released and the names he was promised were nowhere to be seen. The individuals he had previously talked with, called Conte, which sparked his own investigation with the city.
After a follow-up story, the list was amended a couple of weeks later and those impacted by the storm had their names on the project scheduled to be completed next year.
“It’s these real stories that are impacting real people’s lives. And it’s scary, the future of journalism, to be honest, because we don’t know where it’s gonna be with corporate media and AI and everything, but those are the stories that I love doing,” said Conte.
The story’s reporting and impact landed the KLTV 7 news team a nomination in the Evening Newscast – Smaller Markets (61+) category alongside five other credible stations.
Walking into the award ceremony venue in Dallas in November, Conte felt out of place alongside suits and ties in a professional award ceremony. Though he may not have felt like he belonged, he won an award that proved he did.
“It’s honestly the honor of a lifetime. I was not expecting to win when we got called,” said Conte. “I went berserk because I did not expect it at all. And to be in the company of such fantastic journalists who do such incredible work across the state is just the honor of a lifetime and I owe all of it to God above, who was giving me such an incredible talent that I never deserved.”
Looking back at how his life has evolved since the start of his career, his biggest piece of advice for those looking to get into the industry is to be comfortable talking to people and be memorable.
“You have to be a people person, you can be a great shooter, you can have a great voice, but [you have to] deal with people on a day-to-day basis in the good and bad,” said Conte. “You have to treat people all the same way and not be influenced by who they are. You have to treat them all the same way, we’re all created by the same person.”
Being a journalist takes more than just experience, but a passion, according to Conte.
“You can have a four-year degree and not need anything if you are not willing to open your heart to people and they’re not willing to open their heart to you,” said Conte.
With such success coming only three years into his career, only time will tell what Conte’s next steps and next great story will be.
“The transformation that I’ve gone through, not only professionally but personally, in the last two years is just nothing short of an awesome work of God,” said Conte. “I’m just so thankful to him and everyone in my life that has got me to this point, whether it be [at] Suffolk or down here in Texas. I love the city, I love my people and I miss my family a lot but the work that I do every day, at work and beyond, is just the most fulfilling thing that I have ever done.”
