Lawrence David Mendte (born January 16, 1957) is an American news anchor, commentator and radio talk show host.
Until a few years ago, Mendte wrote and delivered nightly commentaries at WPIX in New York City that were aired at TV stations across the country.
He continued writing and delivering the commentaries on Another Thing with Larry Mendte, which airs in the New York and Philadelphia TV markets.
After giving a commencement address in 2006, Mendte was awarded the President's Medal for Service in recognition of his community work.
Mendte won a record 27 Emmy Awards in Chicago and was twice named Best reporter by the Illinois Associated Press.
He anchored the news at WCMH in Columbus, Ohio, WLYH in Lebanon, Pennsylvania (where he also did the sportscast), WTAJ in Altoona and KIEM in Eureka, California.
In February 2010 Mendte returned to television with a nightly commentary on current events, originating from Tribune Broadcasting's WPIX in New York.
[10] This segment is also seen on WPHL-TV's 10 pm newscast (which, until September 2012, was produced by NBC's WCAU, a former employer of Mendte), WGN-TV in Chicago and several other Tribune and Local TV-owned stations across the country.
[11] In June 2010, Mendte aired the first of several commentaries urging Congress to pass the "9/11 First Responders Health and Compensation Bill".
In October 2012, Mendte co-anchored with Kaity Tong the day that Hurricane Sandy pounded the New York City area.
In April 2013, Mendte solo anchored the coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing and then co-anchored 12 hours straight with Tamsen Fadal as Boston Police killed one of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in a shootout, and later captured his brother and second suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
In April 2011 Mendte was the only journalist to travel with former Congressman Curt Weldon on a peace mission to end the conflict in Libya.
But Weldon did return with direct communication between the Iraqi Prime Minister to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the promise that four detained journalists would be freed.
[22] Mendte occasionally writes for the print version of the magazine including a feature article on his life after he was let go by KYW.
[24] Mendte started with the station as co-host of the morning drive from 5 am to 9 am with radio veteran Al Gardner, who is originally from Philadelphia and anchored the same format at WBT in Charlotte, N.C.[25] Mendte provided commentary on news events in a format that is a mixture of talk and news.
On the new show, Mendte broke the national story of the high school student who was bullied for wearing a Romney/Ryan T-shirt to class.
[33] Mendte also serves as the public affairs director for WJLP, WDPN-TV's sister station in the New York market licensed to Middletown Township, New Jersey which also was a move-in operation.
In 2016, Mendte won three more Emmy Awards, this time for WJLP in the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).
After helping change the format from news to talk and increasing the morning ratings, Mendte returned to WABC in New York in October 2016.
Mendte received acclaim for a series of reports he did on the eternal flame, a tribute to American veterans, in Philadelphia's historic Washington Square.
He received a national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2008 for a report he wrote and produced about a soldier from Delaware, Stephen McGowan, who died in Iraq.
Mendte also won the national Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists in Washington D.C. for the documentary.
[44] On November 24, 2008, Mendte received a sentence of 3 years probation (later reduced), including 6 months home confinement and 150 hours of community service.
The filing accuses then-U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan of changing the deal so he could hold a news conference to launch his political career.
Mendte appeared in three movies in cameo roles: Primary Colors, Shadow of Doubt, and Snipes, the latter of which starred Zoe Saldana.