John Quiñones Named Gold Circle Inductee by National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

It’s the golden hour for John Quiñones…

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will celebrate its 2023 Gold and Silver Circle Inductees at the 44th Annual News & Documentary Awards on September 27-28 in New York, with the 71-year-old Mexican-American broadcast journalist and news correspondent among the honorees.

The Gold and Silver Circle is a society of honor. Inductees are professionals who have performed distinguished service within the television industry, setting standards for achievement, mentoring, leadership and professional accolades for 50 or 25 years.

Quiñones, an ABC News correspondent who hosts What Would You Do?, is among the Gold Circle inductees, alongside David Martin of CBS News and journalist Dan Rather.

Active in the industry since 1975, Quiñones is a seven-time Emmy Award winner, a George Foster Peabody Award winner and a recipient of the National Hispanic Media Coalition‘s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Meanwhile, Otto Padron has been named a Silver Circle inductee.

Padron is the president & CEO of Meruelo Media, one of the fastest growing minority-owned media companies in California. Padron’s mass media experience, leadership skills and vision were key in the reorganization and expansion of Meruelo Media in 2012. Today, Meruelo Media stands as one of the most diverse media companies in the Nation with four key broadcast properties in Los Angeles.

Before joining the Meruelo Media team, Padron was the Senior Vice President of Programming for Univision Television Network, the leading Spanish language network in the U.S. He is the only executive to have successfully headed programming for both major US Spanish language networks, Univision and Telemundo.

Other Silver Circle inductees are Steve Fastook, Senior Vice President of Operations, CNBC; Kim Godwin, President, ABC News; Rand Morrison, Executive Producer, CBS News Sunday Morning, CBS News; Steve Osunsami, Senior National Correspondent, ABC News; and Thomas Snowden, Editor, NBC News.

Gold Circle Documentary Inductees are Jon Alpert, Documentarian, Journalist, Co-Founder of DCTV, and Keiko Tsuno, Documentarian, Journalist, Co-Founder of DCTV.

Silver Circle Documentary Inductees are Daniel H. Birman, Documentarian, Birman Productions; Lois Vossen, Executive Producer, ITVS; and Christopher White, Executive Producer, American Documentary.

“This year’s Gold & Silver honorees are recognized for their phenomenal and continuing contributions to our television industry,” said Adam Sharp, President and CEO, NATAS. “Their persistent excellence of craft has enabled viewers to be better informed about the issues of the day, even as the character of the news cycle has evolved so markedly over the storied course of their careers. We celebrate the courage of these professionals and salute the vital storytelling they bring to our screens.”

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez Files Paperwork to Run for President

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Francis Suarez appears to be making a major political move…

The 45-year-old Cuban American lawyer and politician, currently serving as the mayor of Miami, has filed paperwork to run for president, according to new FEC filings, in what’s considered a long-shot campaign.

Suarez is scheduled to speak on Thursday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

During an appearance on Fox News over the weekend, the mayor said he would make a “major announcement” in the coming weeks and pointed to his remarks at the Reagan Library as “one that Americans should tune in to.”

Suarez is currently in his second term as mayor of Miami, Florida’s second-most populous city. Until recently, he also served as the president of the bipartisan US Conference of Mayors.

Ahead of his filing, a super PAC supporting Suarez on Wednesday released a two-minute video touting his leadership of the Florida city as he teased a long-shot bid for the White House.

“Conservative mayor Francis Suarez chose a better path for Miami,” the video’s narrator says, highlighting his approach to crime and support for law enforcement.

The first major Hispanic candidate to enter the Republican race, Suarez starts off as a decided underdog in the primary, with former President Donald Trump, a resident of nearby Palm Beach, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis towering over the field in polling. The primary also includes former Vice President Mike Pence, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Trump’s recent federal indictment over his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office has also roiled the Republican contest. The former president remains popular with the party base, and candidates have been split in their reactions to the indictment.

Suarez, who has previously been critical of Trump, told Fox News on Sunday that the news of the former president’s first federal indictment felt “un-American” and “wrong at some level.”

In an interview with CBS News last month, Suarez said deciding on a presidential bid was a “soul-searching process.” He also nodded to his lack of national name recognition, saying, “I’m someone who needs to be better known by this country.”

Suarez’s late entry into the GOP primary, relative to other rivals, could affect his chances of qualifying for the first Republican primary debate, scheduled to take place in Milwaukee on August 23.

The Republican National Committee has laid out strict polling and donor thresholds that candidates must meet to make the stage.

Lilia Luciano Named LA-Based CBS News Correspondent

Posted on May 30, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Lilia Luciano is ready for full-time work…

The 36-year-old Puerto Rican investigative reporter and documentary filmmaker has been named a correspondent for CBS News based in Los Angeles.

Luciano joined the network in March, 2020 as a freelance correspondent, and has covered major stories on the West Coast including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, immigration issues at the border and wildfires in Oregon and California.

Luciano previously was an investigative reporter at the ABC affiliate in Sacramento from 2016 to 2019. She also was the chief investigative correspondent for Discovery Channel’s Border Live, and worked as a host and contributor on various platforms for Vice. She also was a correspondent for NBC News, reporting across the network platforms in English and Spanish.

She directed and produced Wars of Others, an HBO Latino documentary about the War on Drugs and the consequences for Colombian farmers. She won a Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2018 for a series on Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for her coverage of the California wildfires.

She was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and is fluent in Spanish, English and Portuguese. She graduated from the University of Miami with degrees in economics and broadcast journalism.

Maria Elena Salinas Joins CBS News as a Contributor

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Maria Elena Salinas is headed to The Eye Network…

The 64-year-old Mexican American journalist, a longtime former Univision anchor, is joining CBS News as a contributor.

Susan Zirinsky,CBS News President and senior executive producer, said Salinas will deliver reports for multiple broadcasts and platforms and will be a frequent presence in 2020 election coverage.

Salinas, called the “Voice of Hispanic America” by The New York Times, is best known for co-anchoring Univision’s flagship evening news program for more than 30 years.

She has interviewed world leaders and covered a wide range of national and international events, netting multiple Emmys, a Peabody Awardand many others over the years.

Since leaving Univision in 2017, she has hosted The Real Story with Maria Elena Salinas on Investigation Discoveryand covered the 2018 presidential election in Mexico for Telemundo.

“It is an honor to welcome Maria Elena Salinas to the CBS News team,” said Zirinsky. “We look forward to sharing her important voice and journalistic credentials with our audience in a critical time for this country.”

In 2016, Salinas reported for CBS Sunday Morningon the role Hispanics would play in that year’s election.

From 2001 to 2011, Salinas wrote a weekly syndicated column in both English and Spanish. She’s also the author of the 2006 autobiography, I Am My Father’s Daughter, Living a Life Without Secrets.

Salinas began her journalism career in 1981 as a reporter, anchor and public affairs host for KMEX-TV, Univision’s LA affiliate.

Diaz to Serve as CBS News Correspondent in Chicago

Posted on March 14, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Adriana Diaz is headed to back to the States…

The Dominican-American television journalist, who has been a Beijing-based correspondent for CBS News, will be relocating back to the US.

Diaz, a former Miss New York Teen USA, will be a CBS News Correspondent based in Chicago.

Before her stint overseas, Diaz reported for CBS News from the network’s Chicago bureau and has worked for CBS News as a digital journalist in the network’s New York City headquarters.

Prior to that, she worked for Channel One News, a youth-oriented news program.

Quijano Named Anchor of CBS Weekend News

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Elaine Quijano’s weekends have filled up…

The Latina television journalist will anchor CBS News’ evening newscasts, which are being rebranded as CBS Weekend News starting this weekend.

Jim Axelrod, who has anchored the Saturday edition since 2012, and Jeff Glor, who has anchored Sundays, “remain in important roles in the organization,” CBS News said. Axelrod continues as senior national correspondent and Glor as national correspondent and 60 Minutes Sports contributor.

Quijano and Nina also anchor for CBSN, the news operation’s 24/7 digital news service, and the changes to the weekend broadcasts reflect those franchise’s closer ties to the streaming news service going forward. The broadcast network’s weekend newscasts routinely suffer frequent pre-emption and special-out-ings, owing to sports and other considerations. This season to date, the Saturday edition has aired in pattern – in time slot and at full length – just 11 times in 31 weeks, the Sunday edition has aired in pattern just four times.

Quijano, who will anchor Saturdays, joined CBS News in 2010 and has covered the Boston Marathon bombings, Superstorm Sandy and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Quijano was also part of the CBS News team that received an Alfred I. duPont Award for the network’s coverage of the 2012 Newtown shootings.

In 2011, Quijano revealed in a report that the White House did not send presidential condolence letters to the families of service members who committed suicide, after which broadcast President Barack Obama reversed that policy. Prior to joining CBS News, Quijano worked for CNN since 2006, most recently as a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent, covering the Pentagon, White House and Supreme Court.

Rocca’s CBS News Role Expanding…

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Tom Castaneda

Mo Rocco is taking on a larger role at CBS News…

The 42-year-old half-Colombian comedian, writer and political satirist has been named a correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning and the network’s other news programs, CBS News has announced.

Rocca—known for his satirical news reports and commentary— has served as a contributor for the news and entertainment program since 2006. But he’ll now be reporting for other CBS News broadcasts as well as continue reporting for CBS Sunday Morning.

“His title is correspondent, but we see Mo, as we see all our Sunday Morning contributors, as a ‘columnist,’ bringing his own unique – and it is unique – perspective to everything he does,” says CBS Sunday Morning executive producer Rand Morrison.

The former The Daily Show with Jon Stewart regular’s work includes commentaries on politics and pop culture, cover stories, features and profiles.

“I loved doing television field pieces and I’ve done a lot of them,” has previously stated Rocca about his reporting. “If you combine The Daily Show with The Tonight Show with my gig on Sunday Morning, I see them all as part of one continuum in a way. Three- to six-minute stories with my point of view… and participating in one degree or another in the story … I love doing that.”

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