José Díaz-Balart is a Cuban-Americanjournalist and television anchorman. He is currently the anchor for Noticias Telemundo, the Telemundo network's early evening Spanish-language news program, as well as the network's public affairs Sunday morning program Enfoque con Jose Diaz-Balart. He is also anchor of NBC Nightly News on Saturdays.
Biography
Diaz-Balart's family left Cuba in 1959, and he was raised in Madrid, Spain. After spending a brief time in radio, he worked in print journalism during the mid-1980s, as the Central AmericanBureau Chief for what was then called the Spanish International Network, and as a print journalist for United Press International. He subsequently established himself as a television news reporter in Miami, where he worked for WTVJ from 1988 till he was hired by CBS in May 1996. In August 1996, Diaz-Balart made history by becoming the first Cuban-American to host a network news program when he began anchoring for the CBS News programThis Morning. By 2000, he was no longer at CBS; he became the anchor of a new Telemundo morning program called Buenos Dias. He later co-hosted Telemundo Network's first morning news and entertainment show, Esta Mañana, as well as its public affairs show, Cada Día. By 2002, the bilingual anchor began hosting a once-a-month interview program on Telemundo, Enfoque con José Diaz-Balart; on that program, he has interviewed a wide range of news-makers, including political leaders and candidates for president. In 2003, he returned to English-language TV, and to his former station in Miami, WTVJ, as a news anchor. By 2010, he was doing some reporting for NBC. And in 2011, he sometimes filled in for then-MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer in the 12 p.m. time slot, hosting a one-hour program MSNBC Live. In September 2015, he was given his own one-hour daytime news program on MSNBC. Diaz-Balart is the recipient of a national Emmy for his work with Telemundo Network. Díaz-Balart received two Emmy awards while working at WTVJ-TV in Miami; an Associated Press Award and four Hispanic Excellence in Journalism Awards, all in the 1980s. He also received a Du Pont and Peabody as well as the Orchid award for best news anchor in the U.S. in 2006. Media 100 has named him best anchor three times, and Hispanic Business Magazine named him one of the "100 most influential people in the U.S." He was given the Silver Circle Award by the National Academy of Television Sciences in 2010. In 2012, Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable presented Díaz-Balart with the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hispanic Television at the 10th Annual Hispanic Television Summit, produced by Schramm Marketing Group. Diaz-Balart made history when he substituted for Brewer on MSNBC Live for the week of June 20 through 24, 2011, in the show's 12 PM time slot, making him the first U.S. journalist to broadcast both English and Spanish newscasts on two networks simultaneously. On May 20, 2014, MSNBC announced that Diaz-Balart would begin hosting the 10 AM news hour beginning in mid-June. He replaced Chris Jansing, the newly named NBC News Senior White House Correspondent. It was announced on November 10, 2014, that Diaz-Balart would be taking over hosting duties on The Daily Rundown on November 17, 2014, with the program expanding to two hours, essentially absorbing Diaz-Balart's eponymous show that had previously aired during the second hour. The Daily Rundown later became known as MSNBC Live with Jose Diaz-Balart as part of a wider restructuring of MSNBC's dayside programming in 2015. In late 2015, he also began working as a fill-in anchor for the Saturday edition of NBC Nightly News. He was officially named host of that program in July 2016, and he continues in that position today.
