José Díaz-Balart

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Díaz-Balart and the second or maternal family name is Caballero.

José Díaz-Balart Caballero (born November 7, 1960) is a Cuban-American journalist and television anchorman for Telemundo and NBC News.^[2] Diaz-Balart anchored weeknight editions of Noticias Telemundo until 2021. He currently anchors José Díaz-Balart Reports on MSNBC and Saturday editions of NBC Nightly News.

José Díaz-Balart
Diaz-Balart in 2015
Born	(1960-11-07) November 7, 1960 (age 64) Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S.[1]
Alma mater	New College of Florida
Occupations	television anchorman journalist
Employer(s)	NBCUniversal Comcast
Television	MSNBC Reports (anchor) NBC Nightly News (anchor) Noticiero Telemundo (anchor)
Spouse	Brenda
Children	2
Parent(s)	Rafael Diaz-Balart Hilda Caballero Brunet
Relatives	Lincoln Díaz-Balart (brother) Mario Díaz-Balart (brother) Mirta Díaz-Balart (aunt) Waldo Díaz-Balart (uncle) Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart (cousin)

Early life

Diaz-Balart's family left Cuba in 1959, and he was raised in Madrid, Spain.^[3] He is the son of Rafael Díaz-Balart y Gutiérrez (a former Cuban politician) and Hilda Caballero Brunet. He has three brothers: Rafael Díaz-Balart (a banker), Mario Díaz-Balart (a Republican U.S. representative) and the late Lincoln Díaz-Balart (also a Republican former U.S. representative). His uncle, Waldo Diaz-Balart was an internationally recognized painter. His aunt, Mirta Diaz-Balart, was Fidel Castro's first wife and therefore Fidel Castro is his uncle through marriage, and the late Fidel Castro Jr. (Fidelito) was his first cousin.^[4]

Career

After spending a brief time in radio, he worked in print journalism during the mid-1980s,^[5] for United Press International.^[6] In December 1984, he became the Central American Bureau Chief for what was then called the Spanish International Network (today known as Univision). In 1987, he was one of the group of journalists that founded Telemundo's news division Noticias Telemundo, and creating its first program Noticiero Telemundo-HBC. He subsequently established himself as a television news reporter in Miami, where he worked for WTVJ from 1988 until he was hired by CBS in May 1996.^[7] In August 1996, he made history by becoming the first Cuban-American to host a network news program when he began anchoring for the CBS News program This Morning.^[2]

By 2000, he returned to Spanish language network television; he became the anchor of a new Telemundo morning program called Esta Mañana.^[8] He later co-hosted Telemundo's first morning news and entertainment show, Esta Mañana, as well as its public affairs show, Cada Día.^{[citation needed]} 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. He has interviewed every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan.^[9] In 2003, he returned to English-language TV, and to his former station in Miami, WTVJ, as a news anchor.^[10] In 2009 he became the anchor of Telemundo's evening newscast, Noticias Telemundo.^[11]

2010–present: NBCUniversal

By 2010, he was doing some reporting for NBC. He again made history when he substituted for Contessa 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.^[12]

From 2014 to 2016, Diaz-Balart hosted the 10 a.m. news hour for MSNBC, replacing Chris Jansing.^[13] It was announced on November 10, 2014, that he would be taking over hosting duties on The Daily Rundown on November 17, 2014, with the program expanding to two hours, essentially absorbing his 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.^[14] 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.^[15]

On February 18, 2016, Diaz-Balart moderated the Democratic Town Hall with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[16] On June 26 and 27 of 2019, Diaz-Balart co-moderated the first Democratic Presidential Debates on NBC and Telemundo.^[17]

On September 7, 2021, it was announced he was stepping down as anchor of the weeknight editions of Noticias Telemundo to anchor a new 10 a.m. show called José Díaz-Balart Reports on MSNBC. He will continue to anchor Saturday editions of NBC Nightly News, and will continue to anchor breaking news and special events coverage for Telemundo and host monthly specials.^[18]

On February 24, 2025, it was announced that MSNBC would end José Díaz-Balart Reports. However, he will continue with NBC News as one of the weekend anchors.^[19]

Awards

Diaz-Balart is the recipient of five national Emmys for his work with Telemundo Network, including 2020-2021 Outstanding Newscast Anchor. He previously received two SunCoast Emmy awards while working at WTVJ-TV in Miami; an Associated Press Award and four Hispanic Excellence in Journalism Awards, all in the 1980s.^[2] He also received a Du Pont and Peabody. Media 100 has named him best news anchor three times, and Hispanic Business Magazine named him one of the "100 most influential people in the U.S." He was recognized with the Silver Circle Award by the National Academy of Television Sciences in 2010. In 2012, Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable presented him with the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hispanic Television at the 10th Annual Hispanic Television Summit, produced by Schramm Marketing Group. He was named GQ Magazine's Best International Journalist in 2017. ^[20] In 2022 Diaz-Balart received the TV Broadcast Journalist Award by the MultiCultural Media Correspondents Association in Washington DC.

Personal life

Diaz-Balart and his wife Brenda have two daughters, Katrina and Sabrina.^[4][21]