AILA Presents Telemundo’s José Díaz-Balart with the 2012 Media Leadership Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 14, 2012
George Tzamaras or Belle Woods
202-507-7649 - 202-507-7675
gtzamaras@aila.org - bwoods@aila.org

NASHVILLE, TN - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) will award José Díaz-Balart, a journalist and anchor for Telemundo, with the 2012 Media Leadership Award in recognition of the individual whose efforts in the media most accurately depict immigration and immigrants. Mr. Díaz-Balart will receive the award today during AILA's Annual Conference in Nashville, TN.

An award-winning journalist, Mr. Díaz-Balart anchors "Noticiero Telemundo." The first journalist to anchor both a daily Spanish and English-language newscast in the United States, Mr. Díaz-Balart also serves as the network's national director of Public Affairs as well as host and managing editor of "Enfoque," the network's public affairs program. Enfoque examines critical issues of the day including the economy, healthcare, education and the pending immigration reform.

Mr. Díaz-Balart is a veteran of international news broadcasts, having served as Washington bureau chief for Telemundo Network, and prior to that as its European bureau chief in Madrid, Spain. Previously, he was the Central American bureau chief and war correspondent for Spanish International Network - now Univision - based in San Salvador, El Salvador. Before joining Telemundo, Mr. Díaz-Balart was co-anchor for "CBS This Morning" and Anchor for "Against the Law," a daily prime time series on the CBS "Eye On People" cable channel. He was also part of the small group of visionaries who helped found Telemundo Network in 1987.

Named by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the most influential Hispanics in the United States, the veteran journalist has earned two Emmy Awards, a George Foster Peabody Award and an Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award among other honors. He graduated from New College in Sarasota, Florida and studied at the University of Cambridge, in England.

###

The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.