Natalia Andrea (born August 18, 1976 in Barranquilla, Colombia) is a Colombian journalist and news anchor in the United States, three time Emmy Award winner, news anchor for "Mega News" on Mega TV and "TV Realtor" at Real Estate TV show "Esta Es Tu Casa" on Mega TV network, previously affiliated to

Univision Network Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

, and the show

Primer Impacto ''Primer Impacto'' (''First Impact'') is a Spanish-language television news program broadcast by Univision weekdays at 5pm ET//4pm CT. A later program at 11pm ET/PT (''Primer Impacto Extra'') airs on Univision affiliates without a local news dep ...

Biography

Born to journalist parents, Natalia Andrea always had a passion for written works. In her youth she competed in writing contests. She won speech and poetry competitions as well as literature prizes. Natalia attended

Universidad del Norte A private, non-affiliated institution, the University of the North ( es, Universidad del Norte), also nicknamed Uninorte, is the main academic center for higher education in northern Colombia. It is located in Barranquilla, Atlántico, the large ...

, in Barranquilla, Colombia where she majored in social communications and

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

. While studying, she worked in news radio on ''"Emisora Atlantico"'', Cruz began her broadcasting career at 17 as

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

for the

newscast News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or telev ...

''"CV Noticias"'' on the regional television station

Telecaribe Telecaribe is a regional television network for the Caribbean region of Colombia. History The station was set up in the early 1980s in Valledupar, Colombia and was created by a local entrepreneur named Jose Jorge Dangond. It started as an unli ...

. Manuel Teodoro gave Natalia her first exposure on national Colombian TV, as

and reporter on the

TV Magazine ''TV Magazine'' is a weekly French television listings magazine owned by Groupe Figaro. History and profile ''TV Magazine'' was started in 1987. The magazine had been published by Hachette Filipacchi until 2001 when it began to be published Q ...

''"Extra"'' on

Caracol Television Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District, of Belize. It is situated approximately south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Platea ...

. In early 2000, Natalia moved to New York and worked for

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in th ...

Public TV on HITN (

Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network, Inc. (HITN) is the largest Spanish-language public broadcasting network in the United States. It delivers educational programming to over 44 million homes nationwide, and reaches over 40% of ...

), where she also produced the shows ''"Corriente Cultural"'' and ''"NotiCultura"''. Later that year, she started as the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

reporter for the daily morning show ''"

Despierta America "Despierta" (English: ''Wake Up'') was the first single from Edurne's debut album, ''Edurne Edurne García Almagro (; born 22 December 1985) is a Spanish singer, actress, and television presenter. She rose to fame in late 2005 when she too ...

"'', on

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

, and did live shots for the longest-running variety TV show in the world, ''"

Sabado Gigante Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the planet Saturn, which controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. The day's na ...

"''. In 2001, Natalia was hired by the New York

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...

affiliate

WNJU WNJU (channel 47) is a television station licensed to Linden, New Jersey, United States, broadcasting Telemundo programming to the New York City area. It is one of two flagship stations of the Spanish-language network (the other being WSCV i ...

as a reporter for ''Noticiero 47''. With only one month on the job, she covered the WTC terrorist attacks, being one of the first reporters on the scene at

Ground Zero In relation to nuclear explosions and other large bombs, ground zero (also called surface zero) is the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. In the case of an explosion above the ground, ''ground zero'' is the point on the groun ...

. Her work was noted in the book, "Running Toward Danger: Stories Behind the Breaking News of September 11", and she was featured on the 9/11 Tenth year exhibit on the

Newseum The Newseum was an American museum dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication. The purpose of the museum, funded by the ...

on Washington D.C. After just 18 months working as a morning reporter, Cruz became

, now part of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, and received the 2004 Emmy Award as Best News Anchor for Tri-State area ( NY, NJ, and CT). She was nominated the following year for five awards, winning another Emmy Award, this time for Best Newscast in 2005. Additionally, Natalia won the

ACE Award The CableACE Award (earlier known as the ACE Awards; ACE was an acronym for "Award for Cable Excellence") is a defunct award that was given by what was then the National Cable Television Association from 1978 to 1997 to honor excellence in Ame ...

as Best News Anchor in 2005. 2006 saw Cruz win her third Emmy Award for Best Series of Social Interest. Natalia then started as New York correspondent for ''"En Vivo y Directo"'', on TeleFutura. Only two months later, she was brought to ''"

"'' on

. She won the ''NY Latin Award'' for Best National

Correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

in 2008. Natalia transferred to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

in 2010 and has continued as a correspondent. Cruz often sits in as news anchor for shows at

, such as ''"

"'', ''"

Despierta América "Despierta" (English: ''Wake Up'') was the first single from Edurne's debut album, ''Edurne Edurne García Almagro (; born 22 December 1985) is a Spanish singer, actress, and television presenter. She rose to fame in late 2005 when she too ...

"'', ''"

Al Punto ''Al Punto'' (, ''To the Point'') is a Sunday morning talk show hosted by ''Noticiero Univision'' anchor Jorge Ramos on the Univision network. Until 2012, when ''Enfoque'' premiered on Telemundo, it was the only show of its type in the United Sta ...

"'' and ''"Desayuno Alegre"''. She also briefs on ''"

Noticiero Univision ''Noticiero Univision'' (; ) is the flagship daily evening television news program of Noticias Univision, the news division of the American Spanish language broadcast television network Univision. First aired in 1981 for Spanish International Net ...

"''. and ''"Noticias Al Minuto"'' on TeleFutura. In July 2011, Cruz was promoted to Anchor for ''Primer Impacto Extra'', broadcast on the weekends at 5pm / 4pm center; replacing Weekend Anchor

Satcha Pretto Satcha Pretto (born April 5, 1980) is a Honduran journalist and news co-anchor of the Univision Network's popular morning show ''Despierta America''. Early life Pretto was born in La Paz, Honduras, the daughter of Honduran Liz Padilla and Panaman ...

who left the program to become the new News Anchor for

instead of Neida Sandoval. In 2012, Natalia hosted "Es el momento" Special ''"Primeros pasos hacia el éxito"'', Highlighting the Importance of Early Childhood Education; recorded at

The White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 180 ...

featured artist

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is n ...

and U.S.

Secretary of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

Arne Duncan among other experts. In March 2013 she conducted from the studios, Univision's first time ever live broadcast of Easter Mass from

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

celebrated by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

. In July 2016, she was appointed anchor for the TV show "Lo Mejor de Primer Impacto", Sundays at 5 pm / 4 pm Center on

. She continued at

until May 2018, after 12 years with the network. Starting in December 2018 is the news anchor for “Mega News- Edición de la Tarde” at 5:30pm (EST) / 2:30pm (PST) on Mega TV in addition to host and executive producer of the Hispanic Real Estate TV show "Esta Es Tu Casa" on weekends at Mega TV. The schedule for MegaNews with Natalia Cruz was expanded to an hour, starting at 5 pm (EST) / 2 pm (PST) since April 29, 2019.

Career

;

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

;

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

Awards

* "''Latino Show Awards"'' for her career trajectory on journalism. Medellin, Colombia, October 25th, 2017. * Award "''Premio Estrellas Digitales"'' as News anchor Influencer of the year 2017. Coral Gables, June 9, 2017. * Award "''Angel de Impacto 2016"'' on Pasarela Angels of the Happy Family Foundation. Miami, October 1st 2016. * Award "''Mujer de Inspiración 2016"'' by 'Perla de Esperanza' Foundation. June 2016. * Acknowledgment by ''"Latino Show Magazine"'' for her outstanding career and work with the Latino community in the United States, and for her 10 years of leadership with the TV show ‘Primer Impacto’. April 2016. * Jury at "Premio Águila" 2015, 2016 & 2017, first and only international award for Hispanic media on the Christian industry. * Award "''Congo de Oro"'' by Carnaval de Barranquilla Internacional to Best Report 2015, given at Calle 8 Festival in

on March 13th, 2016. * "''National Godmother"'' at the Colombian Parade of New York in July 2015. * ''"Premio Colombia 2013"'' The Maximum award for Colombians abroad, because of their personal values and services to the international community. Miami (Nov 23rd, 2013) * ''"Guest of honor"'' at the

Bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe *French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...

of Barranquilla by the Major Office of Barranquilla City. 2013 * One of the 13 ''"Top Real Women in Fashion 2012"'' * One of the 19 ''"Most fashionable people of 2011"'' in Miami * Featured on the ''9/11 Tenth year exhibit'' on the

on Washington D.C. 2011 * ''New York Latin Award'' 2008 as best national TV reporter. * Emmy Award 2006 from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, for her special investigation “Lead on Kids Jewelry” on the category series of social interest. * ''

'' 2005 from the

Association of Latin Entertainment Critics The Association of Latin Entertainment Critics (Asociación de Cronistas de Espectáculos de Nueva York, in Spanish) is a nonprofit cultural organization founded on December 12, 1967. The organization has bestowed the Latin ACE Awards (Premios ACE ...

as best TV Host. * Emmy Award winner for Best Newscast in 2005. * 5 Nominations to Emmy Award 2005 including one as second consecutive year as best News Anchor/Host, Best Political Segment, Best Special Coverage, and two for best Newscast. * Emmy Award 2004 from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as best News Anchor/Host. * Emmy Award nominee for Best Newscast in 2004. * ''"Nemqueteba" Prize'' 2004 by ''Colombians Breaking Barriers'', on the Symposium “Promoting the development of the Latin Community” in recognition for her work in favor of the improvement of the Hispanic community in United States of America. * ''Honor of Merit'' 2004 by ''Colombian Civic Center'', in recognition for her dedication and support to the Hispanic community. * ''Latino Community Leadership Award'' 2004 by Bergen Community College. * Nomination to ''

'' 2003 by

as best News Anchor / Host. * Nomination to ''

'' 2002 by

as best News Reporter. * ''Honor of Merit'' 2001 by ''NJ Hispanic-American Parade'' for her covering on

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. * Volunteer promoter of ONG's campaigns such as

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

World Vision In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and

Children International Children International is a global nonprofit humanitarian organization that helps children break the cycle of poverty. It addresses children’s critical needs through early intervention and regular interaction in community centers. The goal is ...

. * Several times ''Godmother'' of Latin festivals, including: NY Colombian Independence Festival, NY Colombian Parade, Hispanic Parade of New York, Hispanic Parade of New Jersey, Hispanic Parade of Bayonne, NY Puerto Rican Parade, NY Dominican Parade, Cali Fair of Elizabeth. * Master of ceremonies for events and community forums in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Washington DC

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Natalia 1976 births Living people Colombian television presenters Colombian women television presenters Colombian television journalists Colombian women journalists Colombian women television journalists Colombian reporters and correspondents Colombian expatriates in the United States People from Barranquilla 20th-century Colombian businesspeople 20th-century Colombian actresses 21st-century Colombian actresses