Edgar Zúñiga
Senior Producer, Telemundo News
@edgarzunigatv
Zúñiga grew up in the business as one of the few Latinx in the newsroom. Born to immigrant parents from Colombia, he grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. His passion for journalism was manifest early: He reported for his college newspaper at the University of Utah and then worked at a local network affiliate (KSL-TV). After getting turned down for an internship at the Salt Lake Tribune, he applied to an NAHJ fellowship on a moment’s whim—and then promptly forgot about it. It was, after all, the big leagues—an internship at NBC News. Then the call came: He was one of six recipients.
“In many ways I am indebted to this organization,” Zúñiga said, recalling that the important thing about the fellowship wasn’t the money; it opened doors and helped set him up for meetings with network executives. “Would I have gotten an internship without NAHJ? I supposed that’s likely. But, would I have met the people that I met, would I have the doors open that I did? I don’t think so.” The following year he was hired as a news associate at NBC News at Rockefeller Plaza.
A decade later, it’s paid off. He’s been with the conglomerate for a decade filling diversified roles, picking up two Emmys and traveling to Germany and Belgium as a prestigious Radio in the American Sector (RIAS) fellow. Inaugurated in 1992 after the end of the Cold War, the fellowship co-run by RDTNA and RIAS Berlin Kommission promotes understanding between the United States and Germany in the field of broadcasting.
He moved to Spanish-language Telemundo News in 2014, where he was recently promoted to senior producer. He decided to go into Spanish language out of a sense of responsibility to the Latinx community, “I took the job with Telemundo because in the end it seemed more promising … I really do feel very committed to the work that Spanish-language journalists do in the United States.”
One thing you wouldn’t know about Edgar:“I sing and play the piano or that I speak seven languages quite fluently. I was also an extra for in a few movies like “High School Musical 3” and “Gentlemen Broncos.”