Anchors
Laura Diaz
One of the leading Hispanic television journalists in the nation, Laura Diaz has co-anchored CBS 2 News at 5PM and 11PM since 2002. She is thrilled to be part of the team that helped transform CBS 2 into the ratings leader in Southern California.
A true local success story, Ms. Diaz is a Southern California native and first generation Mexican American. She has forged a strong bond with the Southland's Latino community. Ms. Diaz was born in Santa Paula, California where her parents labored in the fields. When Laura was four years old her family moved off the farm workers camp to Santa Clarita in northern L.A. County where she was raised. She graduated from William S. Hart High School in Santa Clarita and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
She is an eight-time Emmy Award winner, including an Emmy in 2006 for Individual Achievement in Feature Reporting. Ms. Diaz also won back-to-back Golden Mike Awards in 2005 and 2006 for best feature reporting. In June 2005, she landed the first in depth television interview with incoming Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. That story earned her a national Imagen Award in 2006.
After brief reporting stints in San Luis Obispo and Fresno fresh out of college, Laura returned home to Southern California. She has worked here ever since, becoming a full time anchor at KABC-TV in 1989.
In 1997, she became part of Los Angeles television history when she was appointed lead female anchor for the station's centerpiece 5PM and 11PM newscasts. That promotion made her the first Hispanic to ever hold that prestigious position at a Southland TV station. While at KABC-TV, Laura covered many historic and compelling stories, including the Northridge earthquake and the Los Angeles riots, where she and her camera crew were threatened at gunpoint.
Since jumping to KCBS, Ms. Diaz continues to fulfill her passion for story telling, as a field reporter and producer in addition to her anchor duties. Her story about Billy Queen, a federal agent who went undercover to bust up a murderous motorcycle gang, was awarded an Emmy and a Golden Mike. She also confronted an angry gang member for a story on "Emotional Gangs," a new kind of street gang that spreads hate between African Americans and Latinos in Los Angeles.
Her travels for CBS 2 have taken her from the hallowed Ground Zero site in New York, to the dangerous Mexican border town of Sasabe for a story on illegal immigration. She has also traveled to Ironwood State Men's Prison in Blythe, California for an exclusive report on prison overcrowding, and to San Francisco to interview superstar musician Carlos Santana.
In 2003, Ms. Diaz received the L.A. Press Club's highest honor, the "Joseph M. Quinn Award" for journalistic excellence and distinction. It represents a milestone in her career.
Ms. Diaz sits on the advisory board of trustees of "The Joyful Child Foundation." The foundation was started by children's advocate Erin Runnion. Laura's commitment to this cause grew from her extensive coverage of the murder of Erin's daughter, Samantha, by a sexual predator in 2002. The foundation works to organize neighborhood watches around the country and keep child predators off the streets.
In her spare time, Laura enjoys running, weight training, rooting for the Angels baseball team and spending time with her large extended family.
