David Diaz

Professor Diaz is a veteran TV correspondent and anchor who has covered major news and produced and written features and breaking stories at both WCBS TV and WNBC TV. He has been a fixture in New York television news since 1978, when he joined WNBC-TV as a reporter and anchor. In 1993, he moved to WCBS-TV, where he was a senior correspondent and anchor. During his career he frequently covered city government including Mayors Ed Koch, David Dinkins, Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, as well as scores of election campaigns and public policy battles. Major national stories he has covered include the events on 9/11 (World Trade Center terrorist attack), the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, the 2000 Presidential election recount and the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Before becoming a television reporter, he spent five years on the Brooklyn College faculty (1970 – 1975) teaching an introductory class in social sciences and serving as Director of Field Studies for the School of Contemporary Studies. He also served as administrator of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center from 1975 to 1976. Earlier, he was city editor for Community New Services, where he helped train minority journalists. He began his career in 1967 as an urban affairs reporter with the Louisville Times (Ky.).

During his career, Professor Diaz received five Emmy Awards, two Sigma Delta Chi Awards and an Associated Press Award. In addition, he received the President’s Medal from Brooklyn College 1987 and the Townsend Harris Medal from the Alumni Association of The City College of New York in 1993. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1965 and was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow (1965 – 1966) and a Columbia University International Fellow (1966 – 1967).

B.A. Philosophy, The City College of New York (1965) M.S. Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (1967) A.B.D. Political Science, CUNY Graduate Center

21700: Mass Media and Politics The political questions raised by the growth, methods and technology of the mass media. Includes exploration of alternative theories of communication; the development of special media-oriented social roles and events; and the relationship between mass communication, symbolic politics, and political behavior at both the individual and societal level. (W) 3 hr./wk.; 3 cr.

Professor Diaz currently hosts Destination Casa Blanca, which analyzes New York State politics from a Latino perspective. From citywide election races to local policies, Destination Casa Blanca: New York Politics Edition provides lively discussions on critical topics that affect the daily lives of the Latino community in New York and across the nation. From housing laws to education, the program is committed to help Latinos understand the political process, how state laws are made and implemented, and increase civic participation from this community.