Lilia Luciano - TVNewser

Another Misleading Edit Costs Another NBC News Employee Her Job

Chris Ariens — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:59:40 +0000

Lilia Luciano, a Miami-based NBC News correspondent, is no longer working for the network, TVNewser has learned.

Luciano last reported for NBC News March 31. Until that point, she had been reporting mainly on the Trayvon Martin story. Sources tell TVNewser Luciano’s dismissal came after an investigation which also led to the firing of a seasoned NBC News producer over a similar, misleading edit. In a story for the “Today” show on March 20, Luciano used part of the George Zimmerman 911 call in which an entire phrase (italicized below) was taken from a later part of the conversation:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good or on drugs or something. He’s got his hand in his waistband. And he’s a black male.
Dispatcher: Are you following him?
Zimmerman: Yeah.
Dispatcher: Okay, we don’t need you to do that.

A week later, on March 27, another correspondent, Ron Allen used similar audio from that 911 call in his story, leaving out the dispatcher’s follow-up question.

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.

As we’ve reported, here’s how the conversation actually happened:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.
Dispatcher: OK, and this guy — is he white, black, or Hispanic?
Zimmerman: He looks black.

That edit resulted in the dismissal of the NBC News Miami producer. NBC News confirms with TVNewser that Luciano is no longer with the network. She joined NBC News from Univision just 18 months ago.

Luciano is the third NBC employee to have lost their job over this story. As TVSpy reported last week, WTVJ reporter Jeff Burnside was fired for a similar circumstance.

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Telemundo Anchor crosses over on MSNBC

Chris Ariens — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 09:05:14 +0000

Jose Diaz-Balart — the Brian Williams of Telemundo — is doing double duty on two NBCU networks this week. He’ll anchor his nightly newscast “Noticiero Telemundo” at 6:30pmET as well as filling in for Contessa Brewer on the NoonET hour on MSNBC. This makes Diaz-Balart the first journalist on U.S. television to anchor both an English and a Spanish-language newscast on two networks for a week straight. The lead story on his first MSNBC show on Monday was the Casey Anthony trial which is being covered by correspondent Lilia Luciano, who was hired away from Univision in October. Luciano is covering the trial for NBC News and Telemundo.

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Lilia Luciano Joins NBC News as Miami Correspondent

Chris Ariens — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 17:18:02 +0000

Lilia Luciano is joining NBC News as a network correspondent based in Miami.

Luciano was hired away from the Univision-owned network TeleFutura, which is a competitor to NBC’s Telemundo. At TeleFutura, Luciano hosted entertainment programs “Escándalo TV” and “Escándalo Extra.”

Starting Monday, she’ll report for all platforms of NBC News, including “Nightly News,” “Today,” MSNBC and msnbc.com, as well as Telemundo.

“Lilia’s passion for journalism along with her unique reporting expertise make her a strong addition to the team,” said Steve Capus, President of NBC News. “We are excited to bring her on board to join our talented lineup of NBC News correspondents.”

The Puerto Rican-born Luciano is a 2007 grad of the University of Miami.

TVNewser has also learned that current Miami-based correspondent Michelle Kosinski is making the move to NBC’s London Bureau.

More about Luciano in the press release after the jump.

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