Cecilia Vega
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Cecilia Marcellina Vega (born January 7, 1977) is an American journalist and correspondent for ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
''. She previously worked at
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
, serving as the network's Chief White House Correspondent and co-anchoring ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
''.


Early life and education

Vega is the daughter of Janis and Raul Vega. She along with her brother were raised in the
East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...
area. Her mother worked for the
University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...
. In 1995, Vega graduated from Salesian High School in
Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.
. In 1999, she graduated from the American University School of Communication in Washington, D.C. She is of Mexican and Italian descent.


Career


1999–2010: Local news

In 1999, Vega started out as a newspaper journalist for the '' San Bernardino Sun'', the '' Santa Rosa Press Democrat'' and then the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' where she covered the then-Mayor
Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...
's administration. Her reporting received accolades from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, the East Bay Press Club, and the
Hearst Corporation Hearst Corporation, Hearst Holdings Inc. and Hearst Communications Inc. comprise an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate owned by the Hearst family and based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan in New York ...
. In 2007, she switched to broadcast media as a reporter for the local ABC television station
KGO-TV KGO-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It has been owned and operated by the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network through its ABC Owne ...
in San Francisco. In 2010, Vega won a Northern California Emmy Award for the Best Daytime Newscast in a Large Market.


2011–2022: ABC News

Vega joined the national ABC News in 2011 as a Los Angeles-based correspondent. In 2012, Vega covered the elections and second inauguration of President Barack Obama. She also covered the 2016 presidential election and the candidacy of
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
. During her time as a national correspondent, Vega covered numerous stories, including the Fukushima power plant disaster, the
appointment Appointment may refer to: Law *The prerogative power of a government official or executive to select persons to fill an honorary position or employment in the government (political appointments, poets laureate) *Power of appointment, the legal a ...
of Pope Francis, the 2014 Ebola epidemic in the United States, the Sony computer hacking, and the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
. On March 2, 2015, she became the anchor for the Saturday edition of '' World News Tonight'', with Tom Llamas anchoring the Sunday edition. In January 2017, Llamas was named the full-time weekend anchor of ''World News Tonight'', while Vega was moved to become the senior White House Correspondent. On October 1, 2018, during a press conference about the
United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement The Agreement between the United States of America, the United Mexican States, and Canada (USMCA)Each signatory has a different name for the agreement—in the United States, it is called the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) ...
(USMCA), U.S. President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
called on her to ask him questions. He then joked at Vega's surprised reaction, stating: "I know you're not thinking. You never do." Vega brushed aside the remark, and asked Trump about the FBI investigation into then-Supreme Court nominee
Brett Kavanaugh Brett Michael Kavanaugh (; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oct ...
. Trump declined to answer, stating the question was unrelated to the trade deal. Vega later tweeted: "A news conference means you get to ask whatever question you want to ask. #FirstAmendment." In January 2021, Vega was named as the Chief White House Correspondent for ABC News, succeeding Jonathan Karl.


2023–present: ''60 Minutes''

On January 19, 2023, it was reported that Vega was joining
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
as a correspondent for ''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
''. Her hiring made Vega the first Latina correspondent for the program. Vega's first story was about
sperm whales The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the genus '' Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale super ...
, which aired on May 14, 2023. The
National Association of Hispanic Journalists The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) is a Washington, D.C.–based organization dedicated to the advancement of Hispanic and Latino journalists in the United States and Puerto Rico. It was established in 1984. NAHJ has appr ...
and California Chicana News Media Association Latina Journalists of California named Cecilia Vega the 2024 National Latina Journalist of the Year.


Personal life

She lives in Washington, D.C.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Cecilia 1977 births Living people 21st-century American women American television reporters and correspondents American University School of Communication alumni American women television journalists CBS News people Hispanic and Latino American women journalists