Born to journalist parents, Natalia Andrea always had a passion for written works. In her youth she competed in writing contests. She won speech and poetry competitions as well as literature prizes. Natalia attended
Universidad del Norte, in
Barranquilla,
Colombia where she majored in
social communications and
journalism. While studying, she worked in news radio on
"Emisora Atlantico", Cruz began her broadcasting career at 17 as
news anchor for the
newscast "CV Noticias" on the regional television station
Telecaribe.
Manuel Teodoro gave Natalia her first exposure on national
Colombian TV, as
news anchor and
reporter on the
TV Magazine "Extra" on
Caracol Television. In early 2000, Natalia moved to New York and worked for
Spanish language Public TV on
HITN (
Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network), where she also produced the shows
"Corriente Cultural" and
"NotiCultura". Later that year, she started as the
New York City reporter for the daily morning show
"Despierta America", on
Univision, and did live shots for the longest-running variety TV show in the world,
"Sabado Gigante". In 2001, Natalia was hired by the
New York Telemundo affiliate
WNJU as a reporter for
Noticiero 47. With only one month on the job, she covered
the WTC terrorist attacks, being one of the first reporters on the scene at
Ground Zero. Her work was noted in the book, "Running Toward Danger: Stories Behind the Breaking News of September 11", and she was featured on the 9/11 Tenth year exhibit on the
Newseum on Washington, D.C. After just 18 months working as a morning reporter, Cruz became
news anchor on
WNJU, now part of
NBC, and received the 2004
Emmy Award as Best News Anchor for Tri-State area (
NY,
NJ, and
CT). She was nominated the following year for five awards, winning another
Emmy Award, this time for Best Newscast in 2005. Additionally, Natalia won the
ACE Award as Best News Anchor in 2005. 2006 saw Cruz win her third
Emmy Award for Best Series of Social Interest. Natalia then started as New York correspondent for
"En Vivo y Directo", on
TeleFutura. Only two months later, she was brought to
"Primer Impacto" on
Univision Network. She won the
NY Latin Award for Best National
Correspondent in 2008. Cruz often sits in as news anchor for shows at
Univision, such as
"Primer Impacto",
"Despierta América",
"Al Punto" and
"Desayuno Alegre". She also briefs on
"Noticiero Univision". and
"Noticias Al Minuto" on
TeleFutura. In July 2011, Cruz was promoted to Anchor for
Primer Impacto Extra, broadcast on the weekends at 5pm / 4pm center; replacing Weekend Anchor
Satcha Pretto who left the program to become the new News Anchor for
Despierta America instead of
Neida Sandoval. In 2012, Natalia hosted "Es el momento" Special
"Primeros pasos hacia el éxito", Highlighting the Importance of Early Childhood Education; recorded at
The White House featured artist
Shakira and U.S.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan among other experts. In March 2013 she conducted from the studios, Univision's first time ever live broadcast of Easter Mass from
Vatican City celebrated by
Pope Francis. In July 2016, she was appointed anchor for the TV show "Lo Mejor de Primer Impacto", Sundays at 5 pm / 4 pm Center on
Univision. She continued at
Univision until May 2018, after 12 years with the network. Starting in December 2018 is the news anchor for "Mega News- Edición de la Tarde" at 5:30 pm (EST) / 2:30 pm (PST) on Mega TV in addition to host and executive producer of the Hispanic Real Estate TV show "Esta Es Tu Casa" on weekends at Mega TV. The schedule for MegaNews with Natalia Cruz was expanded to an hour, starting at 5 pm (EST) / 2 pm (PST) since April 29, 2019. == Career ==