Cecilia Alvear, 77

Cecilia Alvear | Photo from nieman.harvard.edu

LATINA JOURNALISM pioneer Cecilia Alvear died from breast cancer in her home in California, USA, on Friday, April 21. She was 77.

For 25 years, Alvear worked for NBC Network News until her retirement in 2007. She was the network’s Mexico City Bureau Chief from 1982 until 1984 when she was transferred to Miami to serve as the Senior Producer for Latin America. She resumed her NBC News career in 1989 when she was assigned to the West Coast bureau in Burbank, California. (“TV journalist, Editor www.GalapagosDigital.com, former President of the National Assoc. of Hispanic Journalists”)

Alvear was a founding member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) and was inducted into the NAHJ Hall of Fame in 2007. (“Pioneering Journalist Cecilia Alvear Pushed For More Latinos in Newsrooms”)

Anne-Marie O’Connor, an ex-LA Times reporter said, “At the time it was rare to even meet a female producer, much less an Ecuadorian-born Latina who spoke English with an accent. Cecilia broke the mold.” (“NBC reporter, Latina journalism pioneer Cecilia Alvear dies”)

Born in the island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos on Nov. 5, 1939, Alvear left her native Ecuador in the 1960s to launch her journalism career in the United States. She became a U.S. citizen in 1984.

Alvear never graduated from college, but she completed a prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 1989. She also worked as an editor for Galapagos Digital and served the boards of UNITY – Journalists of Color and the Nieman foundation. She also pushed for scholarships and training programs for young journalists, particularly young Latino journalists.

“There aren’t enough words to express how fortunate I was to know Cecilia,” Veronica Villafañe, editor of Media Moves, wrote of Alvear. “Throughout the almost 20 years of friendship, I’ve witnessed her kindness, generosity, help and support – not just to me, but to many others. So, it is with great sadness that I write about the passing of such an exceptional individual.”

Alvear’s family and friends regard her as principled, intelligent, strong and compassionate; she cared deeply about making journalism more honest by making it more diverse.

Her longtime partner, George Lewis, a retired NBC News correspondent said, “She would go into war zones and she would always insist on being with the camera crews because she felt that if she was sending those guys into danger she needed to share that with them, so she was always right close to the action.” (“Longtime NBC journalist Cecilia Alvear, who opened doors for Latinos and women, dies at 77”)

Alvear’s cancer had been in remission for 18 years, but returned in 2012.

Aside from her longtime partner, Alvear is survived by her four sisters, Alexandra, Magdalena, Montserrat and Rocío, and half-brothers Eduardo and Alfredo.