When Ilia Calderón assumes the co-anchor position on Noticiero Univision in mid-December, she will make history. Calderón will become the first Afro Latina to anchor an evening news show for the Spanish-language network, and reportedly the only one to fill this role on a major network. The journalist has broken barriers throughout her career. In Colombia, she became the first Black woman to host Noticiero CMI. She will succeed María Elena Salinas, who served as the show’s anchor for three decades.
“It is a great honor and an enormous responsibility for me to sit in María Elena Salinas’s anchor chair,” Calderón said, according to Variety. “María Elena has been an invaluable voice for the Hispanic community in this country, an icon of excellence in journalism and a role model for millions of Latinas, so I know I have big shoes to fill. I’m very excited to accept this new challenge as co-anchor of Hispanic America’s most trusted newscast.”
On top of co-hosting Noticiero Univision with Jorge Ramos Monday through Friday at 6:30 p.m., she will also co-host Aquí y Ahora with Teresa Rodríguez on Sundays.
Calderón began her career at Univision in 2007 as a co-anchor on the weekend edition of Primer Impacto, before joining the weekday edition in 2009. In 2011, she began hosting Noticiero Univision: Edición Nocturna.
Earlier this year, Calderón went viral after interviewing Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Chris Baker. He called her a “n*gger” and a “mongrel.” Univision faced criticism for putting an Afro-Latina woman – a demographic that’s usually absent on the network – in a dangerous, emotionally laborious situation.