Carlos Amezcua

KTLA 5 created the local morning news show format back in 1991. The station chose Carlos Amezcua to be the anchorman of this new endeavor that is now imitated all across the United States on various broadcast stations. Although Frank Cruz was the first Latino anchorman in Los Angeles with KNBC 4 on Saturday and Sunday evenings in the 1970s through the mid-1980s, Amezcua would be the first to be seen Monday through Friday in a prominent position in the Southland. Amezcua reflected on Cruz and other broadcasters he admired.

"Frank Cruz was the first Latino anchorman in Los Angeles," Amezcua said. "However, it bothered him that he was only allowed to be an anchor on weekends. His goal, like that of many newscasters, was to be a weeknight news anchor. It frustrated him that although he had the talent to be a No. 1 guy, the opportunity was not provided for him. His feelings were understandable.

"I liked Walter Cronkite growing up. Obviously, he was someone to emulate. I also admired Dick Nourse. He was my mentor at KSL-TV in Salt Lake City. He was nice and showed me the ropes."

This journalist first learned "the ropes" growing up in San Diego. The oldest of four children, Amezcua and his family lived in the Logan Heights area of Bordertown. His father was a Mariachi musician who played the violin and his mother was a homemaker who took care of the house and raised the Amezcua children.

"My parents were immigrants from Mexico," he said. "They and most of my relatives moved up to southern California from Mexico--legally.

"Initially we had regular vacations where we would go down to Mexico and have visits with family. We had a good time. But more and more of our relatives legally moved up, gained U.S. citizenship and settled in California to the point that we have hardly any more family left in Mexico. They're here now. The last time I went to Mexico was about 15 years ago."

San Diego is definitely Amezcua's town. It is a conservative, Naval metropolis that operates somewhat like a combination of Anaheim and Arizona. "San Diego is where my conservative values come from," he explains. "I was and still am heavily involved with the Boy Scouts. I respect the military. That definitely shaped me."

Growing up in a diverse community of blacks and Latinos, the future newscaster stood out because of his looks and interests and tastes. "I am not the darkest Latino you'll ever see," he commented with a laugh. "I took some grief for that then and even now sometimes. Mexicans are sort of a blend of Spaniards and Native Americans. My ancestry has a strong Spanish influence (lighter hair, lighter skin, lighter eyes). They didn't do a whole lot of mixing with Native Americans, I guess."

Additionally, the Amezcuas stressed Roman Catholicism, hard work, and education with their children. "Some of my friends that I grew up with went into gangs and some other things. I chose to be a straight arrow. And I was okay with that. Actually, some of those friends who went 'the other way' were okay with that, too."

During his youth, Amezcua experienced two of the most tragic and impactual events in U.S. history, the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Civil Rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. The newscaster commented on his feelings as a young person in the aftermath of these events.

"When Kennedy was assassinated it was a scary time," Amezcua said. "My family and I were living in Las Vegas then. The country was already going through the Cuban Missile Crisis. As students we were going through emergency drills for safety regarding the crisis. And, then, all of a sudden, the president is shot and killed. As a kid you're wondering, 'What's gonna happen next? Will the country be bombed?'

"I was older, in junior high school, when Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. I wasn't an active participant of his marches nor did I have full knowledge of the Civil Rights movement regarding policies and laws. But I remember thinking, 'Why would anyone assassinate Dr. King?' This was a man who was kind and genuinely trying to help people have a better life in this country through nonviolent means."

As the late 1960s progressed into the '70s, Amezcua attended San Diego's Crawford High School. His interests included Mariachi band playing and sports. He befriended a Mormon schoolmate, Steve Fitch. Ultimately, it was his friend that helped influence his college choice.

"My grades weren't what they needed to be to get into college," the bespectacled anchor revealed. "The school counselor suggested I join the military. I didn't want to do that. My friend, Steve, had applied and been accepted to BYU (Brigham Young University). He told me to apply. I was accepted to BYU and went to Provo, Utah to start college."

To some observers, it would seem that a move to Utah would be a culture shock to a Latino (or any other non-white person, for that matter). However, Amezcua indicated that was not the case on the Provo campus. "There were many Latino and South American students in my dormitory and in my classes. There is more diversity at BYU than you are led to believe.

"Eventually, I had a rock band in college and I got my start in broadcasting at the University through Dr. Tom Griffiths."

According to Amezcua, Dr. Griffiths believed the young San Diegan had the talent and potential to be a good broadcaster. He assigned the Advertising major to radio announcing and voiceover work at KBYU, the on-campus radio station. Amezcua learned the nuances of broadcasting and realized he had an aptitude for the profession.

"Dr. Griffiths was a great mentor of mine," he said. "He encouraged me to pursue another path besides PR and advertising."

Amezcua would go on to work at KSL-TV in Salt Lake City. He learned the professional end of the trade from Nourse and gained valuable experience. Making his way back west, Amezcua would encounter instances of discrimination and intolerance with the broadcast station of KOOL-TV. A station based in Phoenix, Ariz., an area of the country known for policies and mores not sympathetic to non-whites, its news director at the time was Bill Close. Amezcua indicated that the Caucasian Close was not sensitive to the emerging diversity that was building in the newsroom.

"He hated my name," the KTLA newscaster remembered with a laugh. "He thought it sounded like a disease. Close suggested I change my name to 'Carl Ames.' I told him I would not do that. I honored, loved, and respected my father too much to even consider it. We also had a Black sportscaster there during that time who would give a key catch phrase to sign off. It was very similar to Jim Hill of KCBS-TV with 'Keep the faith.'

"Close said to us, 'Why are people like you and him always coming up with something different and causing trouble?'

"I told him, 'Because that's our cultures and we are proud of who we are.'"

Responding to these and other challenges, Amezcua continued to produce quality work as a broadcaster. He would eventually work with the legendary Cronkite on "CBS Evening News," Tom Brokaw on "NBC Nightly News," CNN, and HBO's "America Undercover."

Amezcua has received several Emmys and numerous other awards for his work as a broadcast journalist. His proudest accomplishment professionally is helping to create a different program format in daytime television, the local morning news show from 7 - 10 a.m. His cites as his most memorable story the 1983 McDonald's Massacre in San Diego.

When he was hired to anchor the "KTLA Morning News" in 1991, the dapper newscaster received thousands of letters from appreciative Latinos thanking him for his positive presence and representation on the air. "I still feel the pressure to represent my people with great dignity. People say, 'I appreciate that.'"

Though some my see his on-air appearance as very assimilated, KTLA 5's main man from 7 - 10 a.m. has never wavered about his heritage or background in his professional pursuits.

"A lot of people, Latinos and otherwise, see me as assimilated," he said. "However, whether how light I am has helped me…I don't know. Generally, men of color-whether they be black, Latino, Asian, whatever-generally have a harder time achieving prominent spots in weekday or weeknight news than women of color."

Amezcua does not have a hard time expressing his mind, however. He is fiercely patriotic to the United States and has no inhibitions about voicing his disagreements with others on the air or off. When his right of center values are challenged, he will proffer a strong rebuttal.

When actor Danny Glover accepted a grand donation from Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez in an effort to fund a film about Black historical figures, saying the end justifies the means (no U.S. film studio or company would found the project about historic Black heroes), Amezcua would have none of it.

"Glover's going around taking money from a man who calls our president the devil," the news anchor protests. "Seems to me, Glover should look at who you are accepting money from if you want to see the devil.

"Chavez is a man who has lined his pockets with blood money. Glover is a traitor. I will never support him in any of his movies or projects."

With regards to the recent of walkouts, immigration reform, and the May Day Melee, Amezcua was encouraged to see the Latino community making a sociopolitical stand. "It was amazing to see. [The Latino population] is a sleeping giant and it was terrific to see. In this country, everyone has the right to protest peacefully, and the people did that.

"The May Day Melee, I felt like I was watching a Kent State film. There was no need for the police to unload that kind of force. You had innocent people injured like the woman with her baby, the old man on his bike, children.

"[Reporters who were pushed or hurt] should have expected that. In that type of situation, it goes with the territory. It says it on your press credential. I have been hurt covering stories in the field. It is a possibility of the job."

Other possibilities for Amezcua outside of the news realm are his passion for visual art (his oil paintings are exhibited at many art galleries and shows) and music. "I want to be remembered as a good husband and father," he stressed. "A guy who did an honest day's work and gave a great effort as a reporter who really loved the people he worked with."

Click a name to read more:

Carlos Amezcua, Marc Brown, Christine Devine, Laura Diaz,
Rick Garcia, Pat Harvey, Sylvia Lopez, Michaela Pereira