Veronica De La Cruz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
Veronica De La Cruz

Veronica De La Cruz
Occupation News Anchor

Veronica De La Cruz is a Filipino American[1] television anchor formerly with CNN News.

She is currently focusing on the fight to save her brothers life by raising money through social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook as well as pages that were created for her families cause like We Love Eric and The Storeydreams Foundation Project as well as her fan site Veronica De La Cruz Online

Veronica formerly appeared on CNNs Emmy-nominated morning show American Morning from 6am to 9am Eastern time, providing Dotcom Desk information to CNNs early morning viewers. Veronica also substituted as a replacement anchor for CNN U.S. and CNN Headline News. She previously anchored the CNN broadband news service, CNN Pipeline, now CNN LIVE, and was among one of four founding anchors. She became a contributor to their domestic network with the segment "Dotcom Desk", which launched during the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami. Her contributions to CNN's news coverage include reporting on Hurricane Katrina, working with the Victims and Relief desk, and numerous on-line reports with CNN broadband news. CNN won a Peabody Award for their coverage. Veronica joined CNN in 2003 and in 2007 moved from the network's world headquarters in Atlanta to the New York Offices.

Veronica has also been on the forefront of new technology. She is one of the first and only cable network news journalists to shoot segments with a Flip Mino video camera, which she edits herself on a Mac. She also regularly engages in discussion with her viewers via Facebook[2] and microblogs on Twitter.


Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Career

Prior to joining CNN, De La Cruz worked as an anchor and reporter at an NBC affiliate in Yuma, Arizona. She spent two years there as the morning and mid-day anchor, and did liveshots and produced packages for the 5pm and 6pm newscasts. However, during her time at KYMA-TV, De La Cruz covered numerous stories on U.S.- Mexico border issues, the Nation's nursing shortage, and the plight of the migrant farm worker.During the 2002 Winter Olympics, De La Cruz interviewed figure skating hopeful Sasha Cohen. She also produced a series on the homeless before leaving the station in Yuma, with whom she continues to do volunteer work periodically.

Early in her career, De La Cruz hosted a music show for SonicNet/Digital Planet where she interviewed many different artists which included: Hoobastank, Vertical Horizon, Eagle Eye Cherry and the Roots. Her other work includes working as a host and reporter for Eruptor Entertainment's "Living Giant", covering the international music scene, where she reported from exotic locales including Ibiza, Spain. De La Cruz also worked as a host and producer of the show "Direct Drive" on the Digital Entertainment Network.

During the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Veronica interviewed the keynote speaker Bill Gates[3] of Microsoft shortly before his retirement.

In June 2008, Veronica flew to Northern California to work with the Sacramento Vice Squad as they tried to crackdown on minors selling themselves through Craigslist. At that time, she asked Jim Buckmaster, CEO of Craigslist why the website continued to advertise Erotic Services[4] on their site. In November, Craigslist announced they would try to fix the problem by charging for the ads.

Veronica, whose mother is of Filipino descent, has done many reports on Asian-Americans[5]. Among them, growing up Asian in America, human trafficking, and the significance of the Asian-American vote [6] in the 2008 Presidential race.

Veronica has also anchored live coverage of major breaking stories including the death of former President Ronald Reagan, the tsunami in Southeast Asia, the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict and Hurricane Katrina. Most recently she filed a report on the use of New Media during the Mumbai Terror Attacks.

[edit] Health Care Reform Activism

Veronica De La Cruz is turning to the power of social media giant Twitter to overcome red tape and save the life of her younger brother Eric, in dire need of a heart transplant.

Veronica De La Cruz’s younger brother, Eric, needs a new heart. Eric suffers from severe dilated cardiomyopathy and his heart cannot function normally. And his condition is getting worse. But as a Nevada resident covered under Medicaid, Eric found himself seriously ill and tangled in health care red tape at a Las Vegas hospital weeks ago. And so, with a tenacity familiar to those who know her, Veronica did what any loving sister would: reached out for help. It is the way she has done so, and the success with which her efforts have been met, that have helped make Eric’s a truly remarkable story. A story without an ending yet, but one which thousands are hoping concludes like a fairy tale.

As a popular television journalist and former CNN internet correspondent, Veronica De La Cruz has enjoyed a platform for free speech that few can imagine. Yet, when it came to her brother’s health, she found herself just as powerless as thousands of other Americans unable to get critical medical treatment for a loved one, primarily due to holes in the country’s health care system.

Diagnosed with his heart condition five years ago, Eric’s health worsened dramatically this spring. Covered only by Nevada Medicaid, Eric was admitted to a Las Vegas hospital in May, where it became clear he would likely need a heart transplant. De La Cruz was shocked to learn, however, that although covered under state Medicaid, Eric’s residence in a state with no transplant programs basically meant he could not get the treatment he needed. His application for federal Medicare was rejected twice and his final appeal would not be heard for a year, time he almost certainly did not have.

De La Cruz turned to social media network Twitter for help. It is an arena she knows well – she specialized in reporting on social media throughout her tenure at CNN. Though the decision to go public with her brother’s condition was not one made lightly, she knew that the power and speed of the medium to communicate news and mobilize its community of activists was likely her best chance of getting results. In a matter of days, De La Cruz had marshaled thousands of online supporters to use Twitter to create awareness, raise donations and generate media pressure that ultimately gave Eric the glimmer of hope that he would soon be receiving the care he so badly needed.

But after getting a favorable – and accelerated – ruling from a judge granting Eric his much sought-after disability status on federal Medicare, De La Cruz was stunned when administrators at transplant hospitals were reluctant to admit Eric, requiring supplemental insurance in addition to Medicare coverage.

So, online fund-raising continued in earnest, drawing the attention of singer Trent Reznor and popular rock band Nine Inch Nails – and thousands of their ardent fans – who stepped forward along with other Twitter faithful to raise nearly $900,000 toward the anticipated medical costs in less than two weeks.

Finally, through the support and generosity of thousands of friends and strangers alike, Eric was moved to a California hospital with a transplant program, accepted for treatment and evaluated for a possible heart transplant. Since his admission, he has undergone emergency surgery to implant a Ventricular Assist Device (VAD).

Sadly, Eric lost his fight and died in the afternoon of July 4th, 2009 with Veronica and her mother at Eric's bedside.

The plight of Eric De La Cruz – and his sister Veronica’s inspiring response to it – has cast a national spotlight on two hot-button issues: health care reform and the role of social media. The proliferating effect that the internet played in amplifying De La Cruz’s plea for help is evident in scores of freshly posted blogs and online news stories turning up on Google these days. “Eric’s Twitter Army” – as she dubbed the loyal supporters she recruited online – even pushed “#Eric” into the top ten topics trending on the social media board with their seemingly ubiquitous tweets asking for help, even bypassing the popular “#AmericanIdol” topic after its finale episode

Tweeple, A magazine covering news related to Twitter named Veronica as one of his picks of [7] calling Veronica a "Trailblazer" and saying "...She is an inspiration and a catalyst for change beyond just Eric’s scenario. The national exposure is generating more and more debate on the problems in Medicaid, Medicare in the United States..."

[edit] Other work

She is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association.

Spent a decade as a competitive figure skater, prior to moving into a career in journalism.

Mentors aspiring broadcast-journalists at the Associated Press Television-Radio Association's Academy.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Welcome to Island Magazine - Online Edition
  2. ^ FacebookAdvice.com: CNN and Veronica De La Cruz Does Groups Right!
  3. ^ Veronica De La Cruz talks to the Microsoft boss about his CES keynote speech and his transition to philanthropy
  4. ^ CNN: Child prostitutes sell themselves on Craigslist
  5. ^ Veronica De La Cruz Asian in America CNN
  6. ^ CNN: Asian-Americans on Election
  7. ^ [1] "10 Celebrity Twitters To Watch For"

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veronica_De_La_Cruz"
Personal tools