José Tovar, who served as sports editor for The Reporter during the 2020-21 academic year, received a Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy Award in the Breaking/Spot News – Multiple Reports category for “Redada de ICE: Llamada de Auxilio.”
The 24-year-old, who immigrated from Venezuela to the United States about nine years ago, currently serves as a multimedia journalist at Telemundo Utah. He started at the station in June of 2024 as a producer.
“I am also looking forward to what’s ahead, especially now in this new role as a multimedia journalist,” Tovar said. “We only do it to inform people, to communicate and be that beacon of information in the community.”
Tovar was awarded for his coverage of raids conducted by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Utah. He was part of a team that included Telemundo Utah anchor Jesus Bastidas and digital producer Nathalie Avilán.
At The Reporter, Tovar started as a sports writer in 2019, covering the baseball and volleyball teams. He was later promoted to sports editor the following year where assigned, wrote and edited stories.
“The Reporter taught me how to be consistent, how to be fair, [and] how to be an ethically rounded journalist,” Tovar said. “Those are lessons that I carry [from] my college experience, and now I’m carrying through my job experience.”
After earning an associate degree in mass communication/journalism from Kendall Campus in 2021, Tovar transferred to the University of Florida. At UF, he received a bachelor’s degree in sports and media journalism in 2024 as well as a certification in sport management.
