THE 2023 SILVER CIRCLE HONOREES FROM PUERTO RICO
Pembroke Pines, FL (August 2023) – The Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is pleased to announce the 2023 Silver Circle honorees from Puerto Rico. The annual recognition is given to individuals who have worked with distinction in the television industry within the Suncoast Region, which includes the State of Florida, the State of Louisiana, the Mobile, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida television markets, as well as Puerto Rico.
The 2023 Silver Circle celebration for our Puerto Rico honorees was held on Saturday, September 23, 2023, at Salón de Banquetes, Los Chavales in Hato Rey, PR. What an amazing event to honor such distinguished recipients. A photo gallery will be online soon so you can relive the spectacular evening (or see what you missed!)
2023 Silver Circle Puerto Rico Press Release
Mayra Acevedo
Broadcast and Digital Journalist
In 8th grade, she came across a book on journalism. It was love at first sight … She became the high school newspaper editor and when her family moved to Puerto Rico, she obtained a degree in Public Communications with a major in journalism. It was the beginning of an intense and diverse encounter with broadcast media that led to a successful and gratifying life career for Mayra.
Her career spans three decades kicking off at Channel 13’s English language newscast in San Juan as a weather and news reporter. Later, she moved on to radio where she covered various positions in the newsroom, from News Director to Producer, Assignment editor, and reporter. Her duties took her abroad on national and international events such as electoral coverage in Washington and the Dominican Republic, the World Trade Center terrorist attacks, Haiti, the volcanic eruption in Monserrat, and special events in Europe, the US, and the Caribbean.
Today, she is an award-winning Broadcast and Digital Journalist, recognized by local and Hispanic journalism organizations for excellence and outstanding craftsmanship. These include several Suncoast Emmy® Awards and nominations, Overseas Press Club Awards, Excellence Awards, National Association of Hispanic Journalists Honorary Mentions, multiple awards from the Puerto Rico Association of Journalists, the Jose de Diego Spanish Language Award from the Institute of Culture, Life Achievement Awards, Premios Paoli, and INTRE Awards, as well as recognitions from other prestigious institutions.
Her recent work includes a television special on caregivers in Puerto Rico as part of a Gerontological Society of America 2019 Journalism Fellowship. She’s also a repeating National Press Foundation Fellow, former Overseas Press Club President, member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Puerto Rico Journalists Association, and a Poynter Institute member. Mayra has also been featured as a speaker at the National Hispanic Journalist Association, universities, public schools, and civic institutions.
During the last 25 years, the Lares native has covered local and international beats as a reporter/anchor for WIPR TV Channel 6 moderating news specials on topics from politics to environmental and health issues. She’s also a pioneer Mobile Journalist using immersive and 360 technologies.
She now hosts content for the U.S Hispanic market with Atlantino Productions in N.Y and L.A. which includes bilingual documentaries and a streaming series on Latino icons like Roberto Clemente, José Feliciano, Lucía Méndez, and Gilberto Santa Rosa, among others.
Still active on the airwaves, she hosts a weekly radio program at WSKN Borinquen Radio and a program for the Latin-American digital health magazine “Revista de Medicina y Salud Pública all while pursuing independent projects as MC, voiceover artist, video content creator, and producer.
Deborah Martorell
Chief Meteorologist for Teleonce, NotiUno and El Nuevo Día
Journalist and AMS Television Seal Holder with over 30 years of experience, a career that began as an assistant television producer, continuing as a radio journalist, television reporter, and news anchor, and spending most of her career as a Broadcast Meteorologist. Founder of Climate Change Advocacy NGO “Proyecto Acción Climática”, NOAA Weather Ready Nation Ambassador, and NASA JPL Solar System Ambassador, with multiple awards from the Overseas Press Club and the Puerto Rico Journalists Association; and 6-time Suncoast Emmy® Award recipient, among them a win in 2019 as Weather News Anchor. In 2020, she was recognized by the American Meteorological Society with the Award for Excellence in Science Reporting by a Broadcast Meteorologist.
Deborah is the Chief Meteorologist for Teleonce (Television), NotiUno (Radio), and El Nuevo Día (Newspaper); and is one of the most influential social media personalities in Puerto Rico. She studied communications and journalism at the University of Puerto Rico and broadcast meteorology and geosciences at the Mississippi State University. She is currently the Vice President of the Overseas Press Club. Deborah is married and has two daughters.
Ada Monzón
Chief Meteorologist, WAPA-TV and Univision Radio WKAQ 580 AM
Ada Monzón is the first female meteorologist from Puerto Rico. She is Chief Meteorologist for WAPA-TV and Univision Radio (WKAQ 580 am), covering all of Puerto Rico. Ada is the first Puerto Rican female American Meteorological Society (AMS) Fellow and Certified Broadcast Meteorologist in Latin America.
As a committed science educator, she is also the Founder and President of the Board of Directors of EcoExploratorio: Science Museum of Puerto Rico, a 501c3 non-profit community-based organization that inspires to protect our natural world, increase resilience, and educate about the universe through STEM education.
Ada recently received a Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from the University of Puerto Rico, which is the highest distinction awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions to their field and to society. After earning her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, with a Physics concentration at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus, and a Master’s degree in Meteorology at Florida State University, Ada Monzón joined the U.S. National Weather Service Forecast Office in San Juan, where she became a Forecaster and the Warning and Preparedness Meteorologist. Then, she became a professor at the University of Puerto Rico, before moving to local television and beginning her career as a broadcast meteorologist in 1997. Until 2014, she was the Chief Meteorologist of Univision P. R. (WLII-TV), and until 2019, she was WIPR TV’s Chief Meteorologist. She has developed the Meteorological Communication Laboratory, a partnership between WAPA TV and the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus, to provide mentorship and internship opportunities to students in the Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Program. She is also a board member of the Caribbean Regional Association for Coastal Ocean Observing Systems, a board member of the AMS Fellow Committee, an affiliate member of the PR NASA Space Grant Consortium, and a member of the American Alliance of Museums, National Science Teacher Association and American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Ada Monzon is widely recognized for her successful social media networks with over 2 million combined followers. She is Puerto Rico’s most visible meteorologist, anchoring weather and science-related stories. Ada broadcasted live the three most important scientific events of recent history in Puerto Rico: the most devastating hurricanes, the strongest earthquake, and the collapse of the Arecibo Observatory. She is also a space reporter with live broadcast transmissions and received Emmy-award coverage for the NASA Artemis mission.
Monzón has a decorated award history and holds membership in numerous professional weather, climate, and science organizations. Among her awards are: four Suncoast Emmy® Awards, four American Meteorological Society Awards: Broadcast Meteorology Award, Joanne Simpson Award, Charles Anderson Award, and Excellence in Science Reporting by a Broadcast Meteorologist Award. Also, she is the recipient of the “Sor Isolina Ferre” Medal Award for Community Service and Education, National Weatherperson of the Year, the Silver Medal of the NOAA NWS US Department of Commerce, Distinguished Alumni of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Puerto Rico, STAR Award-Univision Television Group, and Plaza Women’s Award.
Monzón is married and has three daughters, and lives in Puerto Rico. Her passions are science, education, philanthropy, traveling, cooking, and spending quality time with friends and family.
THE 2023 SILVER CIRCLE HONOREES
Pembroke Pines, FL (April 2023) – The Suncoast Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is pleased to announce the 2023 Silver Circle honorees. The annual recognition is given to individuals who have worked with distinction in the television industry within the Suncoast Region, which includes the State of Florida, the State of Louisiana, the Mobile, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida television markets, as well as Puerto Rico. Seven of this year’s honorees are from the Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, and Orlando-Daytona Beach markets. This year’s in-person ceremony took place on Sunday, June 4, 2023, at the Westin Beach Resort & Spa, Fort Lauderdale.
2023 Silver Circle Press Release
Arly Alfaro
News and Education Reporter, WSCV, Miramar, FL
Arly Alfaro is an Emmy® award-winning Journalist with more than twenty-five years of experience in news.
She began her career at the Palm Beach Daily News & Palm Beach Life Magazine. In 1994 she was hired by Univision’s national news magazine Primer Impacto where she held various positions. In 1998 she joined Univision’s New York affiliate, WXTV as a News Anchor and Reporter. She has the distinction of being the first female anchor to launch the Tri-State Area’s first-weekend newscast in Spanish earning her a nomination as Best Anchor for an Ace Award. A year later, she also launched the Tri-state area’s first early morning Spanish-language Newscast as female Anchor. She was also part of the winning news team of an Edward R. Murrow Award in the New York Region for spot news covering “The Aftermath of Hurricane Floyd” in Bound Brook, New Jersey.
She returned to Miami in 2001 to work as a Reporter for Univision Network’s Newscast Ultima Hora. Two years later, she joined Univision’s Miami station, Ch. 23 as a Reporter and substitute Anchor. Her work got her an Emmy® Nomination in 2006 as On-Camera Talent for Best Anchor.
In 2007, WSCV hired Arly as Morning News Anchor and Reporter. She earned an Emmy® nomination as Best Morning Anchor in 2008. Arly was also the station’s health reporter. In 2010, she won an Emmy in the category of Health/Science/Environment for “Semana de Salud”, a week-long series of reports about living a healthy life. In 2012 and in 2015, Arly was again nominated for Emmy Awards for health reporting. In 2022, she was part of a team Emmy® nomination for News Special reporting on the housing crisis in South Florida. For 12 years she produced and reported a weekly franchise segment about children, education, and family topics called “Mi Familia”. Arly continues to report on general news assignments but has become Telemundo 51’s Education Reporter, a role she expanded during the Pandemic reporting on distance learning and more recently on education laws in Florida.
Arly was born in Nicaragua and grew up in Palm Beach County. She is married and lives in Miami with her husband and two children. In 2019 she was recognized in the book “Hecho en Nicaragua” which highlighted 100 outstanding contemporanean Nicaraguan personalities. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree at Purdue University Global.
Bruce Hamilton
New Anchor, WJXT, Jacksonville, FL
Bruce Hamilton is a 5-time Emmy® award-winning television journalist and has more than a dozen Emmy® nominations to his credit.
Bruce anchors the #1 rated news and interview program in NE Florida.
Bruce has been honored by receiving the prestigious national Edward R. Murrow Award; 5 Associated Press Awards and the Central Florida Press Club award. Numerous other journalistic, civil, and religious institutions have honored Bruce for his outstanding reporting and community service.
Hamilton has engaged in exclusive White House interviews with Presidents Bush and Clinton, as well as conducted one-on-one interviews with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. He has covered numerous Democratic and Republican National Conventions. This enterprising journalist has reported from breaking news spots around the world; covered numerous space shuttle launches and landings; other historic space ventures; and even flown with the Navy’s elite Blue Angels. He trained and flew with FA 18 Hornet pilots. Did trap landings on the USS John F Kennedy and the “Ike” aircraft carriers. He was the first American journalist to report from the Soviet nuclear submarine base in Murmansk. Bruce also gained unprecedented access to interviews and locations on the Guantanamo Bay Prison site housing high-profile terrorists. Reported from earthquake sites in the mountains of Colombia and Haiti. Covered countless hurricanes. A bit of a daredevil, he also had the privilege of skydiving with the world-renowned British Red Devil acrobatic skydiving team jumping out of a C 130.
The readers of several local newspapers and magazines repeatedly vote Bruce as the “Best News Anchor” in Jacksonville.
While happy to be living his dream in the world of news and its growing realm of delivery vehicles, Bruce’s primary focus is his family. He and his wife Christy have a blended family with 7 kids, their respective spouses, 4 grandchildren, and 3 more on the way. They also have two 4-legged kids, Carly and Chloe. They are a real-life Brady Bunch.
Lynn Martinez
Anchor of 7NEWS at 4 pm, 5:30 pm, 6:30 pm & Deco Drive, WSVN, Miami, FL
Lynn Martinez joined WSVN in 1991 as a co-anchor of TODAY IN FLORIDA, WSVN’s #1 rated morning news program and general assignment reporter. One of a trio of anchors in the morning, Martinez quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to weekend anchor. Two years later, she moved to her current assignment on the weeknight news. In 1998, she began co-hosting Deco Drive, the half-hour news magazine show known for celebrity news and the latest on the South Florida entertainment circuit.
Martinez began her broadcasting career in 1989 at the CBS affiliate in Cadillac, Michigan, where she served as an anchor and producer.
During her 25 years at WSVN, Martinez has covered the inauguration of President Bill Clinton, was one of the first U.S. reporters to cover the atrocities in Bosnia, traveled to Holland after the murder of a German tourist in Miami, and went to Rome to cover the Pope. She was also featured on the Fox program “America’s Most Wanted” on a story about how to survive a carjacking. She’s covered numerous hurricanes including Andrew in 1992 and Wilma in 2005. She also interviewed President Barack Obama in 2011. For “Deco Drive,” Martinez has interviewed numerous celebrities, among them: Tom Hanks, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Julio Iglesias, Cameron Diaz, Andy Garcia, and Keanu Reeves.
Martinez won an award for a series on organ donation called “Dying for an Organ,” and was nominated for an Emmy® for her coverage of Hurricane Andrew.
Martinez has a master’s and bachelor’s degree in journalism from “Webster University” in St. Louis, Missouri. She is married and has two children.
Ross Noble
Retired Photographer/Editor, WTVJ, Miami, FL
Alexander Ross Noble grew up in Glen Rock, a town in northern New Jersey. He attended the University of Miami and graduated from the School of Communications in 1979. The most important class he took at the U was an internship in the sports department at WTVJ under Bernie Rosen in the fall of 1978. He must have done something right because Bernie allowed him to intern again in the spring of ‘79 and hired him as a full-time photographer/editor in 1980.
Growing up a sports fan, he was now shooting interviews with Muhammad Ali, Don Shula, Jack Nicklaus, and all the sports figures that traverse South Florida each year. Nothing was more rewarding than covering the Dolphins for 41 years. Traveling to each NFL city with added games in London, Berlin, Tokyo, and Mexico City are prized memories. The Miami Hurricanes football and baseball championships, PGA at Doral, and the Lipton tennis tournament in Key Biscayne added to year-round events. The birth of the Heat, Panthers, and Marlins franchises bringing with them NBA Championships, the Stanley Cup Finals, and World Series wins added to special times for our community.
On the News side, Miami never rests. In 1980 he found himself flying over a burning Liberty City during the McDuffie Riots which along with the Overtown Riots changed this town. Covering Hurricane Andrew and the Parkland shooting survivors for weeks after these events was an emotional experience he will never forget. As a sign of where local news is going, WTVJ offered buyouts to senior staff and he retired in 2020. He now freelances with the Heat. Ross is married to Linda and they have 2 Daughters, Samantha and Kelly. Forty years of helping to document the history of South Florida with all the good people he worked with leaves him with a great sense of pride. It was a great ride.
Bob Palumbo
Photojournalist, WPLG, Miami, FL
Bob Palumbo has been in broadcast journalism for nearly four decades, the past 30 years at WPLG Miami/Ft. Lauderdale.
Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, he grew up in nearby Duxbury. He went to school for two years at the University of Massachusetts and then transferred to the University of Florida.
While in school, his first job in television was shooting high school football and weekend news in Gainesville.
After graduating in 1985, he joined WPTV-TV5 in West Palm Beach. He quickly became recognized for his great skill at storytelling. To make extra money, Bob worked nights at Channel 5 and was a third-grade substitute teacher by day. The kids called him “Mr. Bob.”
Following the Republican convention in 1988 Bob was recruited by Potomac Communications in Washington, D.C. It was there that he perfected his photography skills. He was often assigned to staff the White House in the early years of CNN.
Bob loved Washington but really missed the thrill of local news, so he returned to Florida, joining WPLG in June 1993. After only a few years, he was promoted to Chief Photographer. That was an impressive accomplishment for a young up coming photographer in a big market like Miami. After a few years, the position was eliminated, but Bob stayed on and became one of the station’s go-to guys for all the major stories.
During his 30 years at Channel 10, Bob has covered it all; the ValueJet crash, the assassination of Gianni Versace, the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas shooting, and too many storms to count. Bob has traveled extensively for work, going to places like Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Uvalde, London, and many more.
Bob loves aviation and got his private pilot license in 1990. He has several hundred hours in a Cessna 172. He also has his commercial drone license.
He looks forward to many more years enjoying the richness and color of a place like South Florida.
Jim Payne
Anchor/Reporter, WESH 2, Orlando, FL
Jim Payne joined the WESH 2 News team in 2000. Jim is an experienced, award-winning journalist who believes in making a difference in his community.
Jim came to central Florida from WRAL-TV in Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina. He also honed his skills at WRBL-TV in Columbus, Ga.; WKJG-TV (now WISE-TV) in Fort Wayne, Ind.; WTWO-TV in Terre Haute, Ind.; WFLI-TV in Lafayette, Ind.; and the NBC News Southwest Bureau in Houston, Tex.
Jim received journalism’s most prestigious honor, the George Foster Peabody Award, for his work on the month-long investigative series “Building Homes: Building Problems.” The reports detailed problems with new home construction in central Florida. He’s also been honored with an Alfred I. duPont Award for his work on the space shuttle Columbia disaster, two National Headliner Awards, multiple Edward R. Murrow awards; numerous awards from the Associated Press and Radio Television Digital News Association; the Jefferson Award for Public Service; The President’s Award for Volunteer Service; and multiple Emmy® awards.
He’s also been named part of Orlando’s Best TV News Team by Orlando Magazine.
He was born in Green Bay, Wis., and attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., earning a bachelor’s degree in communications. Jim has been honored by Purdue as a distinguished alumnus.
Jim has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Special Olympics
Florida for more than two decades, he has been an ambassador for the Edgewood Children’s Ranch in Orlando and advocates for people and families dealing with addiction and alcoholism. However, his most well-known community service effort takes place annually; the Jim Payne Fearless 5k for the Children raises money for Kids House, a non-profit organization assisting victims of abuse.
When he’s not working, Jim enjoys running and weight training and fixing broken things, spending time with his wife, Sharon. Jim also has two adult sons, James and Michael, daughter-in-law Vanessa (married to James), and three grandchildren, Conner, James, and Leia.
Armando Pico
Sr. Content Creator, WOW MKTG, Miami, FL
Armando Pico is a talented and creative video journalist and brilliant investigative producer and editor who began his career at Univision 23 in 1993. He has 61 Emmy® nominations and has been recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with 36 Emmy® awards. During his more than 30 years in the television industry, he has made great contributions in exposing many social ills and even impacting legislation in Tallahassee. He has covered prominent international events including, presidential summits in South America and Europe, and a royal wedding in Spain. Armando has also produced and directed several TV commercials, corporate videos, as well as special event films. He has also maintained a photography business, A Pico Studio, and sharpened his skills as an independent commercial photographer, and cinematographer. Armando’s keen eye and sensitivity to the human experience have allowed him to excel in his craft, as he worked on compelling stories that documented the history of South Florida for the last three decades.
Armando is married to Univision anchor, Andrea Linares, and is the father of two beautiful young girls Camila & Leía.
2023 SILVER CIRCLE PHOTO GALLERY
In case you missed all the Silver Circle and Gold Circle action, check out our photo gallery. Congratulations to all of this year’s honorees!!!
2023 Silver Circle Photo Gallery
