SAN ANTONIO – The journalism community is mourning the loss of Jim Avila, a nationally recognized correspondent whose decades-long career at ABC News and NBC News helped shape modern broadcast reporting. Avila died at age 70 after a prolonged illness, his family confirmed.
Avila, known for his sharp investigative instincts and authoritative on-air presence, served as Senior National Correspondent for ABC News, where he covered major political and national stories. He was also a White House correspondent during the Obama administration, breaking several high-impact stories—including the historic reopening of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, a report that earned him the Merriman Smith Memorial Award from the White House Correspondents’ Association.
Before joining ABC, Avila spent years with NBC News, developing a reputation for rigorous, accountability-focused reporting. Over the course of his career, he received two National Emmy Awards, five Edward R. Murrow Awards, and numerous other industry honors. In 2019, he was inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame, an achievement his family says he cherished deeply.
His brother, Jaie Avila, an investigative reporter with KABB in San Antonio, shared emotional reflections on Jim’s influence both professionally and personally. “He inspired me to get into the news business,” he said. Jaie also donated a kidney to Jim in 2018, giving him “a tremendous blessing”—years that allowed Jim to witness a child’s wedding and the birth of two grandchildren.
Avila left ABC News in 2021 but returned to reporting in 2023 as a senior investigative journalist for KGTV in San Diego, demonstrating his enduring passion for storytelling even late in life.
As colleagues and viewers reflect on his legacy, Jim Avila is being remembered not only as a trailblazing reporter, but as a devoted father to his children—Jamie, Jenny, and Evan—whose lives, he often said, were his greatest accomplishment
