Tony Paniagua joined Arizona Public Media in 2005, but he’s returning to Tucson for the second time in his career. Originally from Colombia, Paniagua has lived in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida and Texas in addition to Arizona.

After he graduated from the University of Florida in Gainesville, he worked at a cable television station in Miami, the Univision affiliate in Phoenix, KVOA in Tucson and the NBC affiliate in Houston. In 2004 he took several months off to visit his parents and other relatives and to travel to different parts of the United States and Mexico.

He was glad to hear about the opening at KUAT and is very happy to be part of the team. “Working at KUAT is a true pleasure since it allows me to join a professional and admirable operation,” says Paniagua. “I like to be able to cover a myriad of issues in a longer format so we can provide our viewers with a quality product.”

Paniagua has won several awards for his work in television. He has traveled to Nicaragua, Mexico and Kazakhstan as part of his professional responsibilities and he has also visited several other countries including Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Suriname.

He’s a fan of different cultures, foods and languages. He speaks Spanish fluently and has studied French and German.