Jim Avila, a former longtime ABC News senior correspondent whose investigative journalism earned him several of the most prestigious awards in television news, has died. He was 69 years old.
His death after a long illness was announced internally by ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic.
“Jim was a talented journalist and a generous colleague,” Karamehmedovic said in an email to staff.
Ávila had also been a correspondent for 20/20 based in Los Angeles before leaving the network in 2021. He specialized in politics, justice, law and consumer investigations. He had previously covered the White House from 2012 to 2016, during President Barack Obama’s second term.
“He won the prestigious Merriman Award from the White House Correspondents’ Association for breaking the news that the United States and Cuba had reopened diplomatic relations,” according to his official ABC News biography.
Jim Avila, ABC News correspondent
Randy Sager/ABC News
“As Law & Justice’s chief correspondent, he has covered every major trial, from Jerry Sandusky and Penn State to Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson and many others,” the bio said. “He directed immigration reporting, made several trips to the southern border to document immigrant stories, and also covered the death of Freddie Gray and the civil unrest in Baltimore.”
He won numerous awards, including two National Emmy Awards and five Edward R. Murrow Awards, according to the biography. His work also earned him the prestigious Cine Golden Eagle Award, the Mongerson Award for Investigative Reporting, and five Chicago Area Emmy Awards in the Spot News category.
“In 1999, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists honored him with its reporter of the year award,” the biography said. “In addition, he earned three Peter Lisagor Awards from the Headline Club of Chicago, winning for his coverage of the drug war in Peru and the death of Mayor Harold Washington, and was named Best Reporter of 1989.”
He was named to the 2019 Hall of Fame by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.
Avila was most recently a senior investigative reporter at KGTV, the ABC affiliate in San Diego, where he continued to “cover a wide range of stories with depth and fairness,” Karamehmedovic said.
Even after his health problems began, Ávila “continued to contribute to journalism through opinion pieces and local reports, sharing his experience and his deep curiosity to tell the stories that mattered most to his community and his viewers,” the email said.
“We send our deepest condolences to his family, including his three children, Jamie, Jenny and Evan, and thank him for his many contributions and unwavering commitment to seeking the truth,” Karamehmedovic said.
