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ABC News Correspondent
John Quinones is a correspondent for the ABC News newsmagazines "Primetime Thursday" and "20/20," and a co-anchor of "Primetime Monday," which premiered in September 2003. He had previously been a correspondent for "PrimeTime Live," since November 1991, and also served as a co-anchor of "Downtown," which premiered in October 1999, covering unique stories for the newsmagazine.
During the recent war in Iraq, Mr. Quinones reported on life inside a busy U.S. military field hospital and also on the role of female Air Force pilots. His has also reported on such diverse topics as the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping case, the plight of conjoined twins and the ongoing search for the notorious Zodiac killer. In a "Primetime" report, he followed along with a group of would-be Mexican immigrants as they attempted to cross into the U.S. via the treacherous route known as "The Devil's Highway." He also traveled to Israel for a CINE Award-winning report about suicide bombers.
On September 11, 2001, Mr. Quinones followed a mother and her daughters as they desperately -- and successfully -- searched for their husband and father thought trapped in one of the fallen World Trade Center towers. Earlier he also contributed reports to ABC News' unprecedented 24-hour, live, global Millennium broadcast, which won the George Foster Peabody Award. In September 1999, he anchored and reported a critically acclaimed ABC News special entitled "Latin Beat," focusing on the wave of Latin talent sweeping the U.S., and reported on the impact of the Latino population explosion and how it might affect the nation as a whole, for which he was awarded an ALMA Award from the National Council of La Raza.
Mr. Quinones' reports for "20/20" have included an in-depth look at the unprecedented lawsuit against the Cuban government by a woman who claimed she unknowingly married a spy; an exclusive interview with a Florida teenager who brutally killed her adoptive mother; and a look at sex abuse in schools, uncovering the story of how an educator continued to teach and allegedly molest students in different school districts despite a history of misconduct. Mr. Quinones was honored with a Gabriel Award for his poignant report that followed a young man to Colombia, as he made an emotional journey to reunite with his birth mother after two decades. He covered the Albanian refugee crisis for a "20/20" one-hour special on Macedonia and Albania. Other stories included a look at women in polygamous marriages in Utah; and an inspiring story about a young boy who was confined to a cage as a child for over two years, and his remarkable recovery with his adoptive parents.
Mr. Quinones has won six national Emmy Awards for his "PrimeTime Live," "Burning Questions" and "20/20" work. He was awarded an Emmy for his coverage of the Congo's virgin rainforest, which also won the Ark Trust Wildlife Award, and he was also honored with a World Hunger Media Award and a Citation from the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for "To Save the Children," his 1990 report on the homeless children of Bogota. His portrait of the Yanomamo Indians in "Window in the Past" received a 1990 Emmy Award.
Joining ABC News in June 1982 as a general assignment correspondent based in Miami, Mr. Quinones provided reports for "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings" and other ABC News broadcasts. He was one of the few American journalists reporting from Panama City during the U.S. invasion in December 1989, filing more than 50 reports detailing the country's turmoil and U.S. efforts to oust Manuel Noriega. He has reported on a wide range of other stories originating from Central and South America, including the political and economic turmoil in Argentina and civil war in El Salvador.
In April 1990, Mr. Quinones received a National Emmy Award for his work on the ABC documentary "Burning Questions -- The Poisoning of America," which aired in September 1988.
Prior to joining ABC News, Mr. Quinones was a reporter with WBBM-TV in Chicago. He won two Emmy Awards for his 1980 reporting on the plight of illegal aliens from Mexico. From 1975 to 1978, he was a news editor at KTRH-Radio in Houston, Texas. During that period, he also was an anchor-reporter for KPRC-TV.
Mr. Quinones received a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech communications from St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas. He received a masters degree from the Columbia School of Journalism.