Born: December 12, 1969
Age: 54
Birthplace: Miami, Florida, U.S.
Margarita Dania Rodriguez (born December 12, 1969) is a former co-anchor of the CBS television broadcast, The Early Show, from December 2007 to December 2010. Rodriguez was also a substitute anchor for Katie Couric on The CBS Evening News. Rodriguez was formerly co-anchor of the Saturday edition of The Early Show in 2007.
Rodriguez was born in Miami and grew up in South Florida. She graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in 1987. She attended American University in Washington, D.C. and graduated from the University of Miami in 1991 with a degree in broadcast journalism and Spanish. Rodriguez and her husband have two children. Son Michael Tobin was born June 13, 2010. Daniella was born in 2005.
From 1991-94, she served as a reporter for the Univision network in Miami. Her career in journalism began at WLTV-DT (1989-90), a Univision owned-and-operated station in Miami, where she was an associate producer, field producer and assignment editor. From 1994 until 2000, Rodriguez was anchor of the midday news and of a weekend news magazine show at KABC-TV in Los Angeles, California. She was a field reporter and covered a wide array of stories, including earthquakes, mudslides and the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
Before joining CBS News, Rodriguez anchored the 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. newscasts at WFOR-TV, the CBS owned-and-operated station in Miami, from 2000-07. While there, she reported on and anchored coverage of a wide range of major news events, including many hurricanes and, from New York City, the one-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Rodriguez was first on the air with coverage of the transfer of power in Cuba from Fidel Castro to his brother, Raul. The newscast received an RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for its coverage of that story. Rodriguez has received a total of seven Emmy Awards and two RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Awards.
Rodriguez is mostly known for her role as female news anchor on weekday CBS The Early Show from 2008-2010. She worked alongside anchors Julie Chen, Harry Smith, and Dave Price until 2010, when CBS announced Rodriguez, Harry Smith, Dave Price would all be replaced. All three anchors were replaced by Erica Hill and Chris Wragge starting January 3rd 2011. Since her replacement Rodriguez has moved back to Miami.
Rodriguez' alma mater, the University of Miami, awarded her the first-ever "Alpha Epsilon Rho Professional of the Year Award", its top honor for professionals in the communication industry. She also is the recipient of the Hispanic Heritage Council’s "Young Hispanic Leadership Award" for professional accomplishments and community service.