Eighteen year news veteran Lissette Campos says her role focusing on people and organizations making a positive impact on our community is her “dream job”. “What child doesn’t want to grow up to be a superhero and save the world? But, the truth is you don’t need super powers to change the world! With passion and persistence, you can make a difference! Across the bay area, we are surrounded by everyday heroes who are helping to make our community a better place. Being able to shine the spotlight on these unsung heroes is definitely my ‘dream job’”.
Lissette launched “Positively Tampa Bay” in October 2008. The weekday segments are featured in the noon newscast. She first joined ABC Action News in 2001, anchoring the morning & noon newscasts and then the station’s evening weekend news. During Lissette’s tenure, from 2001 – 2005, she traveled to the U.S. Navy Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to report on suspected Taliban and Al Qaida terrorists detained there after the 9-11 attacks. Her reports received the Award of Excellence by the Society of Professional Journalists in 2002. A year after the terror attacks, Lissette anchored ABC Action News’ special coverage of the anniversary, live from ground zero in New York City. Here at home, her regular segments “Cuban Connection” and “Latin Connection” showcased the bay area’s Hispanic roots & history, earning Lissette the Hispanic Woman of the Year in Media award by the Tampa Hispanic Heritage Inc. With a calling for children and family issues, Lissette’s reporting on a young girl’s experience at MDA summer camp resulted in the award winning story, “Christina Goes to Camp” – the 2003 Gold Award from the National Muscular Dystrophy Association.
This Cuban-American journalist began her career in Miami, working at the Univision and CBS stations. Among her most memorable assignments: undercover reports from Russia in 1992 and Cuba in 1996. Both were nominated for Emmy Awards and in 1993 resulted in an Emmy for the Moscow stories. Among Lissette’s most memorable interviews: the Dali Lama; former presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush, Sr.; former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Fidel Castro’s daughter, Alina Fernandez Revuelta, upon her defection to the United States.
“Many folks ask me which story made me nervous the most. Covering crime & corruption stories for so many years, you become immune to it, to some degree. But the day I rode on an F18 fighter jet with the Navy’s “Blue Angels” definitely made me nervous! Traveling at the speed of sound, the g-forces kept me pinned to my seat! It goes down in the history books as my second favorite reporting assignment, though. First place goes to the day I met my husband Angel. We met on assignment in Miami and it was love at first site! Five months later, we were married!” says Lissette.
In addition to television news, her career includes executive roles in Public Affairs & Crisis Communications for the Disney Company, and USF Health at the University of South Florida. Lissette and her husband Angel have two daughters.
