Monica Dean is a National Edward R. Murrow Award-winning anchor and reporter for NBC 7 San Diego. She co-anchors NBC 7’s weekday newscasts. Dean joined NBC 7 in 2004.
Most recently, she led a year-long investigation into the sex trafficking and exploitation of children in San Diego and beyond. The findings of her extensive reporting became the foundation of a seven-episode documentary series and multimedia platform titled “STOLEN,” available at nbc7.com/stolen. Since the digital launch of “STOLEN” in August 2020, Dean’s work has been recognized with a Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) National Murrow Award for Excellence in Innovation, three Regional Murrow Awards, a Golden Mike Award, four Emmy Awards, Silver and Bronze Telly Awards, and three honors from the Society of Professional Journalists San Diego chapter.
Throughout her nearly two decades at NBC 7, Dean has earned Emmy Awards for coverage ranging from the 2007 San Diego wildfires to the 2016 protests at the Donald Trump rally in San Diego.
She also helped establish the KNSD Academy, an experiential learning program at NBC 7 & Telemundo 20 that introduces high school students to careers in television news. She regularly emcees galas for nonprofit organizations supporting children, survivors of sex trafficking, and emergency preparedness and response efforts. Dean is also an accomplished motivational speaker.
Dean has lived and worked around the world, but California has always been home. Raised in a military family, she spent part of her senior year of high school as an exchange student in Australia. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from UCLA and her Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where she received the Harrington Award, Medill’s top honor for graduate students.
She began her television news career in 1998 behind the scenes at KTTV FOX-11 News in Los Angeles. She later worked on-air as a Washington, D.C. correspondent for WCAX, the CBS affiliate in Burlington, Vermont. From 2002 to 2004, she worked in Bakersfield, California for KBAK/KBFX-TV, the CBS/FOX affiliates, where she received multiple awards from the Associated Press and the Kern Press Club.
Dean is passionate about family, faith, and community. She is married and has three school-age children, all active in their church community. She frequently volunteers at school, teaches art to elementary students, moderates classroom book clubs, emcees school events, hosts church youth groups, and inspires future journalists through interactive presentations. On weekends, she can often be found cheering from the sidelines at her children’s sporting events and performing arts activities.
The Latest
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NBC 7 San Diego Anchor Monica Dean opens up about surprise colorectal cancer diagnosis, urges screenings
The 21 year veteran of NBC 7 San Diego got a shocking diagnosis of colorectal cancer and shares her journey from diagnosis to treatment and recovery, highlighting the importance of early detection and screening.
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Deadly Failure: A sailor's struggle in a fractured military mental-health system
In this collaboration, Voice of San Diego and NBC 7 shed light on the mental-health crisis in the military, where more than 30,000 service members and veterans in the post-9/11 era have died by suicide.
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Coffee shop is serving up hope in Lemon Grove, one cup at a time
The recently-opened coffee shop uses beans from Talitha Coffee, a San Diego-based company that hires and provides holistic support for survivors of sex trafficking.
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Countdown to 2024 Summer Olympics: A look back at NBC 7's connections to the games
NBC 7 Anchor Steven Luke shares Olympic highlights from the past seven games.
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No stars, no writers? No problem: San Diego Comic-Con powers through Hollywood strike
Despite the SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) writers’ and actors’ strike, San Diego Comic-Con 2023 brought big crowds and revenue to the city.
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Shoreline Community Services helping people and property in Pacific Beach
Change happens in relationship. That’s a motto Caryn Blanton, director of Shoreline Community Services, says she and her team reflect on frequently as they work to serve the needs of hundreds of people facing homelessness in San Diego’s beach communities. Shoreline Community Services is based in Pacific Beach but serves people in the coastal communities from Mission Beach north...
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San Diego-based nonprofit honors International Widows Day
International Widows Day is Friday June 23rd. It’s a day recognized by the United Nations to acknowledge poverty and injustice faced by millions of widows around the world. San Diego-based nonprofit White Rainbow Project is dedicated to serving this vulnerable population halfway around the world in India. White Rainbow Project executive director Rachel lacoboni said the nonprofit has developed...
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Storytellers Hope Their Play Can Help Save San Diego Schoolchildren's Lives
“Zion’s Story” is a theatrical play that teaches the audience to spot risk factors and warning signs of trafficking.
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‘Lives Change Here for the Positive': One on One With the CEO of Father Joe's Villages
Deacon Jim Vargas talks about San Diego’s homeless crisis and the efforts underway to care for the vulnerable population one person at a time
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From Coronado to Everest: Mayor to Ascend World's Mightiest Peak
Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey talks about his upcoming expedition to climb Mount Everest.
