SOMEONE HELP! Connie Chung, Reporter
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She has been named as one of the “Ten Most Influential Women of the Year,” as well as one of the “Most Influential Voices in America.” Her face is widely recognized by millions of television viewers. You know her as Connie Chung, and she has the reputation for being one of the hardest working news reporters in the business.
Connie YuHwa Chung was born August 20, 1946, in Washington, D.C., into a Nationalist Chinese family. She is the youngest of five daughters and is the only one of them born in America. She says that she grew up in a “traditional Chinese family that celebrated holidays like Chinese New Year.”
Connie attended public schools in Washington, D.C. and the neighboring Maryland suburbs. She earned straight A’s and was a quiet and shy student. After high school, she went to the University of Maryland where she majored in science until her junior year. That summer, she worked for a Republican congressman on Capitol Hill and wrote speeches and produced press releases. She discovered a passion for politics and newspaper reporting, so she returned to college and changed her major to journalism. During her last year of college, she worked for the school newspaper and the campus radio station.
In 1971, after several years of working at a television station as a copywriter, Connie Chung became a CBS News correspondent. Her hiring at CBS came at a time when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was pushing networks to hire more minorities. As a result, she was the first Asian American to break into national network anchoring. She joined a star-studded news bureau at the age of 25 and did all the undesirable tasks cub reporters were expected to do. By sheer luck, she managed to make the team of the legendary “CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite” during her first week at CBS.
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After two years of hard work, in 1973, Chung became the CBS correspondent reporting on national politics. Because she was part of the team that covered the Watergate scandal, she received a great deal of exposure. She was featured on both television and radio every night and soon gained a national reputation. By 1977, she was earning $700,000 a year as the key anchor on the major evening news slots for the Los Angeles CBS station, but she took a salary cut six years later to move to NBC in 1983. Why did Chung leave her comfortable Southern California anchor slot for a heavier workload and a $250,000 pay cut? The answer is simple, according to her. She wanted to become a national reporter again. Soon she was doing primetime newscasts as well as anchor duties and occasional appearances on the morning “Today” show. Her day would begin at 2:30 a.m. and end with an 8 p.m. bedtime. And the gamble has paid off for her. Today, Chung’s face is seen everywhere. She may be anchoring the weekend version of the evening news or hosting one of the weeknight news magazine shows. She has made it to the top of her profession.
Although Chung keeps her private life to herself, it is a wellknown fact that she is married to another widelyrecognized television personality. Chung’s husband is talk show host Maury Povich, whom she married in 1984. They have an adopted son.
It has been rewarding to Chung to become successful, knowing it is due mainly to dedication and hard work. “You have to be aggressive, on the phone and in person, even physically. In my earlier days, I used to really push for the story. Once, a group of reporters were standing around a man we were supposed to interview. I couldn’t see, so I got down on my hands and knees and crawled to the front of the group. But I am more mature now and more sensible in getting a story,” she says.
Asked once whether her goal was to become a network evening coanchor, Chung replied, “My dreams are even more ambitious. I plan on being the first woman to land on Jupiter.”
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