NEW YORK (AP) — Some famous people are gifted with buildings or monuments named after them. Veteran broadcaster Connie Chung leaves behind a legacy of marijuana and hundreds of Asian American women.
Five years ago, Chong was approached by fellow journalist Connie Wang. Wang said her Chinese immigrant parents gave her the opportunity to choose an American-style first name when she was a preschooler. She remembered Connie after a beautiful woman she saw on TV and also suggested some random cartoon characters. Her parents made a wise choice.
After attending college, Wang learned that she was part of a special sorority. She was surrounded by Asian American Connie’s of all kinds, many of whom saw Chong as a smart, successful woman whose parents thought their daughters could aspire to professional success. It was a name given to it.
Mr. Chung had no idea about this until Mr. Wang told him about it.
“I was surprised,” she said. “I’m not a crybaby, but I cried really hard.”
It’s clear that her career in television news has had a bigger impact on her than she could have imagined. Chung, now 78, tells about her life in a new memoir, which she has spent 10 years writing and will be released on Tuesday. –“Connie”
she cooks and names
Chung’s career began in the 1970s as a reporter for the legendary CBS news station in Washington, D.C., anchoring stints in Los Angeles and NBC News, and in the 1990s for “CBS Evening News” to fend off Barbara Walters. and formed an ill-fated partnership with Dan Rather. -Diane Sawyer Rivalry at ABC News.
She cooks and yes, she names things too. The presidential candidate who courted her. An actor who is fascinated by Asian women. A male anchor (rather) who had a grudge against her for a long time.
She has been away from broadcasting for the past few years, living a comfortable retirement with her husband, TV personality Maury Povich. Between her absence, her “rather” episodes, and Tarling’s reputation as a high-profile journalist getting more than she could have hoped for, Chung is often ignored.
Not by Wang or any other Kony. Few Asian Americans had that name before or since, she says, but “from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, that was the Connie generation.” Discussions for diversity in the workplace are often made so that young people can see themselves in prominent roles. Rarely do we come across such a concrete example of its effectiveness.
Shortly after writing about this phenomenon, Wang said he had personally heard similar stories from at least 100 connies, but this is probably just a fraction of what’s out there.
“There was literally no one else like her,” Wang said. “She was very professional, tough, but beautiful. Part of what attracted my mother to her was her style. She was very concerned about her appearance.”
she always had to prove herself
Chung was the 10th child of Chinese parents and the only child born in the United States. My parents decided to get married when they were 12 and 14 years old, and they met on their wedding day five years later. Since no sons survived past infancy, her father implored her to bring honor to the family name as she began her career. Instead, the inspiration turned out to be Connie, short for Constance.
Right out of college, Chung worked in local news for two years before landing a job at CBS. One reason for this is that in the late 1960s and early 1970s there was a push to take television a little further away from the world of white men.
“I always had to prove myself,” Chong recalls. “Every day was a challenge because I’m a woman and I’m a minority, but even more so because I’m a woman. There were no skirts in my job.”
She earned respect for her work covering George McGovern’s presidential campaign in 1972, staying up almost all night, and bringing us the scoop on the vice presidential selection. She had to prove herself to older men and fend off predators. Once, in a sly nod to the old cliché that Chinese food doesn’t leave you feeling full for long, he publicly rejected a soaking wet suitor. “You don’t want to sleep with me,” she said. “I’ll be excited after an hour.”
She feels that young people need to hear stories about the sexism and racism they have encountered.
“We’ve come a long way, but what worries me is that we haven’t really come that far,” she said. “Sexism still exists. Anti-Asian racism rears its ugly head in the most depressing ways. Looking back, I realize that while things have changed, it’s not enough. It’s important to me that women and minorities are aware.”
“We were very cooperative.”
From this memoir, it’s clear that she most fondly remembers her days covering tough news, from Watergate to Nelson Rockefeller’s brief tenure as vice president.
Chung became a local newscaster in Los Angeles and then at NBC News in the 1980s. But she frequently struggles with what she considers “women’s stories,” from miniskirts early in her career to celebrity profiles to tabloid fodder like “Scared Sexless” about AIDS on NBC. He said that he had been
She says she often took on jobs she didn’t really want to do. Her reputation was damaged. Although she secretly agreed with some of the criticism, it wasn’t easy to see influential critic Tom Shales calling her a “Connie fan.”
“I never wanted to be called a ‘bad person,'” she said. “I didn’t want to be called a diva. So I collaborated a lot. I think that’s a Chinese thing and a feminine thing. I had double duty. , it was also my own act to agree to do what the higher-ups wanted me to do.”
She returned to CBS News and was named co-anchor with Dan Rather in 1993 as he struggled in the ratings as anchor of the CBS Evening News. Although it seemed like he was at the peak of his career, Chung wrote that he had a premonition of what was to come when he told Mr. Rather during his first meeting that he had to start reading newspapers. There is.
In Connie, Chung writes: I must have been dreaming. They said they wanted to put a ribbon around Dan Rather’s neck to make him look friendly, cuddly, and normal. But instead, I was the one who got caught in the rope. ”
The partnership lasted two years before Chung picked up the axe. She did not accept CBS’ offer for a face-saving role, instead choosing to throw herself into raising Povich and their adopted baby, Matthew.
He then moved to ABC News, where he found satisfying work covering newsworthy investigations that didn’t require him to get involved in the big feud between Sawyer and Walters. She took a prime-time anchor job at CNN, but that didn’t last long. Her television career was coming to an end.
She has another person with the same name.
Ms. Chung recently learned about her other namesake strain, the Connie Chung strain, from her niece. As a journalist, she did some research when she spotted a pack of five pre-rolled joints selling for $22 online.
When Connie Chung was asked if she had ever tried the Connie Chung brand, she politely retorted, then volunteered that she hadn’t smoked marijuana since college, effectively answering the question. However, she took pride in reading about the characteristics of Chong weed.
“I’m easy to grow,” she said. “I make beautiful flowers and one of my favorite things about them is that they are low-maintenance. I don’t think you agree.”
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. please follow him http://x.com/dbauder.
