Early on in her decades-long career in broadcast journalism, a network executive told Connie Chung she’d never make it in the industry.
“Not only was I a woman, I was Chinese,” Chung, 78, told NBC’s Today show while promoting her new memoir, “Connie.”
A trailblazer as the first Asian American and second woman to anchor a major network broadcast, Chung said she never let doubts hold her back. In her four decades as a journalist, she has anchored for nearly every major network, covered the Watergate scandal in her 20s and interviewed everyone from Magic Johnson to Donald Trump to Bill Clinton.
She usually worked across from white men or in a room surrounded by white men.
“Most of the time it was a hype man who talked so much he couldn’t fit his head into Madison Square Garden,” she told Today.
Rather than fear this, Chung chose to develop “armor.”
“I decided I was going to be a man,” she said. “I was going to be brave, courageous, foul-mouthed and sassy.”
Her memoir chronicles all of her toughest assignments, her marriage to TV personality Maury Povich, and her career stepping back after adopting a son and becoming a mother at nearly 50.
“It was Maury who said, ‘You’re an old man, you have to do this,'” she said during a separate segment on Today with Hoda and Jenna.
She said adopting her son gave her perspective on life outside of work and how fulfilling it can be.
“I had been so self-centered, so focused on myself and my work,” she said. “Finally, I was able to pour all my love into this beautiful baby. I decided that this is what having a child is about: I love someone else, outside of my shitty job.”
Chung also reflected on her impact on the Asian American community, talking about meeting the women who bore her name – some of them US-born to immigrant parents or immigrants – who were given the name “Connie” because she was the only recognizable Chinese American face on TV.
She describes herself as “loyal” and “determined” during her pioneering days, but she also wasn’t very satisfied with herself.
“I blame it on being a woman and being Chinese, but I’ve never been successful,” she said on CBS Sunday Morning, where she was also promoting her autobiography.
After learning about Konnie’s generation, she said she finally understood the impact of her illustrious career.
“It’s my parents who have deemed me successful,” she says. “If they think I’ve broken the bamboo ceiling and want their daughters to follow in my footsteps in some way, then I have to embrace that mission.”
