Editing Connie Chung

{{Short description|American TV journalist (born 1946)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{distinguish|Connie Chiume}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Connie Chung Povich
| image        = ConnieChungByPhilKonstantin.jpg
| caption      = Chung in 2008
| birth_name   = Constance Yu-Hwa Chung
| birth_date   = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1946|8|20}}
| birth_place  = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.
| education    = [[University of Maryland, College Park]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
| occupation   = Television news anchor, reporter, journalist
| children     = 1
| other_names  = 
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Maury Povich]]|1984}}
}}
{{infobox Chinese
| order = ts
| t = 宗毓華
| s = 宗毓华<!--From https://www.mocanyc.org/collections/stories/宗毓华/?lang=zh-hans Museum of Chinese in America-->
| p = Zōng Yùhuá
| w = Tsung1 Yü4-hua2
}}
'''Constance Yu-Hwa Chung Povich''' (née '''Chung'''; born August 20, 1946) is an American journalist who has been a [[news anchor]] and reporter for the U.S. television news networks [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], [[CBS]], [[NBC]], [[CNN]], and [[MSNBC]]. Some of her more famous interview subjects include [[Claus von Bülow]] and [[U.S. Representative|U.S. representative]] [[Gary Condit]], whom Chung interviewed first after the [[Chandra Levy]] disappearance,<ref name="lifetimetv.com">[http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/ip/portraits/9921/9921_index.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716084806/http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/ip/portraits/9921/9921_index.html|date=July 16, 2007}}</ref> and basketball legend [[Magic Johnson]] after he went public about being [[HIV-positive]]. In 1993, she became the second woman to co-anchor a network newscast as part of ''[[CBS Evening News]]''.

== Early life and education ==
[[File:Portrait photograph of Connie Chung from the 1964 edition of the Silverlogue yearbook of Montgomery Blair High School.jpg|left|thumb|248x248px|Chung in 1964]]
The youngest of ten children, Chung was born in Washington, D.C., less than a year after her family emigrated from [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]], and was raised in Washington, D.C.<ref name="Makers">{{cite web|url=http://www.makers.com/connie-chung?hpt=hp_bn18|title=Connie Chung|work=makers.com|access-date=January 28, 2017}}</ref> Her father, William Ling Chung, was an intelligence officer in the [[Chinese Nationalist Government]], and five of her siblings died during wartime.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.wbur.org/npr/137057982/connie-chung-reflects-on-news-family-and-fighting-with-humor?ft=3&f=137057982 | title=Connie Chung: On News, Family, Fighting With Humor | publisher=wBur | date=June 8, 2011 | access-date=June 18, 2014 | author=NPR Staff}}</ref> She was named after singer and actress [[Constance Moore]].<ref name="NYTimes"/>

Chung attended [[Montgomery Blair High School]] in [[Silver Spring, Maryland]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Glover |first1=Mary Clare |title=New Neighbors: Povich and Chung Are Moving Back to Washington |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2009/11/12/new-neighbors-povich-and-chung-are-moving-back-to-washington/ |access-date=August 29, 2018 |work=Washingtonian |date=November 12, 2009}}</ref> In 1969, she graduated from the [[University of Maryland, College Park]] with a degree in journalism.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brennan |first1=Patricia |title=Busy Connie Chung Focuses on CBS's 'Eye to Eye' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1993/06/13/busy-connie-chung-focuses-on-cbss-eye-to-eye/ce0554ca-07e0-4d1c-8db3-8d04885995d4/ |access-date=August 29, 2018 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 13, 1993}}</ref>

== Career ==
===Early career===
Chung was a Washington, D.C.–based [[correspondent]] for the ''[[CBS Evening News]] with [[Walter Cronkite]]'' in the early 1970s during the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] political scandal. Chung left to anchor evening newscasts for KNXT, a CBS [[owned and operated station]] in Los Angeles (now [[KCBS-TV]]). Her co-anchors at KNXT included [[Joseph Benti|Joe Benti]], [[Brent Musburger]] and [[Jess Marlow]].<ref>{{Citation |title=KNXT Klein& Chung Benti News Promos 1977 | date=March 18, 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB3_zYyYCko |access-date=May 11, 2023 |language=en}}</ref> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' TV columnist said Chung "helped give Channel 2 an agreeable, respectable, middle-road identity".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Du Brow |first=Rick |date=January 25, 1992 |title=20 Years of Turmoil Take a Toll at KCBS News |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-25-ca-721-story.html |access-date=May 11, 2023 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Chung also anchored CBS's primetime news updates (''CBS Newsbreak'') for West Coast stations from the KNXT studios at [[CBS Columbia Square|Columbia Square]] during her tenure there.

In early 2018, Chung was asked if she was sexually harassed in her career. She replied, "Oh, yeah! Oh, sure. Yeah. Every day. I mean, a lot. Especially when I started out".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aol.com/article/entertainment/2018/02/09/connie-chung-says-she-was-sexually-harassed-every-day/23357459/ |title=Connie Chung says she was sexually harassed 'every day' as she reacts to Matt Lauer and Charlie Rose scandals |publisher=AOL.com |date=February 9, 2018}}</ref> Later that year, following [[Christine Blasey Ford]]'s testimony to the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary|Senate Judiciary Committee]] alleging she was sexually assaulted by [[Brett Kavanaugh]], Chung wrote an open letter to Blasey-Ford in which Chung said she was assaulted in college by the doctor who delivered her, during an appointment when she approached him for birth control.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/connie-chung-says-she-was-sexually-assaulted-by-doctor-who-delivered-her/|title=Connie Chung says she was sexually assaulted by doctor who delivered her|date=October 3, 2018|work=[[CBS News]]|first=Sarah|last=Lynch Baldwin}}</ref>

=== NBC ===
In 1983, Chung returned to network news as anchor of [[NBC News|NBC]]'s new early program, ''[[NBC News at Sunrise]]'', which was scheduled as the lead-in to the ''Today'' program. She was also anchor of the Saturday edition of ''[[NBC Nightly News]]'' and filled in for [[Tom Brokaw]] on weeknights. NBC also created two newsmagazines, ''American Almanac'' and ''[[1986 (News Magazine)|1986]]'', which she co-hosted with [[Roger Mudd]].

=== CBS ===
In 1989, Chung returned to CBS to host ''Saturday Night with Connie Chung'' (later renamed ''Face to Face with Connie Chung'') (1989–90) and anchor [[CBS Evening News|''CBS Sunday Evening News'']] (1989–1993). The former show was also planned to move to Mondays, but Chung's increasing health commitments and pregnancy led to the show being replaced by ''[[The Trials of Rosie O'Neill]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rosenfeld |first=Megan |date=July 31, 1990 |title=A PREGNANT PAUSE FOR CHUNG? |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/07/31/a-pregnant-pause-for-chung/0faaf6f0-16a4-4c81-bc1a-cde8e151d504/ |access-date=November 28, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> On June 1, 1993, she became the second woman (after [[Barbara Walters]] with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] in 1976) to co-anchor a major network's national weekday news broadcast.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Collins|first=Gail|date=May 21, 2011|title=Opinion {{!}} Katie Couric Moves On (Published 2011)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/21/opinion/21collins.html|access-date=November 16, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>{{Efn|[[Katie Couric]] would become the first woman to serve as the sole anchor of a major network's national weekday newscast in 2006, also at CBS.<ref>Sheila Weller, ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_News_Sorority/aXbZCwAAQBAJ?hl=en The News Sorority: Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, Christiane Amanpour--and the (ongoing, Imperfect, Complicated) Triumph of Women in TV News]'' (2015) pp. 93–110.</ref>|name=couric|group=}} While hosting the ''[[CBS Evening News]]'', Chung also hosted a side project on CBS, ''[[Eye to Eye with Connie Chung]]''. After her co-anchoring duties with [[Dan Rather]] ended in 1995, Chung left CBS. She eventually jumped to ABC News, where she co-hosted the Monday edition of ''[[20/20 (US television show)|20/20]]'' with [[Charles Gibson]] and began independent interviews.

==== Kathleen Gingrich interview ====
In an interview by Chung on ''Eye to Eye'' with Kathleen Gingrich on January 5, 1995, (mother of [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] politician [[Newt Gingrich]]), Mrs. Gingrich said she could not say what her son thought about [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] [[Hillary Clinton]] on the air. Chung asked Mrs. Gingrich to "just whisper it to me, just between you and me"; Mrs. Gingrich's microphone volume was turned up as she replied, "He thinks she's a bitch".<ref>{{YouTube|vecw539MjWM|Newt Gingrich: Hillary "She's A Bitch"}}</ref> Many people interpreted Chung's suggestion to Mrs. Gingrich that she whisper her response as a promise that it would be [[Source (journalism)#Attribution|off the record]]. Bill Carter for ''The New York Times'' reported, "Ms. Chung had become the object of some of the most ferocious criticism, justified or not, ever directed at any network anchor as a result of her now infamous interview with Speaker Newt Gingrich's mother, Kathleen".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/22/us/the-empty-chair.html|title=The Empty Chair|newspaper=The New York Times| page=A-10|first=Bill|last=Carter|date=May 22, 1995}}</ref>  The interview was parodied on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://snltranscripts.jt.org/94/94j.phtml|title=SNL Transcripts: Jeff Daniels: 01/14/95|work=jt.org|access-date=January 28, 2017}}</ref>

==== Oklahoma City bombing interview ====
A few months later, in the wake of the April 1995 [[Oklahoma City bombing]], Chung was widely criticized for sarcasm as she asked an Oklahoma City Fire Department spokesman, "Can the Oklahoma City Fire Department handle ''this?''" Many Oklahomans felt the question was insensitive to the situation. A few women created "Bite Me, Connie Chung" shirts in response to the interview.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Huff |first1=Richard |title=Connie Chung Regrets Rescuer Remark |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/connie-regrets-rescuer-remark-article-1.681122 |website=New York Daily News |publisher=Daily News |access-date=October 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320010317/https://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/connie-regrets-rescuer-remark-article-1.681122 |archive-date=March 20, 2015 |date=April 29, 1995}}</ref> Thousands of viewers in Oklahoma and elsewhere called and wrote letters of protest over the tone of the questions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sutter |first1=Ellie |title=Connie Chung Upsets Students in El Reno |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1995/04/28/connie-chung-upsets-students-in-el-reno/62392703007/ |website=oklahoman.com |publisher=The Oklahoman |access-date=November 2, 2024 |date=April 28, 1995}}</ref> Moreover, co-anchor Dan Rather was irate that Chung was sent from New York to the assignment while he was already in nearby Texas.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mink |first1=Eric |title=CBS Anchor Steams on Sidelines/Rather Out of Bombing Story |url=http://www.greensboro.com/cbs-anchor-steams-on-sidelines-rather-out-of-bombing-story/article_c6bb1415-146c-5c79-8283-9b13e29b03d1.html |access-date=November 2, 2024 |work=News & Record |publisher=New York Daily News |date=April 27, 1995}}</ref> Consequently, after public outcry, and Rather's complaints, Chung left the network after being removed as co-anchor of ''CBS Evening News''.

=== ABC ===
In 1997, Chung moved to [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] as a reporter on ''[[20/20 (US television show)|20/20]]'' and cohost of the Monday edition of the program alongside [[Charles Gibson]]. In 2001, she conducted an interview with [[Gary Condit]] on ''[[Primetime (U.S. TV program)|Primetime Thursday]]'', focusing on his relationship with murdered Washington, D.C., intern [[Chandra Levy]].

She was a guest host of the morning program ''[[Good Morning America]]''. After short-lived host [[Lisa McRee]] left the program, Chung declined to take over on a permanent basis. She also was on ''[[ABC 2000 Today]]'' in Las Vegas.

=== CNN ===
Chung, for a short time, hosted her own show on CNN titled ''[[Connie Chung Tonight]]'', for which she was paid $2 million per year. Though her arrival at CNN was heavily hyped by the network, her show was panned by critics. CNN changed her show from live to tape-delay to improve its continuity. Although it performed moderately well in the ratings (a 500,000 increase in viewers), her show was suspended once the 2003 [[Operation Iraqi Freedom|Iraq War]] began. During the war, she was reduced to reading hourly headlines. Once CNN resumed regular programming, Chung requested that CNN resume broadcasting her show as soon as possible. The network responded by cancelling it, even though her contract had not yet expired. In an interview, CNN founder [[Ted Turner]] called the show "just awful".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/news/sb/2003-02-10|title=Studio Briefing February 10, 2003|website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>

==== Martina Navratilova interview ====
In July 2002, Chung interviewed tennis player [[Martina Navratilova]], who at that time had been a naturalized U.S. citizen for more than 20 years, about her recent criticisms of the U.S. political system. Chung labeled these criticisms "un-American" and "unpatriotic" and suggested Navratilova should "go back to [[Czechoslovakia]]" (which had [[Dissolution of Czechoslovakia|ceased to be a united nation]] nine years earlier) rather than use her celebrity status to gain a platform for her complaints. When Navratilova asked why it was unpatriotic to speak out, Chung replied, "Well, you know the old line, love it or leave it".<ref name="CNN_Chung">"[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0207/17/cct.00.html Navratilova Sets the Record Straight]"-Transcript, ''[[Connie Chung Tonight]]'', ([[CNN]]), Aired July 17, 2002</ref>

=== MSNBC ===
In January 2006, Chung and [[Maury Povich]] began hosting a show titled ''[[Weekends with Maury and Connie]]'' on [[MSNBC]]. It was Chung's first appearance as a television host since 2003. The show was canceled shortly thereafter; in its final episode that aired June 17, 2006, Chung—dressed in a white evening gown and dancing on top of a black piano—sang a parody to the tune of "[[Thanks for the Memory]]". Video clips of the off-key farewell performance circulated on internet video sites. Chung commented, "All I want to be sure of is that viewers understood it was a giant self-parody. If anyone took it seriously, they really need to get a life".<ref>{{Cite news |first=Amy |last=Clark |date=June 20, 2006 |title=Connie Chung's Serenade Gag a Web Hit |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/connie-chungs-serenade-gag-a-web-hit/ |work=[[CBS News]] |agency=CBS/[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

== Interview style ==
Chung's interviews were largely gentle, but often they were punctuated by a rapid-fire barrage of sharp questions. Consequently, her interviews were often used as a [[public relations]] move by those looking to overcome [[scandal]] or controversy. Some of her more famous interview subjects include [[Claus von Bülow]] and [[U.S. Representative|U.S. representative]] [[Gary Condit]], whom Chung interviewed first after the [[Killing of Chandra Levy|Chandra Levy]] disappearance.<ref name="lifetimetv.com" />

== Teaching ==
Chung accepted a teaching fellowship at the [[John F. Kennedy School of Government]] at [[Harvard University]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/ip/portraits/9921/9921_bio_p3.html |access-date=November 23, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210152635/http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/ip/portraits/9921/9921_bio_p3.html |archive-date=December 10, 2006| title= Connie Chung: A Newswoman Who's Making News}}</ref> While at Harvard, she wrote a discussion paper titled ''The Business of Getting "The Get": Nailing an Exclusive Interview in Prime Time''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/publications/papers.html|title=Research & Publications{{Snd}} Shorenstein Center|work=harvard.edu|access-date=January 28, 2017}}</ref><ref>[http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/publications/papers/discussion_papers/d28_chung.pdf Connie Chung, ''The Business of Getting "The Get": Nailing an Exclusive Interview in Prime Time'' April, 1998. D-28.]</ref>

== Personal life ==
Chung has been married to talk show host [[Maury Povich]] since 1984. They have one son, Matthew Jay Povich, whom they adopted on June 20, 1995.<ref name="Through the Years">{{Cite web|last=Waldman|first=Allison J.|title=Maury Povich Through the Years|url=http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/09/maury_povich_through_the_years.php|work=TV Week|date=September 30, 2007|access-date=August 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208013244/http://www.tvweek.com/news/2007/09/maury_povich_through_the_years.php|archive-date=December 8, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

On September 17, 2024, Chung released a memoir, ''Connie''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://people.com/connie-chung-talks-new-memoir-exclusive-8713283 |title=In New Book, Connie Chung is Taking on an Important Story: Her Own |last=Tagen-Dye |first=Carly |work=[[People (magazine)|People]] |date=September 17, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917231917/https://people.com/connie-chung-talks-new-memoir-exclusive-8713283 |archive-date=September 17, 2024}}</ref>

== Impact ==
In her early career, Chung was only the second woman and the first American of Asian descent to anchor a major nightly news program in the U.S. As such, for the growing number of new Chinese immigrants to the U.S. from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, she was a rare, nationally visible representative. Many of these immigrant families, wanting their daughters to achieve and succeed, named their girls Connie after the one woman on mainstream media who could be seen as a role model for them.<ref name="NYTimes">{{Cite news |last=Wang |first=Connie |date=May 11, 2023 |title=Opinion {{!}} Why Are There So Many Asian American Women Named Connie? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/11/opinion/connie-chung-named-after.html |access-date=May 11, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== Career timeline ==
*1976–1983: Evening news co-anchor at CBS-owned KNXT in Los Angeles<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biography.com/people/connie-chung-5466#synopsis|title=Connie Chung|website=Biography.com|date=March 30, 2021 }}</ref>
*1983–1986: ''[[NBC News at Sunrise]]'' anchor<ref name="autogenerated1">{{IMDb name|0161202}}</ref>
*1983–1989: ''[[NBC Nightly News]]'' Saturday anchor
*1989–1990: ''Saturday Night with Connie Chung/Face to Face with Connie Chung'' anchor<ref name="autogenerated1" />
*1989–1993: ''[[CBS Evening News|CBS Sunday Evening News]]'' anchor
*1993–1995: ''[[CBS Evening News]]'' co-anchor (with [[Dan Rather]])<ref name="autogenerated1" />
*1993–1995: ''[[Eye to Eye with Connie Chung]]'' anchor<ref name="autogenerated1" />
*1998–2000: ''[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]'' anchor<ref name="autogenerated1" />
*1999–2000: ''[[ABC 2000 Today]]'' correspondent<ref name="autogenerated1" />
*2002–2003: ''[[Connie Chung Tonight]]'' anchor<ref name="autogenerated1" />
*2006: ''[[Weekends with Maury and Connie]]'' anchor<ref name="autogenerated1" />

== Book ==
* {{Cite book |last=Chung |first=Connie |date=September 17, 2024 |title=Connie: A Memoir |location=New York |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |isbn=978-1-538-76698-9 |oclc=1437542522}}

== See also ==
* [[Chinese Americans in New York City]]
* [[New Yorkers in journalism]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Connie Chung}}
*{{IMDb name|id=0161202|name=Connie Chung}}
*[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0009/11/lkl.00.html Maury Povich and Connie Chung Discuss Work and Family on Larry King Live] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081103012148/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0009/11/lkl.00.html |date=November 3, 2008 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070716084806/http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/ip/portraits/9921/9921_index.html Lifetime's Intimate Portrait: Connie Chung]
*[http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/tv/15440/ Mates: Maury and Connie – ''New York Magazine'']
*[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna13504257 "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" for June 22, 2006: Interview with Connie Chung after her farewell song]
*[http://www.hks.harvard.edu/presspol/publications/papers/discussion_papers/d28_chung.pdf Connie Chung, ''The Business of Getting "The Get": Nailing an Exclusive Interview in Prime Time'' April, 1998. D-28.]
*[http://www.makers.com/connie-chung Connie Chung]  Video produced by ''[[Makers: Women Who Make America]]''
* {{EmmyTVLegends name|connie-chung|Connie Chung}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-media}}
{{succession box |before=[[Dan Rather]] |title=''[[CBS Evening News]]'' [[News anchor|co-anchor]] |years=1993–1995

<small>with [[Dan Rather]]</small>|after=[[Dan Rather]]}}

{{S-end}}
{{60 Minutes}}
{{CNN Anchors}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Connie}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century American journalists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women journalists]]
[[Category:American journalists of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:American television reporters and correspondents]]
[[Category:American women journalists of Asian descent]]
[[Category:American women television journalists]]
[[Category:American women writers of Chinese descent]]
[[Category:American writers of Taiwanese descent]]
[[Category:CBS News people]]
[[Category:CNN people]]
[[Category:Journalists from Washington, D.C.]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:MSNBC people]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]]
[[Category:NBC News people]]
[[Category:Mass media people from Bethesda, Maryland]]
[[Category:Television anchors from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:University of Maryland, College Park alumni]]
[[Category:People from the Upper West Side]]
[[Category:21st-century American memoirists]]