Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (born August 20, 1946) is a journalist from the United States. Broadcast news networks in the United States have used her in various capacities, including anchor and reporter. Claus von Bülow and U.S. Representative Gary Condit, whom Chung interviewed immediately after the disappearance of Chandra Levy, and basketball icon Magic Johnson when he went public with his HIV status are just a few of her more notable interview topics. In 1993, she became just the second woman to co-anchor a network broadcast when she joined CBS Evening News.
Profile Career
- As a CBS Evening News reporter for Walter Cronkite in the early 1970s, Connie Chung’s career took off. A job offer from CBS station KNXT in Los Angeles prompted her to leave her post and begin working as an anchor for the CBS Newsbriefs.
- In 1984, she appeared in a film. For the film ‘Moscow on Hudson,’ she featured opposite Robin Williams as a reporter. Paul Mazursky was in charge of the camera work. The plot revolves around the defection of a Russian musician from the Moscow Circus, performed by Robin Williams. Critical response to the film was overwhelmingly favourable.
- At this point in her career, she was working at NBC in 1983. She rose to prominence as one of the country’s most beloved television journalists within a short period of time.
- Towards the end of 1989, she agreed to a three-year agreement with CBS. ‘Eye to Eye with Connie Chung,’ was the name of her new show.’ Even though it was met with scepticism, it quickly became popular. Many in the media slammed her for putting too much emphasis on entertainment rather than content. Each one-hour episode of the show usually included four or five tales. The reason for her departure from the programme was said to be because she was pregnant at the time.
- She was the first person to interview Magic Johnson, aka Earvin Johnson Jr., when he made his HIV status public in 1992.
- Interview with the mother of Newt Gingrich, Republican politician and 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, in 1995. Chung was criticised for asking Gingrich’s son what he thought of First Lady Hillary Clinton and then ordering her to “whisper it to her” when Kathleen declined to answer on TV.
- Following the bombing of Oklahoma City in April 1995, Connie Chung was once again the subject of debate. When she asked an Oklahoma City Fire Department spokesperson, “How do you feel about this?” she was highly derided for the question’s mocking tone. The co-anchoring position at CBS Evening News was terminated as a result of the tens of thousands of letters of criticism she received. She was subsequently relegated to the role of weekend anchor. In any case, Chung quit the network very quickly.
- She eventually became a correspondent for ABC News, where she co-hosted the Monday edition of ’20/20′ with fellow American journalist Charles Gibson. Gary Condit and Chandra Levy, an American intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, whose death was a major mystery for years, were two of her most renowned interviews, which she did on a variety of topics.
Her own CNN programme, ‘Connie Chung Tonight,’ began airing in 2002. Due to Chung’s reporting commitments during the Iraq War, the programme was put on hold for the duration of the conflict. - In 2002, Chung had an interview with tennis legend Martina Navratilova, which resulted in yet another controversy. Martina was called “un-American” and “unpatriotic” by Chung because she was critical of the American political system. Navratilova, she said, should return to her native Czechoslovakia.
- Later in 2006, Connie Chung co-hosted an MSNBC television show called “Weekends with Maury and Connie” with Maury Povich. It didn’t do well, though, and was shortly taken off the air.
She accepted a fellowship at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where she will teach government policy.
Family, Education, and More
Having arrived in the United States less than a year after her family from China did, Chung grew up in Washington, D.C., where she is the youngest of ten children. A Chinese Nationalist Government intelligence officer, her father William Ling Chung, and five of her siblings perished in the conflict. She attended Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, and the University of Maryland, College Park, where she earned a degree in journalism in 1969.
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Achievements and Awards
Since she began her career as a journalist, Connie Chung has garnered various accolades. US Humane Society received a certification for its broadcasts in 1969 that helped raise public awareness about the brutality of seal hunting, among other honors and awards.
In 1975, ‘The ladies’ Home Journal’ recognized her as the outstanding young lady of the year, and she was nominated for woman of the year.
In addition, she has been awarded honorary doctorates in journalism from a number of institutions.
With Maury Povich (Connie Chung’s Husband) since 1984, she has two children. Although Chung hasn’t formally converted to Judaism, according to Maury Povich, “she knows more Yiddish than you do.” Chung has recently converted to Judaism and attends synagogue services with her family. She and Povich have made it clear that they keep their diets and practices kosher throughout the year. In 1991, Chung declared that she was lowering her workload in the hopes of conceiving. They have one adopted son, Matthew, who was born on June 20th, 1995.
Amount of Money In the Bank:
Connie and her husband have an estimated $ 80 million in wealth.
