Connie Chung (1946- )

by JessicaGold

One of the most notable female journalists today, Connie Chung serves as a role model for many young women dreaming of becoming journalists. The daughter of an important Chinese diplomat, Chung grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended Montgomery Blair High School, one of the best secondary schools in the region. Gaining admission to the University of Maryland, College Park, Chung earned a degree in journalism and soon thereafter became a correspondent for CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. During the Watergate scandal, she gained national attention for her attention to detail, eloquence, and concise reports. After the scandal’s conclusion, she moved to Los Angeles in order to work for KNXT, a station operated by CBS and now known as KCBS. From the KNXT studios, she also anchored CBS Newsbriefs, appearing before audiences along the West Coast. Chung later established two new NBC programs, NBC News at Sunrise and American Almanac. She left NBC in the early 1990s to host Saturday Night with Connie Chung on CBS and CBS Evening News, becoming the second woman (after Barbara Walters) to co-host a national news broadcast on a major network. From this success, she launched Eye to Eye with Connie Chung and Face to Face with Connie Chung. In 1995, she began co-hosting ABC News’ 20/20 on Mondays and forged a career in independent interviews. As an interviewer, Chung often mixes soft, innocuous questions with a barrage of hard-hitting inquiries, catching the individual off-guard and often resulting in important insights. She often was the first to interview celebrities first after major news releases. After the disappearance of Chandra Levy, Chung was the first to speak with United States Representative Gary Condit, who had admitted to an affair with her. After Earvin “Magic” Johnson admitted his HIV-positive status, Connie Chung conducted the first interview. More recently, Chung guest-hosted Good Morning America but declined to become a permanent host. Around the same time, she established Connie Chung Tonight on CNN. In 2006, she hosted Weekends with Maury and Connie with her husband, Maury Povich, on MSNBC, which ran for two years. In recognition of her great achievements, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government offered Chung a teaching fellowship. While at the school, she authored The Business of Getting “The Get”: Nailing an Exclusive Interview in Prime Time. Chung’s central role in journalism over the past decades has doubtless inspired countless women to dream of similar positions. She remains an exemplar of what intelligent women may accomplish when they refuse to accept no as an answer and take their careers into their own hands.