Connie Chung facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Connie Chung Povich
Chung in 2008
Born	Constance Yu-Hwa Chung (1946-08-20) August 20, 1946 (age 78) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Education	University of Maryland, College Park (BA)
Occupation	Television news anchor, reporter, journalist
Spouse(s)	Maury Povich ​ (m. 1984)​
Children	1

Constance Yu-Hwa Chung Povich (born August 20, 1946), known as Connie Chung, is a famous American journalist. She has worked as a news anchor and reporter for major TV networks. These include ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC.

Connie Chung is known for her interviews with many important people. She interviewed basketball star Magic Johnson when he shared news about his health. She also interviewed U.S. Representative Gary Condit about a well-known disappearance case. In 1993, she made history as the second woman to co-anchor a main network news show. This was for the CBS Evening News.

Early Life and Education

Connie Chung was the youngest of ten children. She was born in Washington, D.C.. Her family moved from China less than a year before she was born. Her father, William Ling Chung, worked for the Chinese government. Five of her older brothers and sisters died during a war.

She went to Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1969, she earned a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.

A Career in News

Starting Out in Journalism

Connie Chung began her career in the early 1970s. She worked as a reporter in Washington, D.C. for the CBS Evening News. This was during the time of the Watergate scandal, a big political event.

Later, she moved to Los Angeles to anchor evening news for KNXT. This was a CBS TV station. She worked with other anchors like Joe Benti and Brent Musburger. A TV writer from the Los Angeles Times said Connie helped make Channel 2 a respected news source.

Working at NBC

In 1983, Connie Chung returned to national news. She became the anchor for NBC's new morning show, NBC News at Sunrise. This show aired before the popular Today program. She also anchored the Saturday edition of NBC Nightly News. Sometimes, she filled in for main anchor Tom Brokaw during the week. NBC also created two news shows, American Almanac and 1986. She co-hosted these shows with Roger Mudd.

Returning to CBS

In 1989, Connie Chung went back to CBS. She hosted her own show called Saturday Night with Connie Chung. This show was later renamed Face to Face with Connie Chung. She also anchored the CBS Sunday Evening News until 1993.

On June 1, 1993, she became a co-anchor for the CBS Evening News. She was the second woman to co-anchor a major network's weekday news show. While doing this, she also hosted another CBS show called Eye to Eye with Connie Chung. She left CBS in 1995 after her co-anchoring role ended.

Famous Interviews at CBS

Connie Chung conducted many notable interviews. In 1995, she interviewed Kathleen Gingrich, the mother of politician Newt Gingrich. This interview caused a lot of discussion.

A few months later, after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Connie Chung was on the scene. She asked a fire department spokesperson if they could handle the situation. This question led to many people calling and writing letters to the network. After this, Connie Chung left CBS.

Moving to ABC News

In 1997, Connie Chung joined ABC News. She worked as a reporter for 20/20. She also co-hosted the Monday edition of the show with Charles Gibson. In 2001, she interviewed Gary Condit for Primetime Thursday. The interview focused on his connection to the disappearance of Chandra Levy.

She also guest-hosted the morning show Good Morning America. She was also part of the ABC 2000 Today coverage in Las Vegas.

Time at CNN

For a short time, Connie Chung hosted her own show on CNN. It was called Connie Chung Tonight. The show was popular with viewers, but some critics did not like it. Her show was paused when the 2003 Iraq War began. During the war, she only read hourly news headlines. After the war, CNN decided to cancel her show.

Martina Navratilova Interview

In 2002, Connie Chung interviewed tennis star Martina Navratilova. Navratilova had become a U.S. citizen many years before. They talked about Navratilova's opinions on the U.S. political system.

Hosting on MSNBC

In January 2006, Connie Chung and her husband, Maury Povich, started a show together. It was called Weekends with Maury and Connie on MSNBC. This was Connie's first time hosting a TV show since 2003. The show ended a few months later, in June 2006.

Interview Style

Connie Chung's interviews were often gentle. However, she would sometimes ask many sharp questions quickly. People often chose to be interviewed by her when they wanted to share their side of a story. She interviewed Claus von Bülow and U.S. Representative Gary Condit. She was also the first journalist to interview basketball player Magic Johnson after he shared his health news.

Connie Chung was also a judge for the Miss Universe 2011 contest.

Teaching

Connie Chung taught at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. While there, she wrote a paper about how to get exclusive interviews for prime-time TV shows.

Personal Life

Connie Chung has been married to talk show host Maury Povich since 1984. They adopted their son, Matthew Jay Povich, on June 20, 1995.

In September 2024, Connie Chung released her memoir, titled Connie.

Impact

Early in her career, Connie Chung was a trailblazer. She was only the second woman to anchor a major nightly news program in the U.S. She was also the first American of Asian descent to do so. For many Chinese immigrant families coming to the U.S. from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, she was an important role model. Many parents even named their daughters Connie after her. They saw her as a successful woman in mainstream media.

Career Timeline

• 1976–1983: Evening news co-anchor at CBS-owned KNXT in Los Angeles
• 1983–1986: NBC News at Sunrise anchor
• 1983–1989: NBC Nightly News Saturday anchor
• 1989–1990: Saturday Night with Connie Chung/Face to Face with Connie Chung anchor
• 1989–1993: CBS Sunday Evening News anchor
• 1993–1995: CBS Evening News co-anchor (with Dan Rather)
• 1993–1995: Eye to Eye with Connie Chung anchor
• 1998–2000: 20/20 anchor
• 1999–2000: ABC 2000 Today correspondent
• 2002–2003: Connie Chung Tonight anchor
• 2006: Weekends with Maury and Connie anchor

See also

In Spanish: Connie Chung para niños

• Chinese Americans in New York City
• New Yorkers in journalism