|
Broadcast
Pioneers
Leo
Chen
Owner, Producer, Interviewer, and Newscaster,
Am-Asia, TV (San Francisco), 1973
Update by AC Team - Leo passed away
in 2000, a few months after the CHSA honored him for his achievements.
Leo Chen has been
designated by the news media as the "Father of Chinese Television"
in America. He was born in Beijing in 1919 and came to the United
States in 1948. Before his employment as a Chinese professor at San
Francisco State University in 1961, Leo taught at the Defense Language
Institute at Monterey, California.
In
the early 1970s, Leo Chen gathered all his personal resources and
had his wife sell her land in order to produce and sustain San Francisco's
First Chinese language television program, the Am-Asia Television
Station (Meiya dianshitai). It began on Channel 20 from one hour
a week on Sunday at 10:00 p.m. to three hours a week on Sundays.
Leo was the owner, producer, interviewer, and news broadcaster.
Leo Chen's primary
goal was to use television as a vehicle to teach the Chinese language.
When it aired, Am-Asia received many letters from viewers who cried
because they were so happy to see a Chinese program on television.
In 1985, Leo became the first Chinese American granted a license
to do television programming. After a series of changes from Channel
20 to 26, Am-Asia ended up on Channel 38 under Rainbow (Caixia)
TV. Leo closed shop in 1996 due to health reasons.
Leo Chen worked
on media projects including a multilingual version of Xiyouji (Monkey
King) for children, until his passing in 2000 in San Francisco.
He is survived by his wife, Helena, and their three children and
six grandchildren.
Christopher
Chow
Reporter-Producer, KPIX-TV (San Francisco), 1970
Born in San Francisco
and raised in Chinatown, Christopher Chow is noted as the first Chinese
American hired, awarded, and fired as a television news reporter in
San Francisco (KPIX-TV, 1970). He is the first Asian American reporter
to win an Emmy Award for best documentary Pastures of Plenty
in northern California, and the first Asian American to win an Associated
Press Award for television investigative reporting (Under Their
Ancestors Shadows, 1971), and one of the first Asians to share
a DuPont-Columbia Award in broadcast (28 Tonight, KCET Los
Angeles). Chris was also one of the first Asian American public information
coordinators for the U.S. Census and the first media coordinator of
the Asian Pacific Caucus (1984 Democratic National Convention). When
he left the media to work in the community, he became a media consultant
and youth worker for such groups as Chinese for Affirmative Action
and the Korean Community Service Center. His hobby is documenting
community history with the Asian American Media Center. He co-produced/directed
such films as Fall of the I Hotel, Lest We Forget-Highlights of
Korean American Oral History, and Proceedings of the Civil
Liberties Education Fund Conference. He produced the first national
Asian American Writers Conference, and taught at San Francisco State.
Chow now edits an Organization of Chinese America's newsletter and
works for the Commission on the Environment.
Sam
Chu Lin
Reporter-Anchor, KOOL-TV (Phoenix), 1968
Sam Chu Lin is
a reporter/news anchor/radio announcer who found that "informing
and helping others is what makes journalism exciting." As one
of the first Asian American network reporters in New York City (CBS
News), he announced to the nation the fall of Saigon and helped Superman's
creators win their pensions. He's interviewed presidents and world
leaders and covered earthquakes and other major disaster. In China,
he went on the air to report the government crackdown on the democracy
demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. He feels journalism can also be
educational. "It's a chance to use your roots for a positive
purpose." Sam recently convinced ABC's Nightline to do
a program called "Asian American - When Your Neighbor Looks Like
the Enemy" and helped book the guest, checked the script for
accuracy, and found historical footage for the broadcast. He spent
over a year talking with the executive producer about how Asian Americans
have been unfairly stereotyped because of the campaign fundraising
and spy scandals. The program was the highest rated show in its time
slot beating out Jay Leno and David Letterman in the national ratings.
He has been presented with many awards including the AP, UPI, Golden
Mike, National Headliner Award for Best Documentary, Chi Lin is
an Old American Name, and the 1998 Los Angeles Press Club Award
for covering a neighborhood shoot-out. Based in Sunnyvale with his
wife Judy, and their sons Mark and Christopher, he also pioneered
in Silicon Valley, establishing the television news department for
Hewlett-Packard. Sam is a media consultant, contributor to AsianWeek,
Rafu Shimpo, San Francisco Examiner, and reports for
KTTV Fox 11 News in Los Angeles.
Page
2 of 6
|
