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Kaity Tong an American Emmy Award Chinese-born broadcast journalist known for having since 1981 working as a television news anchor in New York City.
Kaity Tong Age
Tong was born on 23 July 1947 in Qingdao, China.
Kaity Tong Career
Tong started off her television career working as a reporter for KPIX-TV in San Francisco from 1976 to 1979. She got hired as a writer for the station, and later asked to do an on-air test and was got promoted to serbe as a street reporter, where her first on-air story was a report on the new carts that transported people around the airport. Back in December 1979, she got named co-anchor of the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts on KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California, that saw him rose to the top of the ratings among Sacramento’s television news personalities.
She thereafter relocated to WABC-TV in New York City back in 1981. In two years time she served as a co-anchor for the station’s 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, first with Tom Snyder as of 1983 to 1984, she later together with Ernie Anastos until 1986. After Roger Grimsby got fired back inin 1986, she joined the 6 p.m. newscast, rotating the anchor chair with John Johnson alongside Bill Beutel, while continuing to co-anchor the 11 p.m. broadcast with Anastos until he left for WCBS in 1989.
As Beutel served as the sole anchor of the 6 p.m. broadcast, she as well became the sole anchor of the 11 p.m. news. In the 1984 feature film Moscow on the Hudson, she played herself, reporting on the defection of a Soviet circus performer played by Robin Williams. She as well featured in Wolf, City Hall, Marci X, Night Falls on Manhattan, and the 2004 remake of The Manchurian Candidate as a newscaster.
After her being dismissed from WABC-TV in 1991 sparked widespread outrage. Susan Roesgen, who came from a small Midwestern station and never adjusted to New York, lasted only a year at WABC-TV. Her Chinese-American ancestry, according to a “Coalition of Asian-American New Yorkers,” was the reason.
She has been the station’s weekend anchor. She as well got involved in former news director Karen Scott’s lawsuit against WPIX for age discrimination when Scott and other veteran broadcast personnel lost their jobs in 2010, and later testified in court. Tong returned to weekdays in January 2016, co-anchoring a new 6:30 p.m. newscast with longtime WWOR anchor Brenda Blackmon. However, the newscast was canceled in September 2016, and Tong was relegated to weekends.
Kaity Tong Net Worth
Tong has an estimated net worth of $4.5 million.
Kaity Tong Height and Weight
Tong stands tall at a height of 5 feet and 6 inches (1.6m) and has an average body weight.
Kaity Tong Education
Kaity enrolled and later earned an academic scholarship to Bryn Mawr College. She later earned a Bachelor of Arts in English literature with honors. She was accepted into Stanford University’s doctoral program in Chinese and Japanese literature, with plans to teach English literature. She earned her master’s degree in Asian studies but was sidetracked by the news industry.
Kaity Tong Family
Kaity relocated to the United States along with her family when she was four years old. She was born to George and Anita Tong and became a citizen of the United States in 1985. Her great-uncle, Hollington Tong, served as an ambassador to the United States from China as well as an acclaimed author, inspired her to become a journalist as she grew up in Washington, D.C. Her mother served as a broadcaster and producer for Voice of America in Washington, D.C. She is also the 77th generation descendant of Confucius, the Chinese philosopher.
Kaity Tong Husband
Tong is blessed with a son, Philip Long, from her first marriage with Robert Long a former news director and vice-president at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles until September 25, 2009. She there after married photographer Patrick Callahan, with whom she later divorced.
Kaity Tong Awards
Tong joined Gloria Steinem and Beverly Sills earning The Women’s Project’s Exceptional Achievement Award. She got to be the first woman to earn the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellowship. The New York Women’s Agenda as well presented her with a Star award. The Chinese America Arts Council has recognized her for her communication skills.
She was as well honored by the Chinese-American Planning Council and as a Champion of Excellence by the Organization of Chinese Americans. She is as well a naturalized citizen, and earned the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for her efforts. She as well earaned the the Governor’s Emmy Award in 2018 from the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences “for her four decades of presenting the news with integrity and compassion.” She also earned several Emmys, including Outstanding Event Coverage for “9/11 America Remembers” in 2003 and Outstanding Single Newscast over 35 Minutes for “WB11 News at 10: 9/11 Day of Tribute” in 2004.