User:CmdrDan/Marvin Scott (reporter)

External links[edit]

"Bio: Marvin Scott", WPIX-TV website

Raw Source of a co-workers article:

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|7|23|mf=yes}}<ref>Cf. IMDB entry: {{IMDb name|0867238}}</ref><ref name=New_York_Magazine_6_10_91/><ref name="HUFF2010">Some discrepancy in the age reported. Huff reports that she was 59 years old in 2010. Cf. Huff, Richard, [http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-06-25/entertainment/27068101_1_age-discrimination-tv-news-tv-job "TV reporters reluctant to reveal age, fearful that experience could be used against them"], ''New York Daily News'', Friday, June 25, 2010</ref> | birth_place = [[Qingdao]], [[China]] | residence = [[Manhattan]], New York City | death_date = | death_place = | education = [[Bryn Mawr College]] (B.A., English literature)<br /> [[Stanford University]] (M.A., Chinese and Japanese studies) | family = George and Anita Tong (parents) | spouse = Robert Long (divorced), 1 child <br> Patrick Callahan (divorced) | children = Philip Long<ref name="highbeam.com"/> | occupation = American television journalist/news anchor}} '''Kaity Tong''' ({{zh|c=董恺悌|p=Dǒng Kǎitì}}; born July 23, 1947) is a Chinese-born American broadcast journalist. She has been a television [[news anchor]] in [[New York City]] since 1981. ==Early life== Kaity (pronounced "kite-ee")<ref name = "in a name">Tong, Kaity. [http://weblogs.wpix.com/news/kaitytong/2009/03/whats_in_a_name.html "What's in a name?"], ''[[WPIX]] Blog'', March 4, 2009.</ref> Tong was born in [[Qingdao]], [[China]] and arrived in the United States with her family at age four. Her parents Americanized their names to George and Anita Tong.<ref name="in a name"/> Growing up in [[Washington D.C.]], she was inspired to become a journalist by her great-uncle, Hollington K. Tong, an ambassador to the US from China as well as an acclaimed author.<ref name=New_York_Magazine_6_10_91>Diamond, Edwin. [http://books.google.com/books?id=OukCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=kaity+tong+baby&source=bl&ots=69UVosDH7_&sig=RNyrvV5pLMYfhV7BgDfqptryKz0&hl=en&ei=_rj3S8PTH4WKlwfs8uXVCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CC8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false "New-Girl Network: Anchors get Younger and Blonder"], ''[[New York Magazine]]'', June 10, 1991, p. 20.</ref> Her mother worked for the [[Voice of America]] as a broadcaster and producer in [[Washington D.C.]]<ref name=New_York_Magazine_6_10_91/> Kaity attended [[Bryn Mawr College]] on an academic scholarship. She graduated with honors with a bachelor of arts degree in English literature. She was accepted to the doctoral program of [[Stanford University]] in Chinese and Japanese literature,<ref name=New_York_Magazine_6_10_91/> and she intended to be an instructor in English literature. However, while at Stanford, Tong began her broadcasting career, getting what she thought would be a summer job as morning editor and producer for [[KPIX-TV]] All-News Radio in [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]]. The summer job turned into a year-long stint at the radio station which was the top all-news station in San Francisco.<ref name=The_Modesto_Bee_March_25,_1980>Newton, Kathie. [http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1948&dat=19800325&id=QkgjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=l8wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1265,4485838 "Women: The new TV set Stars share a mystical 'something'"], ''[[The Modesto Bee]]'', March 25, 1980, p. A7.</ref> Tong managed to complete her masters degree in Asian studies but was sidetracked by the news business. ==Career== Tong's television career began as a reporter for KPIX-TV in San Francisco, where she worked from 1976 to 1979. Originally hired as a writer for the station, Tong was asked to do an on-air test and was immediately promoted to a street reporter, where her first on-air story was a report on the new carts that transported people around the airport. In December 1979, she became co-anchor of the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts on [[KCRA-TV]] in [[Sacramento, California]] where she soon became number one-rated out of all the television news personalities in Sacramento.<ref name=The_Modesto_Bee_March_25,_1980/> Referring to the difficulties of having a family and career, she said at the time: "Anchoring is fun. At one time I wanted to be a network reporter, but now I think that is too difficult a life. One of these days I want to have a baby."<ref name=The_Modesto_Bee_March_25,_1980/> In 1981, she moved to [[WABC-TV]] in [[New York City]]. Within two years, she became co-anchor of the station's 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, first with co-host [[Tom Snyder]] from 1983<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=JtgBAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=philip+long+kaity+tong&source=bl&ots=1Ewul9NvxB&sig=xS3aUfFVUkCBomOPennpmWTKwlg&hl=en&ei=Cqr3S5GlO4Gdlgeev8jdCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBIQ6AEwAzgK "Kaity Tong's Bank Problem"], ''New York Magazine'', February 21, 1983.</ref> to 1984 and later with [[Ernie Anastos]] until 1986. She moved to the 6 p.m. newscast, rotating the anchor chair with [[John Johnson (reporter)|John Johnson]] alongside [[Bill Beutel]] after [[Roger Grimsby]] was fired in 1986,<ref>West, Gary. [http://www.mrpopculture.com/files/html/apr24-1986/ Entry], ''Mr. Pop Culture'', April 24, 1986</ref> while still co-anchoring the 11 p.m. broadcast with Anastos until he left for WCBS in 1989. Eventually her sole anchor role was the 11 p.m. news, as Beutel became solo anchor of the 6 p.m. broadcast. In 1984, she appeared as herself, reporting on the defection of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] circus performer played by [[Robin Williams]] in feature film ''[[Moscow on the Hudson]]''. She has also played a newscaster in ''[[Wolf (1994 film)|Wolf]]'', ''Spider-Man'', ''Lost Souls'', ''[[City Hall (film)|City Hall]]'', ''[[Marci X]]'', ''[[Night Falls on Manhattan]]'', and 2004 remake of ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (2004 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]''. Her firing from WABC-TV in 1991 caused considerable outrage. She was replaced by [[Susan Roesgen]], who came from a small Midwestern station and who never adjusted to New York, lasting only a year on WABC-TV. A "Coalition of Asian-American New Yorkers" suggested that Tong's Chinese-American background was the reason. Other supporters of Tong cited her age, which was over 40 at the time, as a main reason for her firing.<ref name=New_York_Magazine_6_10_91/> Station management stated that Tong was released due to her high salary which was $750,000 per year at the time<ref name=New_York_Magazine_6_10_91/> (the equivalent to $1,193,281 in 2010).<ref>[http://www.aier.org/research/worksheets-and-tools/cost-of-living-calculator ''American Institute for Economic Research'' Cost of living Calculator]</ref> [[Capital Cities Communications|Capital Cities/ABC]] chairman [[Thomas Murphy (broadcasting)|Thomas Murphy]] said it was "strictly a business decision."<ref name=New_York_Magazine_6_10_91/> According to Tong, her direct boss Channel 7 Vice President and General Manager Walter Liss acknowledged that Tong's newscast at 11 p.m. had the highest ranking in that time slot, but he wanted "...a much bigger No. 1", and had a vision of what the ideal look of how television should be in the 1990s. Tong declined to repeat specifically what Liss's vision was, other than to say, "I am trying hard to take the high road in all of this."<ref name=New_York_Magazine_6_10_91-2>Diamond, Edwin. [http://books.google.com/books?id=OukCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=kaity+tong+baby&source=bl&ots=69UVosDH7_&sig=RNyrvV5pLMYfhV7BgDfqptryKz0&hl=en&ei=_rj3S8PTH4WKlwfs8uXVCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CC8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false "New-Girl Network: Anchors get Younger and Blonder"], ''New York Magazine'', June 10, 1991, p. 21.</ref> In early 1992, Tong joined [[WPIX]] as the station's top female anchor and has been there ever since. She co-anchored the station's 10 p.m. newscast with Marvin Scott from January 1992 to September 1992, with [[Jack Cafferty]] from September 1992 to October 1998, and with [[Jim Watkins]] from October 1998 to 2010.<ref>Tong, Kaity. [http://weblogs.wpix.com/news/kaitytong/2009/07/its_our_anniversary_jim_and_i.html#more "It's Our Anniversary! Jim and I celebrate 11 Years of Bliss..."], ''KPIX Blog'', July 21, 2009.</ref> She is currently weekend anchor for the station. Tong was involved in a 2010 lawsuit by former news director Karen Scott against WPIX for age discrimination when Scott and other veteran broadcast personnel lost their jobs, later testifying in court.<ref name="HUFF2010">Huff, Richard, [http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-06-25/entertainment/27068101_1_age-discrimination-tv-news-tv-job "TV reporters reluctant to reveal age, fearful that experience could be used against them"], ''New York Daily News'', Friday, June 25, 2010</ref> ==Awards== Tong joined [[Gloria Steinem]] and [[Beverly Sills]] by receiving the Exceptional Achievement Award from The Women’s Project. She was the first woman honored by [[Rotary International]] with its Paul Harris Fellowship. She was also honored with a Star award by the [[New York Women's Agenda]]. She has been recognized by the Chinese America Arts Council for her excellence in communication. She received a Distinguished Woman award from the Chinese-American Planning Council and a Champion of Excellence Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans. A [[naturalization|naturalized]] citizen, Tong received the [[Ellis Island Medal of Honor]] for her work. ==Personal life== Tong has a son, Philip Long, from her first marriage to Robert Long, former news director and a vice-president at [[Los Angeles]]'s [[KNBC-TV]] until September 25, 2009.<ref name="highbeam.com">[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-106594029.html "Broadcast veteran to run news operations at KNBC"], ''[[Los Angeles Business Journal]]'', August 4, 2003.</ref><ref>[http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/politics/Long-Goodbye-61658572.html "KNBC News Director Bob Long Retires"], NBC Los Angeles.com, September 26, 2009.</ref> She later married photographer Patrick Callahan.<ref>Huff, Richard. [http://articles.nydailynews.com/1997-06-24/entertainment/18036054_1_newscasts-anchor-mom "After A Drop From The Top, Tong Feels Anchored"], ''[[New York Daily News]]'', June 24, 1997.</ref> ==See also== * [[Chinese Americans in New York City]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://pix11.com/author/marvin-scott/ "Bio: Marvin Scott"], WPIX-TV website {{Authority control}} {{Persondata  | NAME = Tong, Kaity | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American television journalist | DATE OF BIRTH = July 23, 1947 | PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Qingdao]], [[Peoples Republic of China|PRC]] | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Tong, Kaity}} [[Category:1947 births]] [[Category:Chinese emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:American people of Ningbo descent]] [[Category:Bryn Mawr College alumni]] [[Category:American journalists of Chinese descent]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:New York City television anchors]] [[Category:New York television reporters]] [[Category:Sacramento, California television anchors]] [[Category:San Francisco, California television anchors]] [[Category:Stanford University alumni]]