Weijia Jiang

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Weijia Jiang
Weijia Jiang at the 2018 NATO Summit.jpg
Born
Weijia Jiang

(1983-06-06) June 6, 1983 (age 38)
Xiamen, Fujian, China
Alma materCollege of William & Mary (BA)
Syracuse University (MS)
OccupationWhite House Correspondent
Years active2006–present
Notable credit(s)
WCBS-TV New York correspondent (2012–2015)
CBS News White House Correspondent (2018–present)
Spouse(s)
  • Luther Lowe (m. 2018)
Children1
Parent(s)
  • Liya Wei (mother)
  • Huade "John" Jiang (father)
Weijia Jiang
Traditional Chinese姜偉嘉
Simplified Chinese姜伟嘉

Weijia Jiang (Chinese: 姜伟嘉; pinyin: Jiāng Wěijiā; born June 6, 1983) is a Chinese American television journalist and reporter.[1] She is based in Washington, D.C. and has served as the Senior White House Correspondent for CBS News since July 2018.[2] Jiang's question to President Donald Trump about the US COVID-19 testing program[3] during a White House press briefing[4] received global attention and coverage.[5][6]

Early life[]

Born in Xiamen, Mainland China to parents Liya Wei and Huade "John" Jiang, Jiang was two when the family immigrated to the United States.[7] She was raised in Buckhannon, West Virginia where her parents, who are now retired, owned and operated Chinatown Restaurant.[8] At age thirteen, Jiang became interested in journalism after encouragement from her eighth-grade teacher, Dianne Williams. Together, they prepared a home-made TV show to submit to a competition run by the national student broadcast Channel One, leading to an opportunity for Jiang to intern as a student anchor and reporter in Los Angeles for two weeks. During high school, Jiang worked on the high school video news staff under the mentorship of her teacher Julia Conley.[9]

In 2005, Jiang graduated from the College of William & Mary with a bachelor's degree in Philosophy and a minor in Chemistry. She worked on the student-run television station WMTV, and credits the university for developing her curiosity.[10] She earned a Master's in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University, graduating in 2006.[8][11] She was also recognized for her contributions in the field of communications as an inductee of Newhouse School of Public Communication's Professional Gallery in 2012.[12][13]

Career[]

After completing her degree in broadcast journalism and from 2006 till 2008, Jiang was a reporter for WBOC-TV, Salisbury, Md. From 2008 until 2012, she worked at WJZ-TV, Baltimore. From 2012 to 2015, Jiang worked on WCBS-TV, New York as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor where she covered major stories such as the Boston Marathon bombings,[14] the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings,[15] and the Hurricane Sandy.[16]

In 2013, WBZ-TV, Boston, won a regional Emmy award in the 34th News & Documentary Emmy Awards for the spot news coverage of the Newtown Tragedy[17] which Jiang was involved in reporting.[18] In 2014 Jiang was the Gala Dinner MC for the Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Gala Dinner which also featured letters of support from then-president Barack Obama, Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio.[19]

In 2015, Jiang moved to Washington D.C. to become a correspondent for Newspath, the 24-hour news gathering service for CBS News. As part of her role she has covered major political stories such as the 2016 United States presidential elections,[20] the funeral of the First Lady of the United States Barbara Bush,[21][22] and the congressional baseball shooting,[23] also extensively reporting on both the Obama and Trump administrations. In 2018, Jiang became CBS News correspondent for the White House,[24] following her coverage of Donald Trump's G-7 Summit[25] and the Trump administration's 'zero tolerance' policy.[26] Jiang has travelled with President Trump on many occasions, including on-board Air Force One, and has covered stories including President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin's historic summit in Helsinki,[27][28] the Mueller Probe, the 2020 United States Presidential elections,[29] and president Trump's first and second impeachments.[2]

Jiang is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association.[30] She continues to cover the White House as a senior White House Correspondent for CBS News during the Biden Administration.[31]

Confrontations with President Trump[]

As a White House Correspondent during the Trump administration, Jiang had several high-profile clashes with then-President Trump. Trump often reacted insensitively to her line of questioning, in one instance abruptly ending a press conference when she pushed back on his refusal to answer a question.[32][33][34] Trump's interactions with her were widely criticized as racist and emblematic of his hostility to the press.[32]

Memoir[]

Jiang is authoring her memoir titled "Other", set to be published in Spring 2022 by One Signal Publishers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.[35] She will explore her personal trajectory from her childhood in West Virginia, to being part of newsrooms lacking representation, and her role as the only Chinese-American reporter to regularly correspond with the White House. Through her narrative, she hopes to capture her lived experiences of difference and diversity in growing up as an Asian-American woman and a Chinese-American reporter living and working in the United States. Explaining the title, Jiang contextualises "Other" as the violence of discrimination and hate from a lack of knowledge and intolerance towards difference, also expressing her deep concerns about AAPI hate and its negative impact on AAPI communities.[36]

Awards[]

Personal life[]

On March 17, 2018, Jiang married Travis Luther Lowe, an executive at Yelp and a donor to Democratic Party candidates and causes,[40] in Palm Springs, California. Jim Obergefell led the ceremony, which also featured a Chinese tea ceremony. Jiang and Lowe had met in college, where they co-hosted a weekly campus television show.[41] In December 2018, she gave birth to their daughter Frankie Mei.[42]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Asian American journalists on what it's like reporting on the pain in their community". CBS News. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Weijia Jiang". CBS News. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. ^ "U.S. has world's biggest COVID-19 testing programme, says Donald Trump". The Hindu. PTI. July 14, 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved July 29, 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ^ "Trump gets in spat with Asian American reporter". BBC News. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  5. ^ "Trump abruptly ends press conference after spat with reporters". The Hindu. AP. May 12, 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  6. ^ Sandford, Alasdair (May 12, 2020). "'Don't ask me, ask China': Trump clashes with reporter on US tests". euronews. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  7. ^ "Weijia Jiang". Washington Week. April 30, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Weijia Jiang, Luther Lowe". The New York Times. March 1, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  9. ^ "CBS News reporter to serve as parade marshal". The Record Delta. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  10. ^ "Covering COVID-19: W&M alumni reporting from front lines of pandemic". William & Mary. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  11. ^ "Conversation with White House correspondent Weijia Jiang G'06". cusecommunity.syr.edu. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  12. ^ "40 Newhouse alumni inducted into the school's Professional Gallery Nov. 10". Newhouse School | Syracuse University. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  13. ^ "Newhouse School Professional Gallery induction ceremony will be held Nov. 10". SU News. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  14. ^ "Surviving Boston Bombing Suspect Hospitalized As Questions Persist". April 20, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  15. ^ "Visitors Continue Streaming In To Memorial In Front Of Sandy Hook Elementary School". December 18, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  16. ^ "Rapid Repairs Work Completed On More Than 10K NYC Storm-Damaged Homes". January 21, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  17. ^ "WBZ-TV Wins Emmy Award For Outstanding Regional Spot News". October 1, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  18. ^ "Bells Toll In Newtown 26 Times For Victims Of Sandy Hook Shooting". December 21, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  19. ^ "Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business 2014 Gala Dinner" (PDF). June 19, 2014. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  20. ^ "Inside 4 battleground states that could determine the 2016 election". CBS News. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  21. ^ "Barbara Bush Eulogized As 'First Lady Of The Greatest Generation'". Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  22. ^ Boedeker, Hal. "Barbara Bush: TV carries her funeral". orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  23. ^ "Scalise's Condition Improves, But More Surgery May Be Needed". Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  24. ^ de Moraes, Lisa (July 9, 2018). "CBS News Ups Weijia Jiang To White House Correspondent". Deadline. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  25. ^ "Group photo masks underlying tension at G-7 summit". CBS News. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  26. ^ "What happens now to 2,000 kids already separated from families? It's unclear". CBS News. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  27. ^ "Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki: 'Journalist' Sam Husseini kicked out of press conference for raising protest sign-World News, Firstpost". Firstpost. July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  28. ^ "Reporter kicked out of Trump-Putin press conference in Helsinki". CBS News. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  29. ^ "Weijia Jiang's schedule for AAJA19". aaja19.sched.com. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  30. ^ "AAJA Stands with Journalists Pressing for Accountability in Coronavirus Response, Asian American Journalists Association". Asian American Journalists Association. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  31. ^ Johnson, Ted (January 15, 2021). "CBS News Sets D.C. Lineup: Nancy Cordes Tapped As Chief White House Correspondent; Ed O'Keefe And Weijia Jiang Also On POTUS Beat". Deadline. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  32. ^ a b Washington, Adam Gabbatt David Smith in (May 1, 2020). "Trump accused of racism after clash with Asian American reporter". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  33. ^ Scott, Dylan (March 1, 2020). "Trump's new fixation on using a racist name for the coronavirus is dangerous". Vox. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  34. ^ "Weijia Jiang asked a question that left Trump unable to respond. So let's talk about what the answer actually is". The Independent. May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  35. ^ "CBS White House reporter Weijia Jiang is writing a memoir". ABC News. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  36. ^ "CBS News Correspondent Weijia Jiang Reflects On Growing Up In West Virginia, Being An 'Other'". WVPB. March 2, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  37. ^ "PBS Washington Week Profiles: Weijia Jiang". Washington Week. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  38. ^ "2008 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award winners". www.rtdna.org. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  39. ^ "WBOC Wins 11 Awards in AP Contest; WBOC.com Named Outstanding Web Site". www.wboc.com. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  40. ^ "Travis Lowe – $48,636 in Political Contributions for 2016". www.campaignmoney.com.
  41. ^ "Weijia Jiang, Luther Lowe". The New York Times. March 1, 2018. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  42. ^ "Weijia Jiang: 5 Things About The Female CBS Reporter Who Donald Trump Ordered To 'Keep Your Voice Down'". Hollywood Life. April 2, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.

External links[]

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