Spending 40 years at any company or industry is nearly unheard of these days, but local television news reporter, David Louie, is celebrating 40 years as a broadcast journalist with local ABC affiliate, ABC 7/ KGO. I was surprised to hear that Louie has been with KGO for 40 years given that like most Asians, he doesn’t look his age! Louie is the longest serving Asian American news journalist in the U.S.
According to his online ABC bio:
Louie joined ABC7 in 1972 after graduation from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, becoming the station’s first and the Bay Area’s senior Asian American reporter. He has been the East Bay and Peninsula bureau chief, business and technology editor, and financial news anchor, reporting live from the floor of the Pacific Stock Exchange.
As someone who grew up in Western Massachusetts, I really only saw white or black newscasters. The last few years living in Western Massachusetts, I did recall seeing a local Asian American female news reporter. However, I am sure Louie was only one of a few Asian American reporters back in the 1970s.
When I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the summer of 1999, I did experience some culture shock. But I was very pleasantly surprised to see Asian American men and women in the local newscast (including sports!) – which really shouldn’t be a surprise since Asian Americans make over 20% to 30% or more of a lot of cities in the Bay Area.
If you take a look at the video, you’ll see Louie covered the gamut of major news stories in the Bay Area and in the U.S. throughout the years, including a profile and visit to China shortly after the United States re-established diplomatic ties with the country as well as the 1989 earthquake. Congratulations to David Louie on achieving an amazing milestone!
