American television journalist
Weijia Jiang (
Chinese : 姜伟嘉 ;
pinyin : Jiāng Wěijiā ; born June 6, 1983) is an 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
COVID-19 testing program in the United States
[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 13, 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
During a press conference on May 11, 2020, CBS News White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang asked in reference to Coronavirus testing, "Why is this a global competition to you if every day Americans are still losing their lives?", Trump tells her to "They're losing their lives everywhere in the world. And maybe that's a question you should ask China. Don't ask me, ask China that question, OK?"
[14]
[15]
After completing her degree in broadcast journalism and from 2006 to 2008, Jiang was a reporter for
WBOC-TV in
Salisbury, Maryland . From 2008 until 2012, she worked at
WJZ-TV ,
Baltimore . From 2012 to 2015, Jiang worked on
WCBS-TV ,
New York City as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor where she covered major stories such as the
Boston Marathon bombings ,
[16] the
Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings ,
[17] and the
Hurricane Sandy .
[18]
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
[19] which Jiang was involved in reporting.
[20] 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 .
[21]
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 ,
[22] the funeral of the
First Lady of the United States
Barbara Bush ,
[23]
[24] and the
congressional baseball shooting ,
[25] also extensively reporting on both the
Obama and Trump administrations. In 2018, Jiang became CBS News correspondent for the
White House ,
[26] following her coverage of President
Donald Trump 's
G-7 Summit
[27] and the
Trump administration's
'zero tolerance' policy .
[28] Jiang traveled with President Trump on many occasions, including on-board
Air Force One , and has covered stories including Trump and Russian President
Vladimir Putin 's historic summit in
Helsinki ,
[29]
[30] the
Mueller Probe , the
2020 United States presidential elections ,
[31] and president
Trump 's
first and
second impeachments.
[2]
Jiang is a member of the
Asian American Journalists Association .
[32] She continues to cover the White House as a senior
White House Correspondent for CBS News during the
Biden administration .
[33]
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.
[34]
[35]
[36] Trump's interactions with her were widely criticized as racist and emblematic of his
hostility to the press .
[34]
Memoir
Jiang is authoring her memoir titled "Other", set to be published by One Signal Publishers, an imprint of
Simon & Schuster .
[37] 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.
[38]
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,
[42] in
Palm Springs, California . Civil rights activist
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.
[43] In January 2019, she gave birth to their daughter.
[44]
See also
References
^
"Asian American journalists on what it's like reporting on the pain in their community" . CBS News . March 26, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
a
b
"Weijia Jiang" . CBS News . Retrieved April 4, 2020 .
^
"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 .
^
"Trump gets in spat with Asian American reporter" . BBC News . Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Trump abruptly ends press conference after spat with reporters" . The Hindu . AP. May 12, 2020.
ISSN
0971-751X . Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^ Sandford, Alasdair (May 12, 2020).
" 'Don't ask me, ask China': Trump clashes with reporter on US tests" . euronews . Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Weijia Jiang" . Washington Week . April 30, 2020. Archived from
the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
a
b
"Weijia Jiang, Luther Lowe" . The New York Times . March 1, 2018.
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved April 4, 2020 .
^
"CBS News reporter to serve as parade marshal" . The Record Delta . Archived from
the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020 .
^
"Covering COVID-19: W&M alumni reporting from front lines of pandemic" . William & Mary . Retrieved May 12, 2020 .
^
"Conversation with White House correspondent Weijia Jiang G'06" . cusecommunity.syr.edu . Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"40 Newhouse alumni inducted into the school's Professional Gallery Nov. 10" . Newhouse School | Syracuse University . Archived from
the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved May 12, 2020 .
^
"Newhouse School Professional Gallery induction ceremony will be held Nov. 10" . SU News . October 23, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^ Barnes, Patricia (May 12, 2020).
"The Tiresome Taunting Of President Trump" . Forbes . Retrieved February 5, 2023 .
^ Gabbatt, Adam; Smith, David (May 12, 2020).
"Trump accused of racism after clash with Asian American reporter" .
The Guardian .
ISSN
0261-3077 . Retrieved February 5, 2023 .
^
"Surviving Boston Bombing Suspect Hospitalized As Questions Persist" . April 20, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Visitors Continue Streaming In To Memorial In Front Of Sandy Hook Elementary School" . December 18, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Rapid Repairs Work Completed On More Than 10K NYC Storm-Damaged Homes" . January 21, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"WBZ-TV Wins Emmy Award For Outstanding Regional Spot News" . October 1, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Bells Toll In Newtown 26 Times For Victims Of Sandy Hook Shooting" . December 21, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business 2014 Gala Dinner" (PDF) . June 19, 2014. Archived from
the original (PDF) on September 14, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2020 .
^
"Inside 4 battleground states that could determine the 2016 election" . CBS News . October 10, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Barbara Bush Eulogized As 'First Lady Of The Greatest Generation' " . Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^ Boedeker, Hal (April 21, 2018).
"Barbara Bush: TV carries her funeral" . orlandosentinel.com . Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Scalise's Condition Improves, But More Surgery May Be Needed" . Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^ de Moraes, Lisa (July 9, 2018).
"CBS News Ups Weijia Jiang To White House Correspondent" . Deadline . Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Group photo masks underlying tension at G-7 summit" . CBS News . June 8, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"What happens now to 2,000 kids already separated from families? It's unclear" . CBS News . June 21, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki: 'Journalist' Sam Husseini kicked out of press conference for raising protest sign" . Firstpost . July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Reporter kicked out of Trump-Putin press conference in Helsinki" . CBS News . July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Weijia Jiang's schedule for AAJA19" . aaja19.sched.com . Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"AAJA Stands with Journalists Pressing for Accountability in Coronavirus Response, Asian American Journalists Association" . Asian American Journalists Association . May 13, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^ 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 .
^
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 .
^ Scott, Dylan (March 1, 2020).
"Trump's new fixation on using a racist name for the coronavirus is dangerous" . Vox . Retrieved May 13, 2020 .
^
"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 .
^
"CBS White House reporter Weijia Jiang is writing a memoir" . ABC News . Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"CBS News Correspondent Weijia Jiang Reflects On Growing Up In West Virginia, Being An 'Other' " . WVPB . March 2, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"PBS Washington Week Profiles: Weijia Jiang" . Washington Week . Archived from
the original on May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020 .
^
"2008 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award winners" . www.rtdna.org . Archived from
the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"WBOC Wins 11 Awards in AP Contest; WBOC.com Named Outstanding Web Site" . www.wboc.com . Archived from
the original on July 16, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021 .
^
"Travis Lowe – $48,636 in Political Contributions for 2016" . www.campaignmoney.com .
^
"Weijia Jiang, Luther Lowe" . The New York Times . March 1, 2018.
ISSN
0362-4331 . Retrieved May 12, 2020 .
^
"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