What Happened to Connie Chung? See the Trailblazing Journalist Now - Parade Skip to main content

As the first woman to anchor a network evening news program and co-host at Today, Barbara Walters shattered the glass ceiling for female journalists. One of those women is Connie Chung

Chung, a first generation American, the tenth of 10 children, broke barriers of her own. She became the first Asian and second woman to anchor a major network newscast, when in 1993 she became co-anchor of CBS Evening News

"For a small, diminutive-sized Chinese person who grew up in a very loud family and never spoke up in my life, it was dramatic," Chung told NPR about her decision in 1969 to get into television journalism after she was working as a summer intern for a congressman on Capitol Hill and watching reporters. “I had these three great things going for me. I was young and experienced—and inexperienced. I was a woman and I was Chinese. So I never knew when people were giving me a hard time.” 

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After dreaming she was Walter Cronkite, Chung went on to be a standout at NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN and MSNBC interviewing Magic Johnson after he after he announced that he was HIV-positive and Chinese leader Li Peng. Chung had her own newsmagazine show Eye to Eye with Connie Chung which ended in 1995. She also anchored Connie Chung Tonight on CNN. A winner of three Emmy Awards and a George Foster Peabody Award for broadcast journalism 

Who is Connie Chung?

Connie Chung, an anchor and reporter for NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC has been a journalist since 1969 when she graduated from the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and untimely joined CBS in 1971 working with Walter Cronkite reporting the national news. In 1993, she became co-anchor of CBS Evening News, a first for an Asian American and a woman at CBS.

What happened to Connie Chung?

Although you don't see her too often, Connie Chung is still working and has not officially retired! In 1995, Connie was taken off CBS Evening News. She has since worked with ABC reporting for 20/20 and Good Morning America, anchored CNN, Connie Chung Tonight and starred with her husband Maury Povich on the show Weekends with Maury & Connie. She has also appeared on the TV shows The Undoing, Fresh Off the Boat and House of Cards.

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How old is Connie Chung?

Connie Chung was born August 20, 1946 and is 76 years old.

Who is Connie Chung married to?

Maury Povich

Connie Chung married TV host Maury Povich on Dec. 2, 1984. In 1969, they met at a Washington, D.C. TV station when she was just starting out and he was a seasoned journalist. 

”I would rip the wire copy off the machine and give it to Mr. Povich,” she told People. “He was very gruff and very matter-of-fact. He never looked up. I kept thinking, 'Maybe someday he'll acknowledge that I’m a human being.” After she left the station, their paths didn’t cross again until 1977 when she was an anchor at a CBS station. They dated for seven years before they married in 1984. “All my national success came after I married this woman,” Povich shared with CBS Sunday Morning. “She settled me and encouraged me and was a believer what I had to offer.”

What is Connie Chung doing now?

Connie Chung and husband Maury Povich own a newspaper, The Flathead Beacon in Montana, where they have a house. They split their time between homes in New York, Florida and Montana.

“Connie and I have had a residence in Montana for over twenty years. We felt that the community where we lived in the Flathead Valley deserved more in a daily newspaper than what they were getting,” Povich told Parade in 2018. “It has been honored as the best weekly newspaper and website in the state….We are very proud of the paper, especially in the climate in which print journalism is trying to stay alive and finding new ways to exist.”

Why do we celebrate Connie Chung?

Connie Chung is a trailblazing journalist who helped to shatter gender barriers. On CBS, she was the first woman and Asian person to co-anchor CBS Evening News. And after Barbara Walters, she holds the record as the the second woman to anchor a major network newscast.

What is Connie Chung's net worth?

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Connie Chung and her husband, Maury Povich, are worth an estimated $80 million.

Why did Connie Chung leave CBS?

Two years after co-anchoring the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, CBS removed Chung from the news desk. She was offered a position on weekends and as substitute anchor but instead of taking that position, she asked to be let out of her contract. 

The day after she learned she was taken off the CBS Evening News they learned that they would be adopting their son. “It was really meant to be,” Chung later shared on CBS Sunday Morning.

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How many children does Connie Chung have?

Connie Chung and Maury Povich have one child, Matthew Jay Povich. Matthew Povich, PhD,  is an associate professor of physics and astronomy in the physics department at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. Maury also has two children from his prior marriage to Phyllis Baskin. Susan Anne Povich is an attorney and the co-founder of Red Hook Lobster Pound, which brings fresh Maine lobster direct to Brooklyn. Amy Povich is an actress whose credits include Transamerica, Miss Match and Law & Order.

When was Connie Chung born?

Connie Chung was born Constance Yu-Hwa Chung on August 20, 1946 in Washington, D.C. She was the tenth of 10 children, five of whom died as babies. Her family emigrated from China to the United States less than a year before she was born.

When did Connie Chung retire?

Although you don't see her on TV much anymore, she's not officially retired. She's focusing on her family and the daily newspaper she and Povich own in Montana.

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