Kaity Tong
Kaity Tong (aka Kaity Callahan; born on
July 23,
1949, in
Qingdao,
China) is a veteran Chinese-American broadcast journalist.
She began her career as a street reporter for
KPIX in
San Francisco, and in December 1979 became co-anchor of the 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts on
KCRA-TV in
Sacramento.
In 1981, she moved to
WABC-TV in
New York City. Within two years, she became co-anchor of the station's 5 and 11 p.m. newscasts first with
Tom Snyder from 1983 to 1984, then with
Ernie Anastos from 1984 to 1989, and later co-anchored the 11 p.m. news with
Bill Beutel from 1989 to 1991.
In 1984, she appeared as herself, reporting on the defection of the
Soviet circus clown played by
Robin Williams in the film
Moscow on the Hudson.
She has also played a newscaster in
Wolf,
City Hall,
Marci X,
Night Falls On Manhattan and the 2004 remake of
The Manchurian Candidate.
She was one of the first high-profile
Asian Americans in local television, and is known as a quick on her feet, articulate, pleasant and professional anchor. Her firing from WABC-TV in 1991 caused considerable outrage, especially since she was replaced by Susan Roesgen, who came from a small Midwestern station and who never adjusted to New York. Her discomfort appeared immediately and never dissipated; she barely cracked a smile during her entire tenure. Roesgen lasted only about a year on WABC-TV before being replaced by
Diana Williams in 1992.
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 1992 to 1994, with
Jack Cafferty from 1994 to 1998, and with Ohio native (and sometime editorial writer for
am Magazine), Jim Watkins, since 1998.
She is one of the most respected anchors in New York â€" so respected that some girls were named after her, although a newspaper once confused
Connie Chung with Tong, a common occurrence, which displeased both women.
Kaity is married to
Irish American Patrick Callahan, a photographer. She has a son, Philip, from her first marriage to Robert Long, who is currently the news director and a vice-president at
KNBC-TV in
Los Angeles.
