Kyung Lah

American journalist
Kyung Lah
나경
Born (1971-08-27) August 27, 1971 (age 52)
NationalitySouth Korean[1]
EducationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
OccupationJournalist
EmployerCNN
Websitewww.CNN.com
Kyung Lah
Hangul
나경
Hanja
羅經
Revised RomanizationNa Gyeong
McCune–ReischauerNa Kyŏng

Kyung I. Lah (Korean: 나경, Korean pronunciation: [na ɡjʌŋ]; born August 27, 1971)[citation needed] is a South Korean journalist and correspondent for CNN based in the United States.[1]

Early life and education

Lah was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Streamwood, Illinois, Lah graduated in 1989 from Hoffman Estates High School in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. She earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1993.[2] She was also a writer for the school's Daily Illini newspaper.

Career

Lah began her career in 1993 as a desk assistant and field producer at WBBM-TV in Chicago. In 1994, she became an on-air reporter for WWMT-TV in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1995, she joined KGTV-TV in San Diego as a reporter.[2]

In January 2000, she returned to WBBM-TV as an on-air reporter.

In early 2003, Lah moved to Los Angeles to take a job at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, where she was a morning reporter and a midday anchor.[2] The Chicago Sun-Times reported at the time that Lah had turned down a "half-hearted (contract) renewal offer" from WBBM-TV.

Despite receiving high praise from management, Lah was allegedly fired from KNBC-TV in Los Angeles in March 2005 for an alleged affair with her field producer Jeff Soto.[3] They were both married at the time and Lah's husband also worked for NBC in the Los Angeles area.[4]

In late 2005, Lah joined CNN Newsource as a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent.[5]

In November 2007, Lah became CNN's Tokyo-based correspondent.[2] A Japanese interpreter always accompanied her. On June 27, 2012, Lah left her post in Japan for a position at the CNN bureau in Los Angeles.[6]

Controversy

Lah has written extensively about Japanese subculture, specializing in men who have married animated characters.[7][8] As a result, she has been criticized by the Japanese and international blogosphere for focusing on the irregular outliers of Japan and for allowing her racial bias to influence what she reports on, rather than the hard-hitting news that was expected from her as a reporter for an international broadcasting company.[9]

Personal life

Lah has declared that she holds a very strong South Korean identity. In a 2006 interview with Dynamic-Korea, she revealed that she "[thinks] about the larger question of being Korean every single moment."[1]

See also

  • Journalism portal
  • Biography portal
  • flagSouth Korea portal

References

  1. ^ a b c Dynamic Korea (July 5, 2006). "Korean American Lah Shines on CNN". Dynamic Korea. Dynamic Korea, Inc. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2011. I am ethnically Korean. I was born in Korea, in Seoul, and immigrated here at the age of seven with my family.
  2. ^ a b c d "CNN TV - Anchors/Reporters:Kyung Lah". Retrieved May 7, 2010.
  3. ^ "KNBC staffers fired over affair".
  4. ^ "3 Fired at KNBC | the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education". Archived from the original on 2014-04-19. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
  5. ^ "Homepage - Global". Archived from the original on 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  6. ^ "@KyungLahCNN" on Twitter
  7. ^ "Domain games Internet leaves the U.S. nest". CNN. October 16, 1998.
  8. ^ "Do men really want to get married?". CNN. July 8, 2009.
  9. ^ Lah, Kyung (June 27, 2012). "CNN's Kyung Lah Leaving Japan". Archived from the original on 2014-04-17.

External links