KGO’s first Chinese American TV journalist David Louie retires after serving 50.5 years

(SAN FRANCISCO) David Louie had made history as the first Chinese American reporter at KGO-TV in 1972. In 2022, Louie broke another record to retire after serving as a television journalist for 50 years and 6 months.

While Louie had been serving as one of the very few Asian male American television journalists in the Bay Area for over half of a century, many Asian Americans have also grown up with him and seen him as their role model. David Louie became a celebrity long ago, in particular among Asian Americans.

Louie is not only a trailblazer in broadcasting journalism, he has been a leader of his fellow journalists and a super volunteer for the Asian community.

Louie was born in Ohio as a second or third generation of Chinese immigrants. His father came to the United States from Toishan in Guangdong Province, China. His father first settled in Seattle and later moved to Ohio where he started a noodle company. Louie's mother was born in Ohio. Louie grew up in Cleveland where there were very few Asians in school with him.

The American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and 1970s reshaped the entire country. Louie believed the movement had helped to open doors for many minorities, including himself in broadcasting journalism.

Louie fell in love with broadcasting at a very young age. When Louie was only five years old, he began his television career as a youngster in Cleveland, where he participated in a weekly children’s program series for eight years, and later served as a news trainee.

In college at Northwestern University, Louie majored in Journalism and was hired by KGO when he graduated.

Prior to coming to the San Francisco Bay Area to join the KGO, Louie sent his resume to many television stations in the nation looking for jobs. He received two job offers, one from KGO and one from WABC in New York. Both stations are the affiliated local stations of ABC Network. WABC offered him a position as a television news writer. KGO provided him with a reporter position. Louie decided to join the KGO.

Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) also celebrates its 50th anniversary of opening for service in 2022. When BART, the largest mass transit system in the Bay Area, opened in 1972, it was one of Louie’s early assignments.

Before Louie retired on September 30, he covered an in-depth story titled "The birth of BART 50 Years Ago: A bold, challenging vision to entice commuters out of their cars" to look back at the history of BART. It was also one of Louie's final stories before his retirement.

Louie served as KGO's East Bay and Peninsula bureau chief in addition to his assignments. He later developed a specialty as a business-and-technology reporter based in the South Bay and Silicon Valley.

Louie left the Bay Area for a short time in 1977. He moved to join the ABC-Owned KXYZ-TV in Detroit to become the Assistant News Director, first Asian- American in station management. But he returned to KGO two years later.

"I did briefly leave the Bay Area to take a job in management at ABC’s Detroit station, which was owned at that time by ABC, so I never left the company," said Louie. "I had never been to San Francisco when I was hired to work at KGO in 1972, but I knew it was a special place with a growing AAPI community and with a strong tradition of good journalism. Instantly, I felt the Bay Area was a place where I could work as a reporter and develop my identity as a second generation Chinese American."

"I was born and raised in the Cleveland area where the AAPI community was very small, so it was with a sense of discovery and comfort that I could walk around Chinatown and hear both Toisan and Cantonese spoken by shopkeepers and residents," Louie recalled.

Due to the San Francisco Bay Area's unique connection with Asia, Louie was given the opportunities to report from Asia, including a 1979 visit to China. That was the first visit by a local TV news team to China following the normalization of relations between the U.S. and China. "Our coverage included a rare live satellite broadcast from Beijing. There were so many stories to tell, and I couldn’t see myself having these opportunities in other cities, " said Louie.

Louie has been a leader for his fellow journalists for decades. In 1990, he was elected as the National President of Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) which was founded in 1981. Louie is the only Chinese American inducted as the Gold Circle Member of National Academy of Television Arts and Science where he had served as Governor and Trustee for decades.

For the Asian community, Louie has always been seen in the community events as their master of ceremony. "Each of us can and do step up to meet these needs because the health and welfare of the AAPI community is at stake. The can-do spirit of volunteers and community leaders is inspiring, and each of us can play an important role, whether it’s a gift of money, time, leadership or sweat equity," said Louie.

"Most of us have been touched by the kindness of others at some point in our lives as immigrants, newcomers, job seekers, students or elders. Spreading kindness is one of the most rewarding and significant contributions we can make to improve society and our community," Louie added.

When asked about his accomplishments as a journalist for over half of a century, "Sharing people’s stories and providing useful information to empower people to make critical decisions represent a rare opportunity and a very big responsibility," Louie said.

It was estimated that Louie had done over 10,000 stories, perhaps thousands more. As part of Louie's 50th anniversary at KGO and 50th class reunion at Northwestern University, he decided to endow an annual $2,000 scholarship for undergraduate or graduate students at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern with a preference for Asian students.

The scholarship is administered by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation. "The Foundation awarded its first scholarship to me in 1970," said Louie, who was a long-time foundation board member and member of the Medill Alumni Board of Advisers.