CeFaan Kim is an American journalist of Korean descent. He is currently an

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

correspondent and reporter for

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, WABC-TV maintains studios in the Hudson Square neighborhood ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Previously, he worked as a reporter for News 12 Westchester/Hudson Valley and as the Queens Reporter for NY1 News, and a political producer for NY1 News.

Personal life

CeFaan Kim was born and raised in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. He is a U.S. Army Reserve veteran. He graduated the non-commissioned officer’s academy on the Commandant’s List. On September 11, 2001, he was inside one of The Twin Towers of The World Trade Center when they were hit by aircraft, and escaped safely shortly before The Twin Towers Collapse.

Career

Kim started his career in 2003 as a field producer for

NY1 News NY1 (also officially known as Spectrum News NY1 and spoken as New York One) is an American cable news television channel founded by Time Warner Cable, which itself is owned by Charter Communications through its acquisition in May 2016. The cha ...

in New York City. While there, he covered several major political events, including the 2008 presidential campaigns of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. Kim later joined News 12 Westchester/Hudson Valley in 2012, where he worked as a reporter. He most notably covered the deadly Metro-North crash in 2015. In September 2015, Kim joined

Eyewitness News ''Eyewitness News'' is a style of television presentation that emphasizes visual elements and action videos, instead of the older ,"man-on-camera" style of newscast, and is most prominently featured in the New York City metropolitan area. Hi ...

. In addition to breaking news coverage, he also reported extensively on poverty in the Asian American community in New York. In December 2016, Kim reported exclusively on Asian American seniors who ride casino buses to make ends meet. During the pandemic shutdown, he reported nightly from the streets of New York City, speaking with health care workers, gravediggers, farmers and others impacted by the health crisis. Throughout the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

CeFaan reported at the forefront covering the rise of anti-Asian crimes and racism that emerged as a consequence., interviewing and telling the stories of countless victims. His reporting helped spark a national conversation on anti-Asian hate and changed how the NYPD investigates anti-Asian hate crimes. CeFaan also reported daily on the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the murder of George Floyd. He covered the 2020 presidential election recount in Pennsylvania, the Chelsea terrorist bombing and protests of President Trump's travel ban at JFK airport. In May 2021, ABC News announced that CeFaan Kim would be joining as a correspondent, splitting his time between the legacy news organization and WABC-TV. He is the former co-chair of the Asian American Journalists Association's Media Watch Committee and serves as an AAJA mentor.

Awards

He is the recipient of a National Edward R. Murrow Award for his coverage during the coronavirus pandemic, a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for his anti-Asian hate coverage, a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for his part in team coverage when New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on federal charges, and five Emmy awards including for his coverage during the BLM protests. Kim was honored by Gold House in May 2021. Kim was among 100 API leaders who were recognized for their impact in advocacy, journalism and other categories.

References

American journalists Living people American people of Korean descent Year of birth missing (living people) {{more cats, date=July 2021