Elaine Quijano anchors the hour-long special featuring roundtable discussions with Asian American newsmakers and new reporting from Weijia Jiang
The special premieres on Smithsonian Channel this Sunday, April 4 at 10pm ET/PT
Smithsonian Channel and CBS News partnered to present a new, hour-long special exploring the ongoing rise in discrimination against Asian Americans. ASIAN AMERICANS BATTLING BIAS: CONTINUING CRISIS features updated reporting and two roundtable discussions with Asian American newsmakers and thought leaders on the pandemic’s effects on Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. The special will premiere this Sunday, April 4 at 10pm ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel.
Produced by CBS News’ Race & Culture Unit for CBSN, the special is anchored by CBSN’s Elaine Qujiano and produced and reported by a team of Asian American journalists at CBS News. It features new reporting from CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang, and builds on the original reporting and interviews from last fall in ASIAN AMERICANS: BATTLING BIAS, which streamed on CBSN on Oct. 9.
Two roundtable discussions, led by Quijano, will feature guests including actors Olivia Munn and Daniel Dae Kim, Rise founder and CEO Amanda Nguyen, Stop AAPI Hate co-founder Russell Jeung, and chef Melissa King: and dancer and podcast host Cheryl Burke, journalist Helen Zia, actors Tzi Ma and Jennifer Cheon Garcia, and filmmaker, author and chef Eddie Huang. See previews from the interviews with Munn, Dae Kim, Ma, Cheon Garcia, Jeung and Burke.
Jiang’s new reporting will include the tragic shootings of six Asian Americans in the Atlanta area, the increase in random anti-Asian attacks across the country in recent months and the political push from the White House and Congress to address these issues. Jiang delivered incisive coverage of the Trump administration’s response to COVID-19 as the pandemic tightened its grip on the country. Her reporting extended beyond the briefing room to include pieces like a March 2020 story looking at the early worrisome signs of discrimination and racism affecting Asian American businesses in the United States. Jiang’s steady stream of coverage on the Biden administration’s response to the pandemic has been coupled with poignant reports across multiple broadcasts looking at how the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities have been left reeling after the recent attacks.
The special also includes prior reports from CBS News Correspondent Nancy Chen and Quijano, who has recently interviewed several Asian American political leaders on CBSN’s daily politics show “Red & Blue” about the rise in racism impacting Asian Americans across the country.
