By Steven Chin
David Chen was the 2004 recipient of the Dr. Suzanne Ahn Award for Civil Rights and Social Justice for Asian Americans for his continuing coverage of the case of David Wong.
Wong is an undocumented immigrant from China who is serving 25 years to life in prison for a jailhouse murder. Interviews with prison employees, inmates and the victim's widow suggest Wong's innocence. On Dec. 10, 2004, prosecutors in Plattsburgh, N.Y., announced that they had filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Wong.
Mike Hale, assistant editor, Arts & Leisure, of The New York Times lauds, "He [Chen] has provided practically the only mainstream coverage of what is not only a troubling case involving an individual Asian's rights in the American criminal justice system, but also an important example of the Asian American community's taking action in defense of those rights."
Where were you born and raised? Describe your upbringing.
I was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and raised in suburban Livingston, New Jersey, as a second-generation Chinese-American. My parents are what people call "mainland Chinese" -- they were born in China, then fled to Taiwan with the Nationalists, before going to the United States for graduate school. I was one of only a handful of Asian Americans who grew up in Livingston, with my younger brother being another one. As such, I often felt very uncomfortable with my ethnicity, and probably tried too hard to conform. I hated Chinese school, for one thing, and hated when my parents tried to speak Chinese to me in public. Of course, I feel completely differently now, as does, thankfully, my four-year-old daughter, who volunteered to go to Chinese school -- volunteered! -- because she wants to communicate with her grandparents.
When did you become interested in journalism?
|
"The most amazing thing about the Wong case was that it had attracted the support of dozens of Asian American activists who did not know Wong but felt strongly about the man that they persisted for more than a decade." |
I worked on the high school newspaper, to be sure, but more because it was a bona fide activity to slap on the ol' resume. I wrote an article for the Yale Daily News, but didn't like the way it was edited. (Some things never change, I suppose ... hah!) But seriously, I became quite interested in writing while I was at college, and became interested in the Asian American experience because of a course on Asian American history taught by the indefatigable Phil Nash, who is a professor, lawyer, Internet entrepreneur and columnist for Asian Week now, I believe. After college, I went to Taiwan to improve my Chinese language skills, and got a part-time job at an English-language magazine. My first story was on AIDS on Taiwan, and all the sexual and social taboos that it connoted, and after that, I began to view journalism as a way to write about people of all backgrounds. I was hooked. Had I not become a journalist, I might have become an academic.
Were social justice issues or Asian American issues a motivating factor in pursuing journalism?
Yes, in the sense that I thought my background could help provide better coverage of Asian Americans, which at that point seemed to be insufficient. My experience with Phil Nash's class also cemented that motivation.
Are there people who have helped you in advancing your skills and career - mentors, role models, programs? How?
In addition to Phil Nash, I have to credit John Pomfret, who was the Beijing bureau chief of the Washington Post, for taking a chance on me and hiring me at AP in Hong Kong. But just about everyone else I have worked with over the years – from fellow reporters to immediate editors – has been a mentor or role model, as well. And I continue to learn new things every day, which I is why I love journalism so much.
When did you join the New York Times. What beats have you covered there?
I started in 1995 covering New Jersey. I have also been bureau chief in upstate New York. More recently, I covered the financial aftermath of Sept. 11, especially the federal Victim Compensation Fund. I have filled in on various desks, too, including a stint last summer in China for the foreign desk, in which I wrote, among other stories, a first-person account of a trip to my father's hometown. These days, I cover housing for the paper, which is both a national beat (HUD policies) and a local one (stories about the way people struggle to get by in a super-expensive city.)
How did you come upon the David Wong story?
I rarely do stories that come from PR pitches. But this one came from someone representing the Center for Constitutional Rights, founded by William Kunstler.
When you first heard of the story, did you think it was a NYT story, what was the response of your editors? How did you sell it?
I conceived of the story a little differently than the pitch, which focused on Mr. Wong's case as a matter of social injustice. To me, the most amazing thing about the Wong case was that it had attracted the support of dozens of Asian American activists who did not know Wong but felt strongly about the man that they persisted for more than a decade. That rare strain of persistence and faith won the editors over. Then, when I started digging and unearthed information suggesting that Mr. Wong was innocent – including an interview with the widow of the guy who was killed, who had never been – the editors were even more interested.
It appears your editors gave you the time to cover it thoroughly and over time. Were they supportive from the start?
The editors have been very supportive of me covering the story over the years. But I always approached them when I felt I had a critical mass of new information that could be tied together into a bigger story, not when I had a few incremental details here and there. At the same time, once I got the green light, they did not put any restrictions on me. This October, when the state appellate court overturned the conviction, I was on vacation, and an editor tried to call me, because he knew that it was my story from the start. I didn't get the message until it was too late – hey, I was on vacation and hard to reach! – but I appreciated the fact that they called me first. And, more recently, they encouraged me to go to upstate New York for a few days to cover some legal proceedings and do an interview with Mr. Wong.
What is it like to cover this story where the subject is a cause celebré and is attracting so much community focus?
It's been quite a whirlwind, I suppose, in the sense that I have been interviewed by the Chinese-language press, and a documentary filmmaker. At the same time, though - and perhaps this says more about the Times than anything else - the Wong case has not generated any more attention than any number of other stories I have done over the years. (Stories about pets and Taiwan-China relations, for instance, have yielded way more responses.) I just try to remind myself that every story is important, and bound to make a deep impression on someone out there.
Did you ever worry about being perceived as advocating too strongly for Wong if you gave it too much coverage or came off to sympathetic toward his supporters? How did you approach this issue?
Yes, I have worried about this. I always worry about this with every story. So I tried very hard to give other parties their say -- both prosecutors and witnesses such as the prison guard who was a key prosecution witness. I tried to be extra judicious in my reporting, gathering all the facts, considering all the angles, and being as skeptical as possible. I noted in every story that no matter whether Mr. Wong was guilty or not, no one was questioning the fact that he was an illegal immigrant who was convicted of armed robbery. And I tried, in every story, to say that nothing was definitive, and based on anecdotes and information provided by people sympathetic to Mr. Wong. After all, I was not there in the prison yard when Tyrone Julius was killed, so I don't know what happened. And after all, sometimes even the most well-intentioned true believers are wrong.
What kind of impact do you think your coverage has had on the Wong case?
That's probably a question better reserved for Mr. Wong's lawyers and supporters. But they have told me that my coverage helped to spark interest in the case, and pave the way for some new leads that unearthed new evidence. Some even say that without the Times' coverage, the case would have ended up like so many others – ignored and forgotten.
What kind of feedback have you received from the community? Others?
It's been mixed. After my first story mentioned that Mr. Wong had been convicted by an all-white jury, I got a nasty voice mail from someone who ranted on and on about race and immigration, or something like that. At the same time, I have received an anonymous letter from a prisoner who said that he was there at the time of murder, and that Mr. Wong did not commit the crime. I have also gotten comments from people in upstate New York saying that my coverage inspired residents to form their own branch of the David Wong Support Committee, led by Mr. Wong's former English teacher, who I interviewed for my first story. Meanwhile, people who are active in Asian American legal or social matters in NYC sometimes mention that they have been following my coverage over the years, as well.
Is there a book deal in this? Future projects related to this story?
I have not thought of a book deal; nor have I been approached. I also think that this would be a hard book to sell to publishers. But I definitely am open to suggestions, and will continue to follow the story.