Linda Yu (born December 1, 1946) is a Chinese-American former news anchor and author. Yu is best known as co-anchor on the Eyewitness newscast for

WLS-TV WLS-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on North State S ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

from April 1984 until November 2016. Yu became Chicago's first Asian–American broadcast journalist when she began her news career in Chicago at

WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo outlet WSNS-TV (chan ...

in 1979. For her broadcasting work, Yu has received a total of five local Emmy Awards including one for her report examining the aftermath of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

in 2001. In 1984, Yu was honored with a National Gold Medal from the National Conference of Community and Justice for her documentary, "The Scars of Belfast".

Biography

Early life and education

Originally from

Xian Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqin ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, Yu moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

with her family at the age of three, later migrating to the United States in 1951. Upon arriving in the States, Yu spoke only

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

; knowing just two words of English ("hello" and "thank you"). Yu and her family lived in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

for four years and

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

for two, finally settling in California when Yu was 12 years old. Yu graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism in 1968.

Career

Yu's began her career in broadcasting in 1970 where she became a writer and producer for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles and then as a writer for ABC O&O

KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains stud ...

also in Los Angeles. In early 1975, Yu moved to Portland, Oregon where she had a brief stint as a reporter for

KATU-TV KATU (channel 2) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside La Grande–licensed Univision affiliate KUNP (channel 16). Both stations share studios on NE ...

. After a few months in Oregon, Yu moved back to California where she landed a job as general assignment reporter and back-up anchor for ABC O&O

KGO-TV KGO-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's ABC network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, KGO-TV maint ...

in San Francisco, where she worked until 1979. In August 1977, A news report Yu did helped with the introduction of state legislation to protect residents from uninsured motorists. Yu moved to Chicago in early 1979 and started working at

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

in June of that year. Yu began her career at the station as a general assignment reporter and weekend co-anchor. By February 1980, Yu began working as co-anchor on the 4:30 and 10PM newscasts alongside

Ron Magers Ron Magers (born August 27, 1944) is a former American news anchor. Magers worked for WLS-TV, the ABC owned-and-operated station in Chicago, Illinois, where he co-anchored the top-rated 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. broadcasts with Cheryl Bur ...

. In May 1981, Yu received an Emmy award for a special newscast on the March 30, 1981 assassination attempt on President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

. Yu received a second Emmy award the following year for her report and coverage of a construction accident in Chicago's downtown

Loop Loop or LOOP may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Loop (mobile), a Bulgarian virtual network operator and co-founder of Loop Live * Loop, clothing, a company founded by Carlos Vasquez in the 1990s and worn by Digable Planets * Loop Mobile, an ...

. Beginning in November 1983, Yu became disturbed with WMAQ-TV's management, ending her five-year career with the station in March 1984. In April 1984, Yu joined the

(ABC 7 Chicago) station as co-anchor of the station's 4PM newscast mostly alongside news anchor Joel Daly until his retirement in 2005. Yu also served as co-anchor for the 30-minute 11:30AM newscast alongside Sylvia Perez, beginning in 1992 until the now hour-long 11AM newscast was canceled in 2013. In 1987, Yu received the Emmy for Outstanding Achievement within a Regularly Scheduled News Program, Spot Coverage. Yu and Perez were the first women in the Chicago market to co-anchor a newscast.

Retirement

On September 6, 2016, Yu announced her retirement from WLS-TV and TV news after 46 years in news and 37 years in the Chicago market. Yu's last news broadcast was November 23 at 4PM. Earlier in the day, Windy City Live (an ABC 7 program) aired a tribute show to Yu where her friends, family, co-workers and former co-workers reviewed and celebrated her career as well as her personal contributions to the city.

Personal

Yu married Dr. Richard Baer, a psychiatrist, on June 12, 1982 at St. James Cathedral in Chicago. Shortly after their wedding, Yu and Baer were involved in an auto accident while on their honeymoon in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

; which resulted in Baer being hospitalized due to a mild concussion. Yu has two children, a son Ricky (b. July 1985) and a daughter, Francesca (b. February 1989). Yu and Baer divorced in 1996. In January 2014, Yu broke her leg in a motor vehicle accident.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Linda Living people American television journalists American women television journalists Television anchors from Chicago Television anchors from San Francisco American journalists of Chinese descent 1946 births USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism alumni 21st-century American women