Tritia Toyota (born March 29, 1947) is a former Los Angeles television news anchor and a current adjunct assistant professor in anthropology, Asian American studies and the media at the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

Early life and education

Toyota was born in Portland, Oregon. She earned a master's degree in journalism from the

in 1970, and later earned a PhD in anthropology.

Career

Toyota began her broadcast career in Los Angeles in 1970 as a radio reporter with KNX-AM. In January 1972 she was hired as a general assignment reporter at

KNBC-TV KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned-and-operated station, o ...

; she became weekend anchor there in 1975, and was promoted to the 5 p.m. edition of ''NewsCenter 4'' in 1977 followed by the 11 p.m. newscast in 1978. Toyota quit KNBC (which became ''News 4 L.A.'' at the time of her resignation) in March 1985 and, after a standard three-month period between contracts, signed on as a news anchor for ''Channel 2 News'' at

KCBS-TV KCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent out ...

, where she was reunited with many of her fellow KNBC alumni (

Jess Marlow Myron Jess Marlow (November 29, 1929 – August 3, 2014) was an American journalist. He was best known for his work on television in Los Angeles, California, where he spent the bulk of his career. Early career Marlow began his television caree ...

John Schubeck John Schubeck (March 18, 1936 – September 26, 1997) was an American television reporter and anchor, and one of the few to anchor newscasts on all three network owned-and-operated stations in one major market. Schubeck was born in Detroit, Mic ...

and Kevin O'Connell). Initially anchoring at 6 and 11 p.m., by the early to mid 1990s Toyota was relegated to the morning and midday editions of ''Channel 2 Action News''. On November 17, 1999, the '' Los Angeles Times'' reported that Toyota had left KCBS and that she previously had been removed from early morning and noon newscasts in September and October 1999. The story also reported that Toyota had been offered an opportunity to continue at the station and that she had declined. In 1981, Toyota, along with reporters Bill Sing, Nancy Yoshihara, David Kishiyama, Frank Kwan, and Dwight Chuman, founded the

Asian American Journalists Association The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in San Francisco, California with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia. The current pres ...

. Toyota is currently an adjunct professor in the Department of Asian American Studies at UCLA. In 2009 she published a book "Envisioning America: New Chinese Americans and the Politics of Belonging".

Personal life

Toyota is married to Michael Yamaki and lives in the Los Angeles area.

In popular culture

Los Angeles punk rock band

The Dickies The Dickies are an American punk rock band formed in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, in 1977. One of the longest tenured punk rock bands, they have been in continuous existence for over 40 years. They have consistently balanced catchy mel ...

recorded a song called "(I'm Stuck in a Pagoda with) Tricia Toyota." It is unclear whether the misspelling of Toyota's first name was deliberate or accidental. Toyota is also mentioned in "The L.A. Song," a song by L.A. hip-hop group People Under The Stairs, from their 2002 album '' O.S.T.''."The L.A. Song" on Song Meanings
/ref> The TV news reporter character

Tricia Takanawa '' Family Guy'' is an American animated comedy multimedia franchise originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company, primarily based on the animated series '' Family Guy'' (1999–present), its spin-off seri ...

on '' Family Guy'' may have been inspired at least in part by Toyota; KTTV Fox 11 reporter

Tricia Takasugi Tricia Ann Takasugi (born March 2, 1961, in Oxnard, California) is a Japanese-American general assignment reporter for KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles. Biography Takasugi was born in Oxnard, California, one of five children born to the late Nao T ...

has also been suggested as a source for the character.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toyota, Tritia American writers of Japanese descent Television anchors from Los Angeles University of California, Los Angeles alumni Living people Journalists from Oregon 1947 births American women television journalists American women journalists of Asian descent 21st-century American women