Andrea Nguyen Beams Vietnamese American Views In Houston
Award winning television news reporter Andrea Nguyen grew up near Pasadena and returned last summer to Houston to work for CW 39. The Saigon native is passionate that her reporting has positive impact in Houston’s Vietnamese American community.
What made you become a TV reporter?
"When I was a toddler and we had no money to flee Vietnam I took to a soapbox to start singing. I was five when we came to America and learned English listening to country music. My TV debut came at nine when I sang on Vietnam Vision of America, the first Vietnamese television station in Houston. I remember taking a movie camera to pretend I was a news reporter covering family members at the San Jacinto Monument when I was 12.
Growing up I performed at community events, modeled on the cover of several local magazines and hosted and anchored various Vietnamese television shows. I started at the University of Houston pressured by my parents to be a pre-med major, but since I was afraid of needles and blood, I changed majors to broadcast journalism to take advantage of freedom of speech."
What were your earliest broadcast news experiences?
"I was told to forget being a television reporter. I was short, Asian and had a flat nose when all the women reporters I’d seen were tall, buxom blonde and Anglo.
My first opportunity was as a news assistant at KTRK-TV (ABC 13) in Houston working for Dave Ward, Shara Fryer and Marvin Zindler before landing a reporter’s job at KNDU-TV (NBC 25) in Kennewick, WA. I broke a national story, "Col. Casanova," that was a Dateline NBC feature and won a Society of Professional Journalism."
What have been your most important news moments?
"In 2004, I returned to Vietnam on the 20th anniversary of my family’s fleeing from Communism. KNDU aired my 30-minute special "Back To Vietnam: A Journey Home."
The trip’s success led to my second trip to Vietnam as the only broadcast journalist invited to join Washington Governor Gary Locke’s Asian trade tour. Locke introduced me to Vietnam’s Prime Minister and officials as ‘one of Washington’s most successful reporter."
What brought you back to Houston?
"From Washington State, I moved to San Diego to work for FOX 6 News. There I covered hundreds of stories including San Diego’s city hall corruption case, wildfires, mudslides and the disputed Border Minuteman Project. I bought a home in San Diego. I loved the weather but I missed my friends and family in Houston. I missed Houston’s Vietnamese American communities and entrepreneurial spirit.
CW39 turned my dream of returning to my hometown to reality. I’m a professional television reporter at a station in one of America’s big cities but still work nights at my parents’ Laundromat. I sweep floors and customers notice me."
What excites you most about doing television in Houston?
"I love featuring our Vietnamese American community in ways it never would be seen. In this city I’ve done jobs I know have positive impact, volunteering at charities, church and civic efforts."
In Houston has there been a story that has hit you the hardest?
"Recently I reported about how a speeding unlicensed driver killed an innocent law biding driver. I didn’t know until after I completed the story the victim was a friend of mine. My mom was praying when I got home and told me. I was shocked to have reported on a story so close to me."
What Houston stories are your favorites to report?
"I’m spokesperson for Bridge of Hope, which is an effort to get Vietnamese American physicians, pharmacists and other health care professionals to travel to Vietnam to help those that don’t have anyone to care for their health care.
I’ve reported on parents that lost loved ones in the military in Iraq. I love stories where I help to tell stories of struggle and success. There are times when stories don’t end in success. The stories still must be told for everyone’s good."
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