About Joann Lee
Joann Lee’s career as journalist, author, and educator spans five decades, focusing on the Asian Pacific American Experience, and Asians in media.
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Dr. Joann Lee was the first Asian American reporter at CNN, as well as its first New York Correspondent, covering Wall Street, the United Nations, and the court system. She was also the first APA television reporter to be hired for ABC and CBS local affiliate stations in Sacramento, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The Chinese Historical Society of America selected her as one of its first honorees for its Chinese American Pioneers in Broadcast Award. She is an acknowledged trailblazer, opening television news markets in the 1970s when APA faces were yet to be seen in local TV news.
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Her first book, Asian Americans (New Press 1992) was recognized as Outstanding Book of the Year by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in the United States. Her second oral history book, Asian American Actors (McFarland 2000), exposes and underscores the difficult road many APA actors face in trying to break into Hollywood. Today their stories are freeze frames; providing historic reminders of challenges APA actors confronted in the Hollywood of 20 years ago.
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Asian Americans in the 21st Century, in which Corky Lee talks about his life and work, marked the third book of oral histories on Asian Pacific American experiences in America (New Press 2008).
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Dr. Lee, Professor Emerita, joined the faculty at William Paterson University as Chairperson of Communication, a department which at the time, had 5 area majors and 1000 students. She was also Dean of the Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno. At Queens College, City University of New York, she established and directed the journalism program. During her decade-long directorship, she created the T.W. Wang Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Chinese American Issues, a national journalism award sponsored by the World Journal. She was also a faculty member of the Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, teaching reporting, broadcast news and documentaries.​
Joann Lee grew up in Chinatown, NYC, where she worked briefly as community organizer. In August 1971 she helped spearhead the first Chinatown Street Sweep on Mott Street. Until then, there were no public trash cans to be found at the heart of Chinatown. Following that event the NYC Department of Sanitation committed to placing trash cans at Mott and Bayard Streets, one of the busiest corners of Chinatown where to this day they still stand.
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In the 1960s, Joann along with three others started the first Chinese All-Girls singing group from Chinatown NYC called the Fortune Cookies. They recorded, "It Should Have Been Me" and "Girl In Love" for SMASH label on 45 rpm record.