Race and Coronavirus: When journalists become part of the story

By Pati Navalta

On Feb. 24, an elderly Asian man collecting cans in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood was assaulted, humiliated and reduced to tears. During the incident, one of the attackers yelled, “I hate Asians!” It didn’t take long for the video to go viral, prompting KGO-TV/ABC7 News anchor and reporter Dion Lim to take action. While the motive of the attack is unclear, it came at a time when there was a rise in anti-Asian sentiment due to COVID-19. Since then, Lim has been at the forefront of covering the pandemic’s impact on the Bay Area’s Asian American community. She helped spark several town halls about coronavirus and race at her station and has appeared on national news shows to discuss her coverage.