To-wen Tseng
Quick Facts
Biography
To-wen Tseng (Chinese: 曾多闻) is a Chinese American journalist, children's book writer, and breastfeeding advocate. She is best known for her regular news spot "To-wen's World Report(Chinese: 多闻看世界)" on KSCI-TV (LA-18) and her non-fiction book "No Trivial Matter-The Stories Behind The News (ISBN:978-986-86598-4-1, Chinese:微足以道 – 新闻背后的故事)," published in May 2011.
Tseng's magazine work has appeared on Rhythms Monthly, Tzu Chi Monthly, Ideas Magazine, and elsewhere. Her fiction work has appeared on World Journal and elsewhere. Her blog was a Global Chinese-language Blog Award finalist for current affairs/commentary category.
Tseng received a master's degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University. She started her career as a criminal reporter for United Daily News and then TVBS. In 2005, an Apple Daily series report described her as "the reporter in underwear" because she once posted for Modern Girl, a Taiwanese retailer of women's lingerie. The series report badly hurt her credibility and eventually resulted her moving to United States to rebuild her career in 2006.
Work against breastfeeding discrimination
Tseng left KSCI and joined World Journal in 2012 when KSCI filed bankruptcy. She gave birth one year after joining World Journal and then returned to work in September, 2013 after a 3-month-long maternity leave. According to Tseng's personal blog, World Journal refused to accommodate her breastfeeding needs and she was forced to pump her breast milk in a bathroom stall, and was harassed by colleagues for attempting to wash pumping accessories in the office kitchen. Later on October 21, 2013, World Journal published a controversial article that allegedly discriminate breastfeeding women. Titled "Breastfeeding photos embarrass Chinese-American to death," the article cited anonymous resources, labeled breastfeeding photos as "R-rated-photos," described those photos as "disturbing" and "disgusting." The article received strong reaction among Chinese American Community and the Taiwanese Breastfeeding Association launched a protection against World Journal. Tseng contacted Media Watch, which criticized that the report was "misleading" and "biased."These incidents eventually resulted in Tseng's separation from World Journal. In November 2013, Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center submitted a lawyer's letter to World Journal on behavior of Tseng, asking for a policy change to protect breastfeeding women. On August 25, 2014, World Journal agreed to pay for the damage. Tseng has ever since been actively working with San Diego County Breastfeeding Coalition and BreastfeedLA. She also regularly contributes to MomsRising founded by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, and World Moms Network.