CeFaan Kim
CeFaan Kim
CeFaan Kim is a journalist. He is the first Korean-American male reporter for ABC 7 in New York City. He is also the new co-chair of the MediaWatch Committee of the Asian American Journalists Association as well as the Media Institute Faculty & Mentor.
Early Life
Kim was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Korean parents.
Between 2000 to 2006, he served in the U.S. Army Reserves as a sergeant.
On September 11, 2001, he was actually inside the World Trade Center and escaped safely.
Education
Kim attended New York University and graduated with his B.A. degree in Broadcast Journalism, and a minor in Pre-law.
Career
NY1 News
CeFaan Kim launcehd his career in 2003 as a photographer and field producer at NY1. In addition, he held a position in Associate Producer covering politics. While working there, he made major editorial decisions, produced and wrote scripts, organized interviews, produced in the live control room, and edited video content. He co-produced Eliot Spitzer's 2006 gubernatorial general election debate, Andrew Cuomo's primary debate in his run for State Attorney General, and Hillary Clinton's 2006 senatorial debate.
Once he gained enough experience, he became the general assignment reporter.
In 2008, he traveled to Iowa and New Hampshire to cover the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Rudolph Giuliani, and Barack Obama.
Since then, he partook in numerous assignments and news stories.
In 2010, during the December blizzard that crippled New York City, he covered an exclusive story about a woman who died while waiting for EMS to arrive and made national headlines. In 2009, he reported for weeks from the epicenter of the H1N1/Swine Flu outbreak.
ABC 7
In September 2015, CeFaan joined ABC 7 New York as a reporter for their Eyewitness News team. Since then, he has covered major national breaking news, including the Chelsea terrorist bombing in September 2016; he was the first TV reporter at the scene.
In 2017, he covered the protests at JFK Airport in response to President Trump's travel ban executive order.
Assault During a Live Assignment
Footage of the Assault against Kim during broadcasting.
On March 3, 2017, CeFaan Kim was attacked by a man in a hockey mask.
He was on Delancey Street covering an attempted rape on the Lower East Side, where he ended up fighting off a complete stranger.
The assailant first put an arm around Kim’s neck.
He then taunted the ABC crew, saying, "Put the camera on me!" He then focused his attention on Kim, saying, “What’s up!
What’s up!” As Kim and the stranger struggled, the masked man pushed and shoved the reporter, knocking him to the ground.
The assailant ran off after a brief stare down.
The man was later identified as Key-Jonta Foster, a rapper.
He told the New York Post that he did it to promote his musical career.
The reason I did it was because I knew I’d get negative feedback from it [...] I can always flip that. I saw an opportunity and took the opportunity to promote my video and mixed tape. From the beginning, it was friendly — I put my arm around him, and then he pushed me, grabbed me.