Posted on: Tuesday, September 10, 2002

SPORTS ON TV
Liz Chun will become sports director at KGMB

Advertiser Staff

KGMB-9's Liz Chun is set to become the first female sports director in Hawai'i television history.

Chun, 29, a graduate of Roosevelt High and Colorado State, replaces Dave Vinton, whose last day at the station is Friday. Vinton, 32, a graduate of Mililani High and the University of Hawai'i, has worked at KGMB for nine years, rising from a sports producer to sports director.

"The station decided to make a change," said Vinton, who had a year remaining on his contract and is negotiating a buyout. "Change is part of the business. If you can't take it, you shouldn't get into it. ... I have some great memories working there."

Vinton said he is confident Chun will do well in her new job.

"She's a really good sports journalist and a very hard worker," he said. "I have no doubt she'll be very good because she's a good person and a good journalist."

Lynne Kawano was a part-time KGMB sportscaster in the mid-1990s before moving to Idaho and several women have worked as color analysts on K5's telecasts of University of Hawai'i sporting events. But Chun, who joined KGMB as a camera operator, became the first female sports anchor in 2000.

"I don't ever consider gender an issue," Chun said. "It seems to be a concern of other people but not by me. Keeping that perspective has helped me do my job to the best of my ability."