Longtime television sports reporter and news anchorman Shawn Ching will leave Hawaii News Now following the May Nielsen ratings survey.
"My last day is the end of the May ratings period," he told TheBuzz. The so-called "book" runs from April 25 through May 22.
He is leaving TV — again — to lighten his load.
What many people might not realize is that Ching has been moonlighting in perhaps the most publicly noticeable way possible, as his real day job is his law practice.
"My main point is that I tried to balance both, simultaneously, for as long as I could," he said.
However, "it’s gotten to the point that my growing personal injury law practice … deserves my full attention."
So, after working in his law office during the day, he has scurried to Hawaii News Now’s Iwilei studios to anchor the news before going home to his wife, Stephanie.
No, not Stephanie Lum, a Hawaii News Now anchorwoman.
His wife is actually Stephanie Ching and also is an attorney, specializing in estate planning, wills, trusts, guardianships and the like.
"We speak the same language," he chuckled.
Legalese, we’re guessing.
"I think what I want to emphasize is that I love working in broadcast news. I also love being a lawyer," he said. "I’m extremely humbled and blessed with these two great careers, both of which I love."
"If I could clone myself and do both, I would," he said, but as medical science and technology have not yet advanced to that point, and for the sake of the clients of his practice, he chose law.
Ching graduated from law school in 2003 and has been working in the field for "quite a long time," handling personal injury cases as well as some business litigation.
As a former football player (center for the University of Hawaii, 1987-1991), "getting in there and mixing it up as an advocate is something that really excites me."
"I love working with the person, helping them resolve a problem or issue and finding recovery for them. That’s the satisfaction I get from it."
Ching started his TV news career in 1995 at KITV as what he called "the weekday sports guy," before moving to the weekend anchor desk and general reporting at the station.
In those days he was voted the "Sexiest Man on Hawaii TV" three years running by listeners of your columnist and late husband Cliff Richards on KQMQ-FM 93.1.
He also had a dish named after him at Lanai & Augie’s Ukulele Cafe in Aiea, circa 2001. A serving of Shawn Chicken Ching Wing Dings would set you back only $4.95.
Along the way, Ching lost his mother after a two-year battle against lung cancer.
His law career went full bore when he left KITV in 2008. He worked at Kobayashi, Sugita & Goda, where he specialized in commercial and construction litigation and then at King, Nakamura & Chun-Hoon, where he worked in labor and employment law as well as personal injury and commercial litigation.
In addition to his work as a TV anchorman and sports director, Ching also has done color commentary for University of Hawaii football games and for high school football games.
In a staff email in March, HNN News Director Mark Platte said he was "saddened to announce that Shawn Ching will be leaving Hawaii News Now at the end of the May book to return to his law practice," and credited Ching with having a "huge hand in securing the No. 1 spot for us at 5 p.m. with Stephanie Lum" (not his wife).
Platte also cited other "excellent work" by Ching throughout tsunami warnings, "Hawaii Five-0" red-carpet premieres and election nights.
"Shawn is a class act and I have nothing but praise for him and his tremendous work ethic. He is a smart and talented journalist and has greatly contributed to our success," Platte wrote.
A search for Ching’s successor is underway, and "we’re looking at several people, though he will be hard to replace," Platte told TheBuzz.
Ching was courted by other stations once word of his planned departure leaked out, and while he hopes in some way "to stay connected to TV news … I’m so happy practicing law," he said.
The likelihood of a joint law office shared with his wife has occurred to them. Given that in some personal injury cases there are large awards, and estate planning for survivors would be helpful, "the two (areas of law) complement each other, absolutely. It could be a symbiotic relationship."
After all, they do speak the same language.
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
CORRECTION: Shawn Ching’s wife is Stephanie Ching. Her maiden name was Uechi. A previous version of this story and the story on page B2 in today’s paper said that her maiden name was Stephanie Lum, identical to the name of a Hawaii News Now anchor.
