In 1955, William Yukon Chang began publishing a Chinese American newspaper like no other. The Chinese-American Times (CAT) was the first English-language Chinese American newspaper, but it differed from its contemporary media in a number of critical ways. Unlike its predecessors, which targeted first-generation Chinese speakers, the CAT was the first to cater to the American-born second generation, who spoke English but still wanted to read about Chinese American current events missing from mainstream news sources.
The CAT was also an independent newspaper at a time when many other Chinese American publications in New York served as mouthpieces for Chinese political parties. Chang personally wrote and edited almost all of the content before sending it to a Manhattan copier to be printed. He folded and distributed the paper out of his home in Forest Hills, a growing hub for the Chinese American middle-class in the 50s and 60s. Chang kept his paper running into the 70s by staying politically neutral and focusing on community issues. But as the English-speaking second generation began moving out of New York while the Immigration Act of 1965 brought in a new wave of Chinese immigrants seeking Chinese-language papers, Chang eventually ceased publication after nearly two decades.