Best known for his coverage of events in the Far East, Sam Jaffe's acquaintance with that part of the world began as a 15-year old merchant seaman during World War II. After traveling in Japan in the immediate post-surrender period, he returned to California and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley where he specialized in Asian studies. In 1949 he began his career as a reporter-rewriteman with INS in San Francisco. Recalled to active duty in 1950, he covered the Korean conflict as a Marine combat correspondent.
After the war Jaffe worked for a year as Asian news editor for United Nations Radio. In 1952 he joined Life Magazine as a general assignment writer with the periodical's Washington bureau. While on the Life staff Jaffe exhibited his expertise on Asian events through research on Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, and Hinduism articles in a series on world religions. He began a brief stint as roving Far Eastern correspondent for The Nation in 1955. During this period Jaffe was granted an interview with Chou En-lai, the first post-revolution interview given by the Chinese premier.
Shortly thereafter he was offered a post with CBS News. Assignments for the network included coverage of the Nixon-Khrushchev debate and the Moscow trial of Francis Gary Powers. In 1961 Jaffe transferred to ABC to open the network's Moscow bureau. He scored a world news beat in 1964 with his report of Krushchev's deposition. In October of the following year Jaffe was ordered out of Russia as a result of official dissatisfaction with reporting of a story by John Scali from Washington, D.C. ABC then transferred him to Hong Kong, from which point he also covered events in Vietnam. Highlighting this period in his career was a rare interview with Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and a 1967 Overseas Press Club award for his coverage of the burning of Hue.
In December 1969 Jaffe joined Metromedia Radio News as managing editor of its Washington bureau. Shortly thereafter he turned to free-lance journalism, although he spent over two months in China as a special correspondent with UPI.
