Dr. Sanjay Gupta tapped as Obama’s Surgeon General

Big news for Asian Americans (and for the South Asian community): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the affable and seemingly tireless chief medical correspondent for CNN (and a practicing neurosurgeon), is President-elect Barack Obama's choice to serve as Surgeon General of the United States. According to the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz:

Gupta has told administration officials that he wants the job, and the final vetting process is under way. He has asked for a few days to figure out the financial and logistical details of moving his family from Atlanta to Washington but is expected to accept the offer.

It'll be great to have another Asian American high up in the Obama administration, and the pres is smart to hook Gupta, because he's so well-known and well-liked, not to mention trusted, by the general public. But it'll be a loss for journalism, and one less prominent Asian American journalist in the national media.