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Welcome to the 1998 AAJA Seattle news archive.
UNITY Coming Next Year UNITY Coming Next Year
Members of the charitable, not-for-profit organization are the Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists and Native American Journalists Association. UNITY began as a dream of a few individuals who wanted to demonstrate that people of color could work together to advance diversity issues within the media. In the summer of 1994, more than 6,000 journalists, mostly people of color, converged in Atlanta for UNITY '94. It was the largest gathering of journalists ever. The 1999 convention will feature plenary sessions on topical news issues and 60 to 70 skills-based workshops for print and broadcast journalists, and new media practitioners. College students will produce a daily newspaper, television and radio broadcast and an on-line service. Media companies also will be able to recruit at the industry's largest Job Fair.
MISSION To stem the exodus of people of color from the industry, through fairer promotion practices, more representative media leadership and development of role models. To improve coverage of people of color by dispelling stereotypes and myths and increasing understanding of other cultures. To educate mainstream media on the value and importance of diversity and to ensure inclusion of, and access by, people of color in diversity discussions and decisions. To serve as a working model on diversity and inclusiveness and to promote the UNITY collective agendas and the individual agendas of its member organizations. To establish the issues as a public priority by sending a message to the news industry and the American public.
UNITY President Speaks at Holiday Dinner
Briggs remembers at age 23, she was told by her editors that she was "too Indian."
"When I should have been learning to write a better lead, I was instead learning how to fight racial harrassment in the newsroom," Briggs said.
Briggs, now the president of the Native American Journalists Association, was the speaker at the annual holiday party sponsored by AAJA Seattle and the Society of Professional Journalists. She said the UNITY '99 convention in Seattle will set the direction for journalists in the new millennium.
"That one experience with my first job is an extreme case of what we all potentially face," Briggs said. "The media needs to change because the population is changing."
In the spirit of UNITY, AAJA and SPJ were joined by members of the Black Journalists Association of Seattle, the Latino Media Association, NAJA and the local chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.
Briggs urged members to attend UNITY in July 1999. She promised the convention will be more than a "feel good" celebration of diversity.
Now that the UNITY board has affirmed its commitment to come to Seattle, Briggs also addressed the debate over I-200, an initiative Washington voters recently passed to restrict affirmative action. Some members had suggested a boycott of Washington state because of the initiative. "We know that we're not wanted everywhere we go," Briggs said. "But if we go, we may be able to educate the community."
The annual holiday dinner was held at the Moutainiers Club on Queen Anne Hill.
UNITY Faces Debate Over I-200
"Initiative 200 becoming law tested UNITY in interpreting how it should fulfill its mission in advancing the presence, growth and leadership of journalists of color in the news industry, and forced us to look at whether the state of Washington was the place to pursue that mission," said UNITY
President Kara Briggs, also president of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA). "UNITY is coming to Seattle and is strong in its commitment to shed light on affirmative action and diversity in America's newsrooms through the UNITY `99 convention. The fact that we stand together in this effort is a testament to the power of UNITY."
In addition to NAJA, UNITY: Journalists of Color is comprised of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ).
Statement of NABJ Board:
The Board will work with Unity: Journalists of Color to ensure that we develop a conference program which addresses questions being raised within our memberships and our communities about the state of race relations in our country, including the future of Affirmative Action.
As NABJ has throughout its 23-year history, we will continue to challenge newsroom managers to hire more African American journalists and to question the media's role in shaping racial attitudes in a diverse society.
We look forward to a successful and meaningful conference.
UNITY to Focus on Affirmative Action
UNITY: Journalists of Color Inc. voted at its weekend meeting to move
forward with plans to hold a joint convention in Seattle in 1999 despite
concern over Washington state’s Initiative 200. On Nov. 3 Washington voters
will decide on I-200, a referendum which bans consideration of race and
gender in public hiring, contracting and education.
The alliance -- made up of four national associations representing black,
Hispanic, Native American and Asian American journalists -- passed a
resolution calling for a “dual strategy” that explores how the media cover
affirmative action and practice it in newsrooms, as well as creating
opportunities for convention goers to experience cultural enrichment and
understanding.
“As journalists of color, we cannot forget the sacrifices made and lives
lost in our communities over the fight for equal rights,” said Kara Briggs,
UNITY president and president of the Native American Journalists
Association (NAJA). “It’s a struggle for some members of our alliance to
reconcile spending time and money in a political environment that fails to
recognize and appreciate the importance of providing equal opportunities.”
Still, many members of the UNITY coalition believe that holding UNITY `99
in the state of Washington will make a statement and raise the affirmative
action issue to a national level by bringing thousands of journalists to
Seattle.
“The bottom line is that a UNITY `99 convention will take place next year,”
said Briggs.
In addition to featuring a plenary session on the national affirmative
action debate, the convention program will highlight other related topics
and events designed to educate the public on the scope of this volatile
issue. Presentations will provide historical context, statistics, and a
range of viewpoints and life experiences.
UNITY `99 is expected to draw thousands of journalists to the coalition’s
second joint convention, July 7-11, 1999, at the Seattle King County
Convention Center.
In addition to NAJA, the UNITY coalition is composed of the National
Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), the National Association of
Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), and the Asian American Journalists Association
(AAJA) Its mission is to advance the growth and leadership of people of
color in the global news industry.
The first convention, held in Atlanta in 1994, attracted more than 6,000
print and broadcast journalists, media executives, news industry leaders,
recruiters, educators and students.
NJC Awards Four Fellowships
The Program
Students were selected based generally on the following criteria: commitment to the field of journalism, journalistic ability, scholastic ability, financial need and sensitivity as demonstrated by community involvement. The fellows receive $1,000 scholarships and NJC will provide mentorship programs and community education field trips to scholarship winners. Each journalism group will match its student winner with a mentor who will work closely with that student during the upcoming year. Four times during the year, all four students will meet for a morning, afternoon or day to learn about community issues. Each journalism group will be responsible for one of the field trips, which will be designed to expose the students to real people and issues in ethnic communities. At the end of the following school year, when the grants are awarded, each student will be expected to talk about what they learned that year. They will be expected to give updates in upcoming years to the Seattle chapters. Immediately following October's reception, the Black Journalists Association of Seattle kicked off its field trip with a presentation of the film, "Soldiers without Swords: A History of the Black Press."
The Recipients
Monto Shan Morton (AAJA), 25, is a communications and art major at Evergreen State College interested in new media.
Roxanne Murphy (NAJA), 22, is taking this quarter off from studies at Central Washington University to work at the Ellensburg Daily Record. She is interested in web design and pagination.
Myeisha Peguero (BJAS), 18, is a freshman at Scripps College in Claremont, Ca. majoring in journalism. She is a lakeside graduate and seeks a career as a broadcast journalist and owner of a small marketing company that builds web pages.
Michael Wander (LAMAS), 20, is a student at Seattle Central Community College and a veteran of his campus paper and the 1996 Urban Newspaper Workshop.
The Sponsors
Special thanks to this year's sponsors:
Volunteers who helped make this year's program possible:
Congratulations Louie, Emery
Lucy Emery of Boeing Communications and Chris Innes were wed August 30 at LakeWold Gardens in Tacoma.
On the move: Hou, Wong Derr, Tong, Teel & Carlson
Erik Wong Derr is now managing editor of Asian Pacific Sentinel, a publication dedicated to covering Snohomish County's Asian Pacific Island Community. Collin Tong has a new job as Washington State University's west side communications officer. Former Northwest Cable News writer Alissa Teel is a new morning news producer at KPNX in Phoenix. Former AAJA Seattle membership co-chair Karen Carlson has left KOMO for WREG in Memphis, TN.
Ng Honored
AAJA Sponsors Workshop at NAAAP Convention
Susan Han (KCTS), Lori Matsukawa (KING-TV) and Mei-Mei Chan (The Seattle Times) were introduced by Janet Tu (The Wall Street Journal) on a sunny Labor Day Sunday. Most of the audience was interested in the paths each panel member took to become a journalist. Han and Chan confessed their parents wanted them to become doctors. Matsukawa once considered a career as a piano teacher. All agreed there was a certain element of wanting to "help others" that made them turn to journalism. Panelists encouraged audience members to be critical consumers of media and to become spokespeople in media stories to enhance diversity of news coverage.
AAJA Helps Build Stan Chen Internship Fund
Chen has been involved with AAJA since the mid-1980s and most recently served as national vice president of print. He was one of the founding members of the Portland chapter in 1987. A newspaper veteran of 28 years, Chen has been with the Oregonian for 19 years as a copy editor, deputy op-ed editor and reporter. He was also the author of "Counting on Each Other," a book about AAJA's history.
After Chen was presented with the award, AAJA national president Ben Seto announced that an internship program has been established in Chen's name. The internship is designed to fund three students in print and broadcast journalism in the Northwest each summer. Alex MacLeod immediately stepped forward with a $1,000 donation from The Seattle Times. MacLeod then announced that if AAJA Seattle raises $1,000 more, an anonymous donor will match that with an additional $1,000.
Within a month, AAJA Seattle members met and exceeded that challenge. So far, the chapter has raised $1700 from individual donations. Combined with the match and the Seattle Times donation, the chapter total is now more than $3700. Special thanks to those who have donated so far:
Bo Hok Cline
(*former NJC scholarship winners)
Highlights From Chicago Convention
AAJA kicked off its 1998 National Convention at one of the world's famous natural history museums. At a reception at Chicago's Field Museum, some of the 850 convention participants had an opportunity to see old friends and to speak with media representatives from across the country.
This year's convention featured plenary sessions exploring Asian Americans in the media and the growing role of new media. Members had plenty of workshops to choose from over three days, including many new topics such as TV news producing, digital storytelling and Photoshop power tips.
The annual job fair was a tremendous success. AAJA attracted a record number of recruiters and for the first time, all interviews were done on a walk-in basis. This provided job seekers and recruiters more opportunities to meet.
Of course, no convention would be complete without the always popular annual events. Students enjoyed the annual pizza night which was hosted this year, by WLS-TV. Scholarship winners, national award winners and special recognition honorees were named at the gala banquet. This year's keynote speaker was Bill Lan Lee, who spoke about his job as acting assistant attorney for civil rights. And the host chapter took hundreds of members for a cruise along the Chicago River.
Continuing a chapter tradition, AAJA Seattle held a gathering just before the silent auction and gala banquet. About 20 Seattle members shared their convention stories. Janet Tu (The Seattle Times) announced that she has accepted a new job with The Wall Street Journal. Tu will still be based on Seattle.
With members of the National Association of Black Journalists discussing a possible boycott of UNITY '99 in Seattle, the AAJA national board took action to support UNITY's plan to come to the Pacific Northwest. NABJ will not make a final decision on a boycott until after Washington State's November election on Initiative 200, which would limit affirmative action in the state. The UNITY board, along with AAJA, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Native American Journalists Association, is still planning to hold a convention in Seattle at this time. The AAJA national board adopted a resolution saying in part, that the leadership of AAJA supports UNITY and its decision to proceed with the 1999 convention in Seattle.
For the first time, AAJA members next year will have the chance to purchase a "gold" membership. This $80 annual membership category will give members added features such as certain job services and late convention registration with no penalties. The AAJA national board also approved a membership dues increase from $49 to $55 a year, beginning in 1999. Student and retired membership rates will not change, but corporate memberships will rise from $1,500 to $2,000. The added revenue will go toward increasing programs for AAJA members.
Honors for AAJA Members
Seattle Times staffers honored with Society of Professional Journalists Awards for Excellence on May 16 include Paula Bock, (1) "A Land of War," Ferdinand DeLeon, (3) "Urban Re-brew-al," Barry Wong(l) "Crash Landing," Betsy Aoki (2) online school guide and (3) Report on Burma, Bo Cline(l) website design and (2) overall web site. Also, two SPJ awards to Helen Jung of the Anchorage Daily news for (3) business reporting and (2) business features.
AAJA Attends NWAAT Play
NAJA Organizes NJC Field Trip
Congratulations Wolfe, Cline
Bo Hok Cline, a graphic artist at The Seattle Times won a first place award for website design from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Welcome Huie to KSTW-TV
KING 5 TV Names Matsukawa Weeknight Anchor
Matsukawa has been weekend anchor of KING 5 News and was previously with KING-TV's Top Story program. She reported on the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, APEC and the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Recently, she traveled with Gov. Gary Locke to China.
Matsukawa is secretary and one of the founding members of AAJA Seattle. She is also past president of the Asian Counseling and Referral Service board.
AAJA And LAMA Join for Chips and Karaoke Night
New Members at Won Ton Tuesday
The "Intriguing" Takei
Welcome Ogata, Santiago, Lee
Farewell to Quan
New Year Banquet Attracts Longtime Friends
Won Ton Tuesday Welcomes Tan Vinh
AAJA Seattle
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The UNITY '99 coalition is building toward a second joint convention that will focus on the group's goal of building stronger connections among member associations and with others in the industry. The convention will be held at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington, July 7-11, 1999. The UNITY '99 convention is expected to attract 8,000 participants.