Asian Americans and the Mass Media

A Content Analysis of Twenty United States Newspapers and a Survey of Asian American Journalists

Virginia Mansfield-Richardson

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9780815334767
• eBook ISBN: 9781317776147
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Asian Americans are the fastest growing minority in the United States comprising nearly 3 percent of the population, yet they are rarely given coverage in the U.S. media, as this book demonstrates. This book, written by an 11-year reporter of The Washington Post who is now an Associate Dean at Ithaca College, is broad in scope and studies the relationship between mass media and this important minority, including: 1) examines the scope and type of coverage afforded Asian Americans in mainstream newspapers through a content analysis of twenty leading newspapers for the year March 1, 1994 to February 28, 1995; 2) examines the opinions of Asian Americans who work in print, radio, and television media both in mainstream media and specialized Asian American media, through a survey asking their negative and positive experiences on the job as related to their ethnicity, and their opnions on how well the media cover Asian Americans; and 3) an historical examination of Asian Americans and media treatment of Asian Americans, and specialized publications serving Asian Americans. No other book has looked at media coverage of Asian Americans as in-depth as this fascinating account of how attitudes towards Asian Americans are shaped in America through questionable coverage of this diverse segment of the population.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

“We Can Always”

A television comedian says:

“Women are no longer bobbing

their hair because

they are slanting

their eyes”

and people laugh

A television comedian says:

“Hi! I’m Ruru,

fry me

to Florida”

and people laugh

A disc jockey says:

“You should know better

than to rob

a Chinese grocer

If you do

you will want to rob

again in another hour”

and people laugh

A newspaper columnist says:

“How come them heathen Chinee

are always observing New Year’s

a month late? When they gonna

get up to date?”

and if we can’t laugh

at ourselves, we can always

go back.

—Nellie Wong,
Dreams in Harrison Railroad Park

OVERVIEW

Personal Experiences and Interesting Facts. What does it mean to be an Asian American working in the mass media today? Here are a few examples of what some Asian Americans are experiencing in the newsrooms, television studios and radio stations across America:

Once when I was pursuing an aggressive, slightly sneaky line of questioning with a county commissioner, he said, “Now, June, you’re acting like Connie Chung now.” It was a few days after the whole Connie Chung – Newt Gingrich’s mom debacle. That same day, another source jokingly said to me, “So June, I hear you can’t trust Oriental reporters anymore after the Connie Chung thing.”

June Shih, former reporter for the Tampa Tribune

A big negative experience that stands out in my mind is the time a tape editor called me a “f_ _king gook” to my face, inside her edit room. At the time, I was a lowly production assistant, new to the industry and to the job, and I was devastated by this blatant, angry display of bigotry. I told some people in the newsroom about the incident (but no managers) and they all told me that this editor was known as a bigot and racist, and just to avoid her. Unfortunately, no one advised me to report the incident to managers, and I decided at the time that it wasn’t worth “bothering” anyone with a complaint.

Female television reporter in New York City who asked not to be named

One particular instance I remember happened about a year ago when I was following up on a shooting/gun possession arrest at a community I cover as a beat reporter. … I decided to visit the neighborhood to see what I could get from residents. Among my first stops while going door-to-door, I talked to a heavy-set, 30ish woman at home with her children. I identified myself and told her what I was looking for. After talking cordially for a few minutes and learning she knew very little, I thanked her and moved on. After finishing my canvas of the neighborhood I returned to the police station to see if the chief or a sergeant was around to confirm what I had gathered. The police dispatcher told me the woman had called, disbelieving my identity and supposing I was a member of some Asian gang looking to case her home or rob her. The dispatcher assured her I was a reporter and told her that she shouldn’t worry. I didn’t really think about it until afterwards and realized it was one of the most ridiculous things I’d ever experienced as a reporter. What did I do or say that made her think I was a gang member? My appearance was clean-cut and I was dressed professionally in a shirt, tie and shoes. I had a reporter’s notebook in hand and pens in my pocket. I wrote notes about what little she said to me. She asked me for ID and I showed her my press card. The situation still puzzles me to this day.

A male reporter at an East Coast newspaper who asked not to be named

Many negative experiences I’ve had stem from people’s ignorance, and perhaps previous run-ins with other Asians. For example, while covering Memorial Day/Veteran’s Day/Pearl Harbor commemoration stories, I’m often confronted with hostile veterans, friends, family members and widows who see me only as someone who ‘looks like the enemy.’ I’ve been denied access to certain ceremonies, causing my photographer to go alone to get video. I’ve also been outright snubbed verbally because I’m Asian.

Victoria Lim, reporter for WWMT-TV in Kalamazoo, Michigan

One often-experienced phenomenon is being mistaken for Connie Chung when out on a shoot. For some reason, seeing an Asian woman with a camera crew brings out this odd assumption. We do not look anything alike, and I know many female Asian reporters encounter this syndrome.

Susan Si-Lian Han, producer at KCTS/9 TV in Seattle

I have heard people say insensitive comments on the job—things such as mocking Indian accents or indicating that Indians have an accent, as if Americans don’t. Once a colleague called a snake charmer a swami—who is a religious man, not a sidewalk entertainer—and laughed off the mistake. Another time, jokes were made about those Third World people who worship animals.

An Indian American who works as a reporter for a large metropolitan newspaper and asked not to be named.

Inclusion of Indian Americans under the umbrella of Asian Americans may surprise some readers here, but as this book will explain, the definition of just who is Asian American and the ethnic origins of Asian Americans spans more than half the globe, from the Pacific Islands to the Middle East—literally from Egypt to the Hawaiian Islands. The breadth in defining Asian Americans is just one of the many controversial issues facing this minority group today.

With that in mind, here are some more personal anecdotes of Asian Americans working in the media, and problems they face due to their ethnicity.

When the Woody Allen scandal broke, and it came out that he was dating Mia Farrow’s Korean-born adopted daughter, Soon-Yi, a very high profile anchorman yelled out the following joke across the newsroom: “What does Woody Allen have in common with Kodak film? The answer: they both come in little yellow boxes.” I was typing in a cubicle, hidden from others in the newsroom, when I heard this joke I remember being too embarrassed to come out for a long time after I heard people laughing. Being the only Asian American in the newsroom, and female, I remember just sitting in that cubicle, face flushed, hoping no one would see me there.

Female television reporter in New York City who asked not to be named.

Of course, talk to almost any Asian newswoman and you’ll find she’s been called Connie Chung at least once. While I am of mixed heritage, that doesn’t come across to many non-Asians. It drives me nuts that people, mostly whites, are stupid enough to think we all look alike, even the “half-breeds.” I get called Connie all the time, either in jest or in seriousness. I can’t say this has hampered my news gathering because despite the Newt’s-mom-affair, many people still respect her. But I’m getting mighty sick of it.

Female television reporter in New Jersey who asked not to be named.

I remember once getting on the elevator at the fifth floor newsroom of The Washington Post and when the doors closed a bunch of my colleagues, other reporters, started making noises like “ching, chong, chink, chang.” Yes, I was hurt, but I never told anyone. Can you imagine, The Washington Post, people would not think these kinds of attitudes exist, but they do. … I have experienced many racist situations here (at The Washington Post) because I’m Asian, yes, even from senior editors.

Reporter of Asian ancestry who works at The Washington Post who asked not to be named.

I’m Iranian American, and I’m here to tell you I am not a terrorist and neither are most Islamic people in this country. ‥ This pervasive portrayal of Islamic people by the media of this country is a real problem.

Emilia Askari, a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, speaking at a panel on minorities and the media at the 1995 annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

I’ve been told on several occasions that the television market where I have applied for a position ‘is not ready for an Asian sports anchor.’ Obviously, the majority of television news directors and general managers believe that Asians can’t anchor and report the sports news. How many Asian sports anchors/reporters can you name? Not many, because there aren’t that many. I can go on and on about this topic.

An Asian American man who works as a television sports anchor for a mid-sized station on the East Coast who asked not to be named.

After working at the Chicago Tribune for about a year, a reporter asked how my first day went. She had confused me with another Asian male who had started that day. This guy is at least a foot taller than me, formally dressed, younger, didn’t wear glasses at the time and otherwise looked completely different, sounded different and worked in a different department. I had gone on assignment with this reporter only a month previous, yet she still had me confused with a guy who’d only been there a day.

Also, and not surprisingly, throughout my time here, people consistently confuse me with the other Asian working on the picture desk, Jim. People call Jim, Eric. People call me Jim. Again, we don’t look alike, talk alike … I wear glasses, he doesn’t. Jim has worked here about five times longer than I have.

Eric Chu, then assistant picture editor/one-year resident at the Chicago Tribune.

These disturbing first-hand accounts of Asian American journalists represent only a part of a larger problem in the United States concerning the treatment of and attitudes towards Asian Americans. Consider the following facts:

As recently as 1988, President Ronald Reagan appointed Sherwin Chan as the first Asian American to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and the following year, in 1989, President George Bush appointed Sichan Siv as the first Asian American liaison to the White House and named Elaine Chao Deputy Secretary of Transportation, the highest office ever reached by an Asian American in the executive branch.

Yen Le Espiritu, from the book Asian American Panethnicity

Japan Nips Creativity in the Bud

Headline for an opinion column by James O. Goldsborough published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, February 6, 1992.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded in a 1986 report that violence against Asians is a national problem. There have been scores of physical assaults over the past few years: beatings and harassment of Hmong refugees in Philadelphia; the assault on a Chinese immigrant by a Boston police officer; the arson of Cambodian families’ homes in Revere, Massachusetts; shots fired at Vietnamese fishermen in Texas and off the Northern California coast; the stabbing of a Chinese American in New York by teenagers shouting, “Let’s get these Chinks out of here!”; the beating of two Japanese students at the University of Wisconsin by a group of drunken whites who uttered a racist remark; and the murder of Indian Americans in Jersey City, New Jersey, by a group called the “Dotbusters” whose sole aim was to terrorize the Indian community until they were forced to leave the Jersey City area for fear of their lives.

From the Asian America...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Tables
• Chapter 1 Introduction
• Chapter 2 History of Asian American Publications
• Chapter 3 Related Studies
• Chapter 4 Method
• Chapter 5 Results and Discussion
• Chapter 6 Summary and Conclusions
• Appendices
• Bibliography
• Index