Ethnic Media Stung by Recession
March 31, 2009
The Asian American vernacular press have served their communities for more than a century, but the economy has hit them hard and one day soon the quaint but vital Asian American ethnic newspapers on the east and west coasts may be nothing more than microfiche memories. H/T L.A. Observed.
—Rachel Roh
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The sinking economy is threatening the ethnic publications that immigrant communities rely upon to stay informed and navigate American life.
Although the ethnic press once seemed immune to the forces hurting mainstream newspapers across the country, a growing number of publications that serve immigrant and minority communities are laying off staff, closing print editions or shutting down altogether.
Unlike mainstream newspapers, which have seen circulation decline over the decades, most ethnic publications have been retaining or expanding their print readership base, thanks to the growth of immigrant populations with strong newspaper reading habits.
- Plan to Close Chinese-Language Paper Deepens Shadow Over the Ethnic Press, 01/22/09, The New York Times,
MLB 2K9: The Freak is Back
March 25, 2009
It’s great is see Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum’s able to laugh at himself in this TV commercial for 2K Sports’ video game Major League Baseball® 2K9 where he schools his clone in the fine art of freaky.
- Tim Lincecum’s Sports Illustrated Cover
- Fil-Am Pitcher Wins Cy Young Award, Manila Times
- Lincecum Played, Prayed for Grandpa, Sacramento Bee
- Tim Lincecum: Facebook Photo Album
- “He Should Put a Towel On,” Posterous
Springtime in Pyongyang
March 25, 2009
The two Asian American journalists arrested by DPRK soldiers last week were part of a three-person team that set out from Los Angeles earlier this month to document the underground railroad North Korean refugees use to reach the relative safe haven of China, where they receive aid from beckoning South Korean and Korean American Christian groups.
The Current TV team was made up of veteran newsman Mitch Koss, special correspondent Laura Ling and videographer Euna Lee (shown in the video above), all from the cable outlet’s elite Vanguard investigative reporting unit which is headquartered in Hollywood. Ling, vice president of Current Vanguard, is the younger sister of network and National Geographic reporter Lisa Ling.
Lee and Ling were arrested and charged with spying in the pre-dawn hours of March 17 as they reportedly videotaped in North Korean territory. They were whisked in separate vehicles to Pyongyang for questioning. Spying carries a 20-year sentence in North Korea, South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported.
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Koss, Vanguard executive producer, somehow managed to elude capture, was briefly held by Chinese authorities and then dropped out of sight.
“The North has assured us the detainees will be well-treated,” said State Dept. spokesman Robert Wood.
Co-founded by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in 2005, Current TV was bankrolled by venture capitalists Richard Blum, husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Ron Burkle. Former President Bill Clinton and Rev. Jesse Jackson serve on the Current TV board.
- Guide May Have Led Reporters Into NKorea, AP
- Christian Underground Smuggles North Koreans to Safety in South, SFGate
- Back to Jerusalem, Durihana, Inc.
- Doug Ling: “I Worry Quite a Bit,” KCRA
- Current TV Reporting by Laura Ling
- Euna Lee Résumé
- Axis of Evil World Tour 2002, LAT Opinion, Mitchell Koss
- Refugees Could Undo Kim, LAT Opinion, Mitchell Koss
No. Korea Suspects Ling/Lee Were Spying
March 24, 2009
Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters cable news channel Current TV, were undergoing “intense interrogation,” with investigators poring through their notebooks, videotapes and camera for signs they were spying on the North’s military facilities, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said, citing an unnamed South Korean intelligence official.
The L.A. Koreatown Immigrant Workers Association (KIWA) staged the latest of an ongoing series of demonstrations in front of a local church March 18 to protest the demolition of a church-owned apartment building to make way for a parish parking lot.
Protesters said 38 residents were evicted from their Oxford Ave. homes by the Oriental Mission Church. The apartments were on property adjoining the main church complex. KIWA has been conducting a campaign to save affordable housing in Koreatown since last summer, but demolition on the OMC-owned apartment began March 17.
The Oriental Mission Church was founded in 1970 with 27 worshippers and has grown into one of the largest evangelical Christian churches in Koreatown. OMC is currently led by Pastor Jashua Choonmin Kang. The church is perhaps best known for its efforts to assist business owners and families affected by the 1992 L.A. riots.
OMC’s purpose statement reads in part: “The Church shall be a church of service; serving its members and the community as our Lord exemplified.”
Last week’s demonstration was held to call attention to further evictions and demolition of more affordable housing on OMC-owned properties.
- Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA) website
- Oriental Mission Church website
- L.A. Coalition for Economic Survival website
H/T Neal Broverman
Fallen Oakland SWAT Officer Daniel Sakai Remembered
March 23, 2009
OAKLAND—Danny Sakai was no ordinary cop. University educated and a world traveler, Sakai, the 35-year-old, nine-year veteran of the OPD, was killed in the line of duty March 21 when a suspected cop killer opened fire on a SWAT entry team with an AK-47 military assault rifle. Three of Sakai’s fellow OPD officers also were killed Saturday by the same suspect, Lovelle Mixon, 26.
An Eagle Scout, Dan Sakai held a degree in forestry from UC Berkeley and had lived in Japan for a year teaching English. The Japanese American resident of Castro Valley was married to Julie Sakai, a UC Berkeley police officer, and was the father of a young daughter.
- Friends and colleagues remember Daniel Sakai, SFGate
- Police Deaths Amplify City’s Woes, WSJ
- Sgt. Daniel Sakai, 1974-2009, Officer Down Memorial Page
UPDATE: CNN Reporting Asian American Journalists May Have Been In North Korea When Arrested
March 21, 2009
BEIJING—The North Korean government has confirmed that it is holding two American journalists, and CNN, quoting South Korean sources, is reporting that Asian Americans Laura Ling and Euna Lee may have in fact been in North Korea when arrested March 17.
CNN correspondent John Vause said Ling and Lee, on assignment for cable channel Current TV, were seen running back toward the Chinese border when arrested by North Korean border guards.
Meanwhile, former U.S. vice president and Current TV founder Al Gore has reportedly reached out to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to secure the release of the two Northern California-based journalists.
Music Break: “52″ by Seriously
March 20, 2009
Sin Nombre
March 20, 2009
Sin Nombre, writer/director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s first feature film, premieres this weekend nationwide with a bounce from generally favorable reviews that call it a gritty diamond in the rough. But how does a first-time Asian American filmmaker get a picky studio like Focus Features to fund a Spanish-language movie with a cast of unknown actors? Oakland native and UC Santa Cruz alum Fukunaga, who first attracted attention with his stunning 2004 short Victoria Para Chino right out of NYU graduate film school, explains…
- Cary Fukunaga Profile, IMDb
- New Faces of Independent Film, Filmmaker Magazine
- Sin Nombre Reviews, Moviefone
Japan’s Awesome Super-K Neutrino Observatory
March 20, 2009
So, what’s the story on the necklaces a lot of the Asian ballplayers are wearing during the 2009 WBC? They’re Phiten liquid titanium chokers. It’s the new steroid… or not.
H/T Dwight Chuman
Kids These Days… Are Dumb
March 19, 2009
H/T Disgrasian
Asian American Journalists Seized by North Korean Military
March 19, 2009
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Two Asian American correspondents for Current TV were seized earlier this week by North Korean soldiers near that country’s border with China, South Korean news reported today.
The journalists — Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for the California-based online media outlet Current TV — were taken into North Korean custody on Tuesday, a missionary who spoke to them earlier that day told The Associated Press. (Some news reports identified Lee as Euna Kim: IFEX.org.)
Laura Ling explains Current TV to humanwire.org:
- Two U.S. Journalists Held in North Korea, AP via NPR
- Lisa Ling’s Sister Detained in No. Korea, CBS13.com
- Roxana Saberi Arrested in Iran, HuffPo
Circle the wagons! CNN’s Lou Dobbs is showing himself to be a one-trick pony. With the immigration issue less relevant to America today than a vente moca frappuccino, Uncle Lou, horny for ratings, began ranting Wednesday against… St. Patrick’s Day and all other “ethnic holidays.”
“How about an Asian ethnic holiday; is there one? You know, St. Jin Tao Wow?”
Dobbs didn’t mention Cinco de Mayo, Easter or Christmas. What? Is he Catholic and married to a Mexican American? And who the heck is this “Jin Ting Wow” guy and do we get the day off?
Listen to Dobbs’ ethnic holiday rant:
H/T Wok The Way
AIG Bonuses: The Japanese Solution
March 17, 2009
News Item: The picture for beleaguered insurer AIG got no prettier Tuesday when subpoenas issued by New York Attorney General Cuomo revealed the company last week had paid bonuses of $1 million or more to 73 employees, including 11 who no longer work there. The firm recently took a $170 Billion bailout from the government.
Anti-AIG demonstrations have cropped up in several U.S. cities in reaction to the bonuses.
St. Patrick’s Day Corned Beef, Cabbage Maki
March 17, 2009
H/T Sarah J. Gim
Toilet Bowl Cleaner Suicides Meme Into U.S.
March 16, 2009
A suicide technique that uses a mixture of household products to produce a deadly hydrogen sulfide gas became a grisly fad in Japan last year. Now it’s slowly seeping into the United States over the internet, according to emergency workers, who are alarmed at the potential for innocent casualties.
[The graphic that accompanies this post comes from a Japanese website 3yen.com]
The first sign that the technique was migrating to the United States came in August, when a 23-year-old California man was found dead in his car behind a Pasadena shopping center. The VW Beetle’s doors were locked, the windows rolled up and a warning sign had been posted in one of the windows.
The 517 self-inflicted deaths by hydrogen sulfide poisoning this year in 2008 are were part of a bigger, grimmer story: Nearly 34,000 Japanese killed themselves last year, according to the Japanese national police. That’s the second-highest toll ever in a country where the suicide rate is ninth highest in the world and more than double that of the USA, the World Health Organization says.
- Read This First
- National Suicide Prevention Hotline
- Pasadena Man Used Household Chems in Suicide
- Suicide Epidemic Grips Japan
- Rotten Egg Suicide Gassing
H/T Babamoto, WIRED, Kevin Poulsen
Asian Pop Invasion… On Hold
March 14, 2009
It’s been almost a half-century since Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto reached the top of the U.S. charts with Sukiyaki. Now, with Asia all the rage in high-tech and youth culture, some wonder who’ll be the next Asian singer to hit it big in the West. To all but Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert, Korea’s Rain was a bust, and now he’s being sued for millions by an American promoter. Flack chatter predicts that BoA will breakthrough into the U.S. market, and New York-born JPOPer Utada Hikaru seems to be on a never-ending world tour. But KPOP star Sung Si Kyung, a nerdy, bespectacled 29-year-old, honey-throated balladeer-journalist who was signed to a record contract after an Internet audition may be the first Asian crossover star created by micropayments, lossless audio downloads and streaming HD video. But Sung’s international stardom will have to wait until he completes a mandatory 27-month stint in the South Korean army. Here’s Who Do You Love in Sung’s unaccented English pop vocalese.
Who Do You Love
Pre-Kogi Taco Truck “Oriental” Tacos
March 14, 2009
Fox TV news Unit 9 investigative reporter Ti-Hua Chang’s recent report on poverty in New York’s burgeoning Asian American community confirms what social service workers have been saying for years; that despite their model minority image the poverty rate among NYC’s Asians is higher than anyone wants to admit.
With footage showing recession-battered Asians rummaging through grocery store Dumpsters and restaurant garbage for food, Chang’s story “Community in Crisis” points out that although Asian represent 12% of New York’s population, they receive less than one percent of benefits doled out to the city’s poor by Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s government either because they are unaware of the programs or that they are undocumented and afraid of being apprehended.
Watch the award-winning Chang’s report below or at myfoxny.com
Via AAJA
