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Jila Baniyaghoob: Fearless Iranian Reporter and Advocate for Women

The International Women's Media Foundation1 will honor three female journalists who have put their lives at stake in pursuit of truth. One of the recipients of the 2009 Courage in Journalism Awards is Jila Baniyaghoob of Iran.
JilaBaniyaghoob Jila Baniyaghoob, 38, freelance reporter and editor-in-chief of the website Kanoon Zanan Irani (Focus on Iranian Women), Iran. Baniyaghoob works in one of the most restrictive environments for both journalists and women in the world. Still, she has fearlessly reported on government and social oppression, particularly as they affect women. She has been fired from several jobs because she refuses to censor the subject matter of her reporting and several of her media outlets have been closed by the government. She has travelled throughout the Middle East, writing accounts of the lives of women and refugees during times of conflict. The topics of her reporting make her a target of the Iranian government. She has been beaten, arrested and imprisoned numerous times.2

Iryna Khalip (Belarus) and Agnès Tallé (Cameroon) are the other two women who will be receiving similar awards, while Amira Hass (Israel) will get the Lifetime Achievement Award.  Presenting the awards are Christiane Amanpour (CNN), David Gregory (Meet the Press), Irshad Manji (NYU), and David Westin (ABC News).  The ceremonies will be held at The Waldorf-Astoria in NYC on Tuesday, October 20th.

1iwmf.org
2iranian.com

in Advocacy, Media, Politics, World | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

SAT Scores Dip: Except For Asian Americans

In his NY Daily News op-column today, Stanley Crouch offers suggestions on how to reverse the continued decline of SAT test results in the past five years.  He takes mass media to task in portraying the attractiveness of intellectual capacity among our youth.1
Important shifts in our culture are given national recognition through our electronic mass media. Let's begin to see intelligent young people, or those who study and work hard at doing well in school, depicted as more than merely nerds.
From the silly comedies of Jack Black to the hip-hop imbecilities of Lil Wayne, little room in our culture has been made for protagonists with brains. Now is the time when we need to see them out here.
Mr. Crouch points to a historical precedent in similar efforts, J. Edgar Hoover calling upon Hollywood to reverse the trend of glamorizing crime in the 30’s.  The author confirms that the call was heeded, leading at least to an expanded characterization in gangster movies with name stars also getting positive roles of defending society against criminal types.

The op-ed columnist suggests that media should also communicate the importance of study and high-quality performance, given that “Americans allow TV to become the favored baby-sitter and one of the biggest family influences on the children of the house.”   Mr. Crouch believes that is why the SAT performance of Asian American students does not follow the overall trend of decline.

The performance of Asian American students in the SAT tests in fact runs in contrast with other minority groups.  Says one AP article published in the New York Times, “Whatever Asian-Americans are doing, educators want to bottle it.”  The article expounds on the performance of Asian American students in the SAT tests and how taking prep subjects may be one of key factors that result in such a notable feat.2

The exception is Asian-Americans, whose average combined score surged 13 points to a combined 1623, while scores for whites fell 2 points to 1581. For black students, average scores dropped 4 points to 1276. Average scores for two of the three categories the College Board uses for identifying Hispanics also declined, and overall ranged from 1345 to 1364.

White kids are more likely to have access to advanced college-prep subjects than blacks and Hispanics, and the success of Asian-Americans on the SAT is also probably due in part to their push to enroll in such courses.
Such a push towards prep subject enrollments may not be where all the answers lie, nor can mass media be pushed into that redefinition of appealing character portrayal that Mr. Crouch idealizes.  For one thing, a push is a push; forced implementation or coercion is never appealing.  Yet, many Asian American students today experience such pressure to conform to traditional value that their families continue to weigh down on them.

Apart from study and hard work, there are other factors that matter and contribute to one’s personal growth and development.  Perhaps, mass media can be talked into promoting the notion that a good life-study balance is sexy as well.

1Stanley Crouch, “Until smart equals sexy, U.S. kids will lag on SAT scores”, The Daily News
2The Associated Press, “SAT Scores Dip for High School Class of 2009”, New York Times

in Education, Film, Media, Television | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

First American-Punjabi TV Channel Launched

JUS Punjabi, the nation's first American-Punjabi television channel launched last week.1  The channel features Punjabi language programs, daily news bulletins from both overseas (Punjab, Haryana and New Delhi) and from their office and broadcast facility in Long Island City, N.Y.  Major providers like DISH Network, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision IO, and Verizon FiOS TV carry the new channel. In establishing the company, President and CEO Penny Yogiraj Sandhu hopes “to reach out to the large and vibrant Indo-Punjabi/Sikh community and give them a voice and exposure in their adoptive country.”2

It joins other major South Asian content, including Sony Entertainment Television Asia, TV Asia, Zee TV and Bollywood Hits on Demand.  This development is a good sign for Asian American media, beset not only by the state of the economy but by its very diversity.
"The diversity of languages that makes up the Asian-American community is especially difficult for television and radio, where programming is primarily in the native language, which leaves a handful of broadcasters serving narrow segments of the population. This is especially hard for television programmers, where the cost to entry into the business can be higher than it is in print, and room on cable systems is limited."3
Other major players in Asian American television are the New Tang Dynasty Television, The Filipino Channel, The Saigon Broadcasting Television Network, TVB, and TVK.  Best wishes goes to this new addition to Asian American TV programming!

See related post, "Asian American Media Speaks"

1  stamfordadvocate.com
2  juspunjabi.com
3  stateofthemedia.org

in Media, Television | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Protest Mounts Against “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard”

The Examiner reports several media advocacy groups will take action today Friday, August 21st, to protest the racist scene in the Paramount Pictures movie “The Goods:  Live Hard, Sell Hard” on Friday, August 21st.

Let your voice be heard!

Paramount Pictures, 5555 Melrose Avenue, LA, CA 90038

4:30 PM

For details, contact The Japanese American Citizens League, Imada Wong Communications Group, or Media Action Network for Asian Americans.

See related post, “The Bad: Live Hard, Sell Hard”

in Advocacy, Film, Hate Crime, Media | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Asian American Media Speaks English

Two recent studies offer rich insights on the state of Asian American media.  Of particular interest are discussions regarding the role of English in its growth and development.

The New American Media estimates half a million regularly follow news from English-language publications that specifically target Asian Americans.  I know this may be just a drop in the bucket in relation to the total U.S. market though still bound to increase exponentially with the emergence of this fastest growing ethnic group.  Local areas with a high density of Asian Americans are already active targets of media attention.  Moreover, worldwide interest on this particularly unique, and affluent, population is destined to take off.

Pew Research questions whether fluency in the English language helps or hurts Asian American media:  Does mainstream media deliver enough to satisfy the needs of English-speaking Asian Americans, or is there a significant value in delivering highly targeted cultural news and information not available from mainstream providers?  I support the notion that ethnic media possesses an innate character that cannot yet be sufficiently portrayed by mainstream media.  Only ethnic media can offer the most credible portrayal of such character.  Furthermore, I believe that it never will be lost in another language.  In fact, with broader access to a wider English-speaking audience, that character itself will sustain our attention and enrich us all.

Take ethnic TV programming as an example.  According to the New American Media study, what drives Asian Americans to watch ethnic television is that it provides viewers the ability to follow news coverage and information from the country of their background.  I believe that there will always be the need to follow Asian American media—that is, at least until we cease to identity with own ethnicity (What a horrible thought!)  And as younger generations of English-speaking, media-thirsty Asian Americans continue to seek news and information from the country of their background, ethnic media will remain viable and its use of the English language will become more relevant.

in Media, Television | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)