AsianWeek

AsianWeek
Type National weekly newspaper
Format Tabloid
Owner(s) Pan Asia Venture Capital Corporation
President James Fang
Founded 1979
Language English
Ceased publication January 2, 2009 (print)
Headquarters 809 Sacramento Street, San Francisco, California
United States
Circulation 58,099
ISSN 0195-2056
Website asianweek.com

AsianWeek was an online publication of Asian American news, across all Asian ethnic groups,[1] providing coverage of Asian-American issues such as the killing of Vincent Chin, Asian American college admissions, and quotas on Chinese students in competitive San Francisco examination schools.

AsianWeek headquarters were located in San Francisco's Chinatown. It stopped publishing a print edition in 2009, and publication ceased altogether in 2012.

History

AsianWeek was the largest and longest and established English language newsweekly for Asian Pacific Americans. In 1965, after the Hart-Celler Immigration Act ended over 80 years of race-based exclusion of immigrants from Asia, America for the first time experienced an influx of Asian immigration. As Asian Americans became the fastest growing minority in the United States and as they became more settled, they began forming organizations and associations to serve their communities.

Realizing the need to provide a voice for Asian Pacific America, John Fang, founded AsianWeek newspaper in 1979 in San Francisco.[2] Currently, it has a circulation of over 58,000. AsianWeek continues to be the longest and largest running weekly published from a shared Asian American perspective using the English language to connect and outreach to not only Asians and Asian Americans but to all interested in learning and reading about the Asian American experience.

In 1995, AsianWeek changed its format to full-color and converted itself from an exclusively paid circulation newspaper to a publication consisting of both free distribution and paid subscribers.

AsianWeek newspaper is also involved in a wide array of community activities. Committed to promoting and participating in events that celebrate the diversity the Asian-American community, the publication plays an active role in sponsoring and hosting community events, spreading health awareness on Hepatitis B,[3] and promoting cross-cultural and interracial cooperation with major outdoor events in San Francisco, including the Castro Street Fair, Chinatown Autumn Moon Festival Street Fair, Haight-Ashbury Street Fair and Nihonmachi Street Fair. AsianWeek is also on the planning committee for the Asian Heritage Street Celebration, Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, and Pistahan Filipino Parade and Festival.

“For the last 28 years, AsianWeek has been the mirror of our community, showing our triumphs and shortcomings, serving as both the face and conscience of Asian America”, said AsianWeek President James Fang. “AsianWeek has acted as a forum in advocating for those Asian Americans who were defenseless and voiceless in the face of an uncaring power. Whether it was in bringing much-needed national and decisive exposure to the killing of Vincent Chin or in demanding justice for Wen Ho Lee and Capt. James Yee, the strength of AsianWeek has been its unequivocal eagerness to support our community.”[4]

On August 20, 2007, AsianWeek launched a completely redesigned version of their website that is no longer live as of April 2011.[5]

On January 2, 2009, AsianWeek ceased print publication, but continued to operate online.[6]

Major sections

Opinion

The Opinion section includes AsianWeek's Letters to the Editor, Emil Guillermo's column "Amok", and a community contributed article, "Voices".

Emil Guillermo has been a journalist for more than 30 years. After ten years in television news, Guillermo became host of NPR's All Things Considered, in 1989. After leaving NPR, Guillermo worked as press secretary and speechwriter for then congressman Norman Mineta. He returned to media as a local television and radio talk show host in Washington, D.C., Sacramento, and San Francisco. As a writer, Guillermo has contributed jokes for Jay Leno's monologues. His written often satirical commentaries have appeared in newspapers throughout the country. His book Amok, a compilation of his AsianWeek columns won the American Book Award in 2000. Guillermo is also the winner of both a California Newspaper Publishers Association Award and a National Inland Press Association Award for his mainstream newspaper work. He has won awards from the Radio-TV News Directors Association, Society of Professional Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association, and has been nominated for local TV Emmy Awards. A native San Franciscan, Guillermo graduated from Lowell High School and Harvard College.

On Monday, February 4, 2008, AsianWeek launched a new daily blog by award-winning journalist Emil Guillermo. Guillermo is already the most widely read APA columnist, and his new daily commentary will remark on timely and fascinating stories and ideas that affect the broad APA community. The blog is available online at http://amok.asianweek.com/.

“It will be a place readers can get my take on the issues that concern them”, said Guillermo, whose column, “Amok” has appeared in AsianWeek over the last 14 years. “And it will be a place where they can share their ideas with others. Consider it the water cooler for APAs across the country”.

Nation and World

The Nation and World section includes "Washington Journal" authored by columnist Phil Tajitsu Nash. It covers topics such as the 2008 Summer Olympics Torch Relay protests in San Francisco to national issues that affect the Asian American community.[7]

Nash is the CEO and co-founder of Nash Interactive. He has provided commentary to BBC World News radio and other news outlets, and served as host of a nationally broadcast weekly public radio program reporting on the U.S. Supreme Court. Nash practiced law in New York and New Jersey, and taught law at Georgetown University Law Center. He testified before the United States Congress on behalf of the Japanese American redress movement, and has also served as a strategist, lobbyist, and litigator.

Bay and California

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, AsianWeek dedicates a section to issues and timely news items that are relevant to the Bay Area's Asian American community.

Arts and Entertainment

The Arts and Entertainment section includes "Asian Eats", "AskQ" and "The Yin-Yang with Lisa Lee".

Asian Eats column provides an inside look at the Bay Area's Asian American cuisine. Formerly known as "Picky Eater" the column covers price, environment, customer service, cleanliness, menu selection, and taste of the Bay Area's most popular restaurants.

AsianWeek's AskQ is an advice column to reflect everyday life in Asian Pacific America. It includes readers’ questions and solicited queries. Q is a 30-something urban male who is "happily partnered—a manager by profession, a writer by desire", according to the column.

The "Yin-Yang" column is authored by Lisa Lee, an AsianWeek columnist. According to the AsianWeek website, "she gives a provocative look into the arts and entertainment industry. The Yin-yang Blog brings you up to date with Asian-American celebrity news, gossip and more."

Controversies

Kenneth Eng

AsianWeek was severely criticized for publishing Why I Hate Blacks on February 23, 2007, a column by freelance writer Kenneth Eng. Prior to this incident, AsianWeek published other inflammatory race-themed columns by Eng, including: Proof that Whites Inherently Hate Us[8] and Why I Hate Asians.[9] Several Asian-American organizations called for an apology, as well as a repudiation of the columnist and his views, and circulated an online petition to that effect.

AsianWeek's slogan "The Voice of Asian America" combined with Kenneth Eng's hateful columns gave some the impression that all Asians are hateful, while others felt that everything published in AsianWeek represented the publisher's views. However, AsianWeek has always stated that its intent was to serve as a forum for all Asian Americans to be heard, and that not all views published represented the publisher. Nevertheless, many criticized AsianWeek for having hired Eng, despite his previous racist writings, and only condemning Eng's anti-black column while ignoring his anti-white and anti-Asian columns.

AsianWeek published a front-page apology in its February 28 issue, severed all ties with Eng, held various public forums, and declared that it was reviewing its editorial policy. AsianWeek also published in its March 16 issue of "Voices" an article titled "I'm Afraid and Feel Helpless" to tacitly repudiate all of Kenneth Eng's work without making any statements of its own that could add fuel to the fire.[10] Then in late March 2007, AsianWeek quietly made editorial staff changes, evidenced in the masthead of its March 30 issue. Former editor-in-chief Samson Wong’s title became Senior Editorial Consultant and Ted Fang, formerly editor-at-large, became Editor and Publisher.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2006-12-19.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-03-03. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
  4. ↑ http://www.asianweek.com/jamesfang%5B%5D
  5. ↑ AsianWeek Launches Newly Designed AsianWeek.com Beta Website Archived February 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ Nguyen, Ngoc (January 5, 2009). "Loss of AsianWeek Increases Hole in Asian-American Coverage". New America Media. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
  8. ↑ AsianWeek.com
  9. ↑ AsianWeek.com Archived February 14, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ Archived February 27, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Archived February 27, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
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