Asian American journalists meeting in SF this August

THE 2015 Asian American Journalists Association National Convention will be held in San Francisco this summer.

If you're a news junkie, this is a good peak into the state of the world of contemporary  journalism.

Back in the day, when I could include myself in that profession, I attended a few of the annual gatherings and found them always to be informative and fun. It's a nice to meet friends from across the region and sometimes to meet people who've read your material but we never had a face-to-face meeting.

As a journalist, you always wonder who is reading your material ... or, if anybody is reading your stuff. So to receive that reaffirmation is always a shot in the arm to get your journalistic juices flowing again.

Each time I went, I always marveled at how young everyone looked. I guess it is natural to think that for you, time stood still and everybody else aged and all these people entering the profession keep looking younger and younger.

With the state of journalism as it is: newsrooms cutting staff, more media businesses cutting payroll by preferring inexperienced J-school grads over more seasoned journalists, news content being managed by people who have no connection to their communities and there's more emphasis on being first rather than being accurate because of the 24-houre news cycle. 

I was struck by how the people who worked in television looked so good and neat compared to the scruffier radio and print journalists. Indeed, judging by the proliferation of Asian newscasters and TV reporters throughout the country, I trust a lot of those people got good-paying jobs.

Even with what might seem like a "proliferation," diversity in the 2015 newsroom, no matter what medium you're working in, is still lacking. Despite all the high-sounding words favored by news executives, it is still overwhelmingly a white media run by white-thinking corporate types. 

I imagine that these days, even the TV folks are looking over their shoulders at the new media offered by high-tech and more search engines offering their own news services, media outlets are having to compete in unfamiliar fields. At the same time, the news being produced by Yahoo, Google and their like need more than just regurgitating the work of the print and TV journalists. They need reporters and editors who adhere to the old values of accuracy and objectivity.

I always thought that it would behoove the major news outlets to use the ethnic newspapers much like major league baseball uses the minor leagues. Use the minority news outlets to train their reporters as they hone their craft. That would allow the young reporters to hone their craft and it would give the news organizations not only more experience staff, it would give them a perspective of the communities that have normally receive media coverage in most sensational situations.

However, that situation seems more and more unlikely as the bottom line continues to dominate the decision-making of media outlets. 

This year, the AAJA convention is in San Franciso, which will draw a substantial number journalists. So if you're hanging around the Hyatt Regency in August and notice a higher number of Asian Americans in the lobby and across the street at the Ferry Building, now you'll know why.

There's still time if you want to register for the convention. If you want to find out more about the convention, go to the AAJA convention page.

Whether you are a media industry veteran, new to the field or still in school, the convention is a can’t-miss event for media professionals and aspiring journalists looking to network and grow in their careers. The four-day convention includes plenary sessions, panel workshops, seminars and other activities with interactive discussions about industry and community issues. 

The list of speakers is a who's who in journalism from the TV networks to the Internet.

The convention’s Career Fair & Expo features top news and media companies, universities and journalism industry services, along with one-on-one critiques with veteran journalists and other opportunities for professional and student journalists.

I especially recommend it to the new media folks who have assaulted the mainstream media's sensibilities and changing journalism as we knew it. They are the new purveyors of news (as they see it) and who are making critical news decisions without the training, experience or judgement of professional journalists. There is so much more to journalism than just being first.

###