SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - September 2, 2010) - In the coverage of the Discovery Channel hostage situation and its aftermath, the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) reminds media outlets about relevance and context regarding race. Journalists should be careful when using headlines, crawls, and tweets referring to an "Asian" taking hostages as the suspect's race and ethnicity does not seem to be a factor in his actions. There is no doubt the suspect is Asian, and it's fair to use in any description of him; however, unless his race is a factor in the result of today's events, AAJA reminds the media to make sure any mention of race and ethnicity is placed in the proper context. AAJA's MediaWatch stands ready to assist any news organizations that have any questions or concerns about news coverage and race, because we all have the same goal: good journalism.
An AAJA stylebook for journalists covering Asian American and Pacific Islanders and Asian American and Pacific Islander issues continues AAJA's legacy of leadership in the journalism industry and the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. To view this handbook please visit: http://www.aaja.org/resources/apa_handbook/2000aaja_handbook.pdf
About AAJA
The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit educational organization with more than 1,400 members in 21 chapters across the U.S. and Asia. AAJA's mission is to provide a means of association and support among Asian American and Pacific Islander journalists, to provide encouragement, information, advice and scholarship assistance to Asian American and Pacific Islander students who aspire to professional journalism careers, to provide to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community an awareness of news media and an understanding of how to gain fair access and research and point out when news media organizations stray from accuracy and fairness in the coverage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. AAJA's MediaWatch is comprised of a committee that serves as a media "watchdog" to ensure that media outlets are aware of comments, statements, reports or opinions that are considered offensive or derogatory to AAPI communities.