Asian Journalist Group demands MSM not refer to Virginia Tech killer as "Asian"

Asian American Journalists Association ^ | April 16, 2007 | Janice Lee

[Dont Mention the War]

Media Advisory: Coverage on Virginia Tech Shooting Incident

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Janice Lee, 415-346-2051, JaniceL@aaja.org

SAN FRANCISCO (April 16, 2007) -- Like the rest of the nation, we at the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) are stunned at the news of today's shooting at Virginia Tech. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families and friends as they cope with this horrific incident.

As coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting continues to unfold, AAJA urges all media to avoid using racial identifiers unless there is a compelling or germane reason. There is no evidence at this early point that the race or ethnicity of the suspected gunman has anything to do with the incident, and to include such mention serves only to unfairly portray an entire people.

The effect of mentioning race can be powerfully harmful. It can subject people to unfair treatment based simply on skin color and heritage.

We further remind members of the media that the standards of news reporting should be universal and applied equally no matter the platform or medium, including blogs.

We at AAJA, representing approximately 2,000 reporters, editors, photographers and executives in the industry, encourage journalists to refer to style and reference books, both within their own shop as well as AAJA's at http://www.aaja.org/resources/apa_handbook/.

We also invite those with concerns or questions to contact AAJA as a resource for issues of fair and accurate coverage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. AAJA's national office is at (415) 346-2051, National@aaja.org, www.aaja.org.

About AAJA

The Asian American Journalists Association is a non-profit professional and educational organization with approximately 2,000 members across the United States and in Asia. Founded in 1981, AAJA has been at the forefront of change in the journalism industry. AAJA's mission is to encourage Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to enter the ranks of journalism, to work for fair and accurate coverage of AAPIs, and to increase the number of AAPI journalists and news managers in the industry. AAJA is an alliance partner in UNITY Journalists of Color, along with the Native American Journalists Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and National Association of Black Journalists. For more information, visit www.aaja.org.

[Tainan]

I just emailed the author with this query:
Ms. Lee -
As the perpetrator of this mass murder was of Korean heritage, as were both his Mother and Father, would it be more socially and politically acceptable to refer to him as "Hangeuk " or "Hangeuksaram " rather than use the generic 'Asian' term?

Logical Q to me.

[festus]

I’ll go with Oriental especially since the MSM recently has taken to calling all the jihadi’s Asians anyway and thus completely confused me about what they mean when they say Asian.

[Palladin]

I had to look that one up:

The Korean name for Korea is “Hangeuk” and its people are called “Hangeuksaram”. The ancient name for Korea is “Choson”.

Let us know if you get an answer from Ms. Lee. (Any relation to Bruce Lee?....j.k.)

[staytrue]

universities were expecting a christian white male. i’ll bet they’re disappointed! (/s)

okay but freepers were expecting a ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT FROM MEXICO. i’ll bet they’re BITTERLY disappointed! (and this is not sarcasm)

[Tainan]

Well, as an above poster mentioned, all the papers and newsreaders over here are also calling the shooter an "Asian." Some are directly calling him a 'Korean' student.

Guess they don't have the 'panties in a wad' affliction of the Asian America Journalists Association.

[MHT]

So what do they want him to be? “White”...nice and generic. “Jewish”? That would help the MSM’s campaign against Israel, even he’s not Jewish. “Minority”? That might create unnecessary sympathy. Or the greatest alternative known to demographers everywhere—”OTHER”.

[staytrue]

His ethnic heritage has little to do with his behavior.

Here is the question. Most posters on FR take great offense when some says african american, asian american, etc. prefering that all be just american.

But when a mass murderer is an asain american, you can hear the crickets chirping regarding calling him just an american.

[Constantine XI Palaeologus]

Well, that’s weird. I could be wrong, but I always thought it was about the same as calling a black person “negro” or “colored.” An antiquated term relegated to use by those not “in the know.”

[fishtank]

I took back what I wrote, see the thread.

[chessplayer]

Oh, good grief. His name tells people that he is Asian. I guess the media should not give out his name, either. Or if a Hispanic kills someone, they should`nt give out his name. Or if a Muslim kills someone they should`nt give out his name. On and on.