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.

[beaversmom]

Don’t go anywhere, the police are on their way.

Except when you are being shot to death.

[petercooper]

Apparently there is someone on the thread who had their feelings hurt and ran crying to the mods b/c now there are several pulled.

unreal

[ckilmer]

true but it was an engineering building

[twonie]

POETS!! God, deliver me from poets! Particularly spontaneous ones - ready for any occasion. GEEZ!!

[SandwicheGuy]

The problem with this is that the shootings were in a heavily oriental dominated study area which is engineering. However, all the people listed as killed were non oriental.

Hmmm. I did not know that. BTTT

[MrB]

OK, we’ll just post his picture in every article about the massacre.

[M203M4]

ok, so I can see the news release the next time something like this happens....
FLASH: police want you to be on the lookout for a male suspected in (insert crime here) in (insert town name here). if you see a male, please contact police...

Sexist! Use gender neutral language.

"Be on the lookout for a suspicious looking individual in [town], a suspected culprit in the crime of [crime]."

Damn, that 'individual' part..."individual" is not an idea we should be promoting. And "crime" is so judgmental. "Suspect" too. Revision 3:

"Be on the lookout for a member of the collective in [town], whom is a unit of interest regarding the alleged activity of [crime], which is allegedly illegal."

[Red Badger]

What a HOOT!.........

[twonie]

Do you know that for sure? Or are you simply surmising?

[paratrooper82]

How about Korean!

[bert]

Michelle is southwest pacific, not asian family origin.

[twonie]

Again I say - I don’t care what they prefer. Don’t care.

[ribosomal soup]

They have to refer to the man as Asian. If not a large segment of the American population will have to sort out national/tribal African roots.

The thing is, he's not American, so we should just refer him as South Korean. Asian-American (or Asian, Asian-Pacific Islander) is an American racial group. American blacks should be called blacks, but a Nigerian citizen should be called a Nigerian.

[Red Badger]

Yes, I believe Oriental is preferred over Asian. I, for myself, don’t really care. But I heard a local Politician on the morning talk show refer to us as Asiatics once and I went ballistic on the phone to his office..........

[Lee'sGhost]

Please do not call the Asian killer “Asian.”

[Red Badger]

My Chinese friend says, “You look Oriental, but you no sound Oriental!”......

[Constitutions Grandchild]

I’ve made this point on other FR threads. It isn’t likely from his name that he was, say Native American or Hispanic, does it? You just can’t say “Asian” or worse yet, “Oriental”. That’s about as silly as only printing the race of the perp when he’s white. I’ll bet no one could guess that Malik Shabaz is African American, could they, or that Muhammad Ishmael is Middle Eastern, eh, or that Pandurangam Nadrasurian is say, East Indian or Filipino? Nope, you couldn’t figure that out without help. Silly, dumb old Whitey — it’s just you that we need to identify.

I don’t get it, never have, never will, but I don’t get a lot of what’s going on in the last 30 years.

[SandwicheGuy]

My Chinese friends correct me when I call them Asian. They prefer Oriental over Asian.

He must be from south China then. Anyone from the Asian sub-continent is Asian; East Asian, Southwest Asian, whatever. Only those from the Orient are Orientals, a sub-group of Asia. The Orient is Southeast Asia, as in Viet Nam, Thailand, South China, Burma, etc. This is a common misconception,that Orientals and Asians are the same.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

The designation “Asian”, concocted by the government in order to classify people in violation of the Constitution, is overly broad. Asia is a huge continent. Lumping Russians, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Indian, Japanese, Saudis and others together is a mistake.

[Red Badger]

The Admin Operator is REALLY BUSY TODAY!...........