Reflections from Our Community
What People Say About AsianWeek
By Thomas Lee, Fiona Ma and Jason Ma

Mike Honda, California District 23 Assemblyman, Congressional District 15 candidate

AsianWeek has provided 21 years of sharp, consistent focus on our pan-Asian communities. Your reporting keeps me informed, but more importantly has helped all of us to be assertive advocates for our own issues to the non-Asian communities and the other media. We would never have the great follow through, in the mainstream print media, of issues that we care about. Thank you for BEING!!! And continue to grow.

Dale Minami, Attorney

Twenty-one years of survival for an ethnic newspaper is a remarkable achievement. I started subscribing to AsianWeek about 16 years ago and have seen it grow and develop into a major voice for Asian Pacific Americans.

AsianWeek’s development has tracked the development of the Asian Pacific American community both in terms of activism and sophistication. I do believe it has brought a greater awareness of our national presence; it has broadened our view of what being an Asian Pacific American is.

Most of the information AsianWeek has published—including the columns, commentaries and editorials—one would not find in the mainstream press, which is part of the value of AsianWeek. I think the coverage of hate crimes and racial incidents stands out in my mind.

Howard Fong, Actor (The Joy Luck Club)

I have been a reader of AsianWeek since its founding in 1979. At that time, the only other earlier English-language, Chinese American newspaper was East-West, a nonprofit newspaper which eventually folded. AsianWeek was my only source of information on affairs, events, and news pertaining to Asian Americans, especially for those of us chooksengs who were born here. To me, it is still the premier English-language, Asian American newspaper with nationwide coverage.

I think that AsianWeek is an invaluable Asian American news source for those Asian Americans who are more fluent in English than our respective ethnic languages. It is a delight to read about happenings in other Asian American communities throughout the United States.

The most memorable AsianWeek article that I have ever read was the article on the takeover of the San Francisco Examiner by Florence Fang and her family, who are the owners of AsianWeek. To me, this takeover of a Hearst Corporation newspaper, in which the Hearst name is associated with “yellow journalism,” is proof that ethnic minorities can operate and run mainstream, American newspapers.

Dr. Youn-Cha Chey, Director, Korean Center

AsianWeek is really our voice. It has been an instrumental tool for the general public in understanding Asian community issues, also generating interest among Asian communities, sharing and learning. AsianWeek has grown. It seems as if we were growing together. We are indeed obliged to AsianWeek to have a means of expressing ourselves. I’m inspired by Florence Fang, who has been a real leader in the Bay Area and now is able to buy the Examiner.

I just hope that AsianWeek grows many more pages. More and more, I see that you are covering all Asian communities.

Karen Narasaki, Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Legal Center

AsianWeek is an important publication because it’s one of the few publications serving the Asian American community while striving to have national coverage. When I speak at universities, I always tell the students to read AsianWeek, and how important it is for their libraries to subscribe to AsianWeek. It is one of the few reliable sources for political news not covered in the mainstream media. It is always reaching out to make sure coverage is relevant, reaching out to places like Wisconsin or Minnesota where people wouldn’t expect there to be Asian news. I’ve seen Asian publications come and go. For a publication to be around for over twenty years shows that there really is a void out there that it is filling.

Wilma Chan, California Assembly District 16 candidate, former Alameda County supervisor

AsianWeek has been around through a lot of changes in the Asian American community. It is the longest running, existing, English newspaper that focuses on the Asian American community. I really appreciate their coverage of the trends of Asian America, such as the coverage of population changes, employment and education. I often use AsianWeek as a resource when I need correct data on the Asian American community.

John Tateishi, Executive Director, Japanese American Citizens League

AsianWeek has had a major impact on the community. It’s created an awareness looking at our own history. It covers political events from a different insight. It looks at politics through a micro-perspective of Asian Americans. It’s a perspective not covered in the mainstream media. Being the only national, pan-Asian newspaper, it’s very significant that AsianWeek has lasted this long. It shows that Asian Americans are interested in pan-Asian news and issues in their communities.

George Ong, National President, Organization of Chinese Americans

AsianWeek is our community newspaper. The paper focuses on what concerns and impacts Asian Pacific Americans and provides both local and national coverage that the mainstream press either ignores or deems not newsworthy or important. AsianWeek, therefore, provides an important service and a vital link to our community.

Henry Der, State Deputy Superintendent of Public Education

As a community newspaper, it has certainly matured and followed the growth of the Asian Pacific American community. AsianWeek has met the challenge of identifying new issues. It’s a very vital and important vehicle for Asians who are engaged in any number of endeavors. It’s provided a forum for different issues to emerge. That’s what a community newspaper should be.

One story that the paper has picked up on is the plight of Filipino World War II veterans. That’s stuck in my mind, [as well as] Asian Indians in the Internet business. That is a very important story because that is hidden.

Victor Hwang, Attorney, Asian Law Caucus

AsianWeek has done a good job at keeping folks informed around the country on Asian American issues. It’s shown that it’s survived. There have been a lot of Asian American journals that have come and gone.

AsianWeek’s coverage is on issues that are ignored by the mainstream press a lot. It has to stay on the cutting edge of issues for Asian Americans. The Kao shooting [in Rohnert Park]—there was a big protest in Union Square, about 800 people. People came up from L.A. This is a story that the Chronicle and the Examiner missed. It was a key case that AsianWeek helped us publicize. Sometimes, the only was we can get stories out is through AsianWeek.

David Lee, Executive Director, Chinese American Voter Education Committee.

The Rape of Nanking was really brought to light as a major issue, in addition to the Wen Ho Lee issue. That’s a major issue that AsianWeek can be credited with bringing to the entire Asian American community’s attention. Primarily it was a Chinese American issue before. It was important in bring it to other Asian American groups.

Benefits for Filipino veterans—it was an issue AsianWeek picked up on long before the national press. AsianWeek has been doing that since its inception. It has earned the reputation of carrying the Asian American community’s point of view where the mainstream press has failed to carry the Asian American vantage point.

AsianWeek provides one of the few forums for the Asian American community to have their issues raised, discussed and analyzed. AsianWeek plays a vital role in the civic discourse in the national Asian American community. It’s is one of the only places where these issues can be introduced and analyzed, so average Asian Americans can in engage in an informed dialogue.