September 25, 2007
The Asian American Journalists Association received news on Friday that KQED in San Francisco will be discontinuing its nationally syndicated public radio program, "Pacific Time." The final show will air Oct. 11.
The weekly half-hour program -- developed to provide news about Asia, Asian American communities and connections across the Pacific Ocean -- first aired in 2000. MORE about the popular radio program.
AAJA issued the following statement yesterday:
"Pacific Time has allowed people to learn about the many issues related to Asia and Asian American communities. The producers, hosts and reporters consistently pulled together programming that was extraordinary in terms of variety and depth. This is a tremendous loss of a resource for the public. We hope that news media across the country can make up for the loss by examining what Pacific Time did so well and incorporating news stories that promote understanding between cultures and countries."
Former host Nguyen Qui Duc and current host K. Oanh Ha are AAJA members. Duc has been a panelist at various AAJA national conventions and is a role model for radio members. Oanh is a 2005 graduate of AAJA's Executive Leadership Program and has participated in AAJA partner media study tours to Asia hosted by the United Nations Development Programme and the Asia Foundation.
See RELATED STORY in the San Francisco Chronicle