<i>NY Post</i>'s Second Offense

AAJA's MediaWatch Committee sent the following letter out in response to the New York Post''s use of the phrase "Asian Invasion" in their headline on April 17. In their April 11 story about immigration reform, they used the headline, "Alien Invasion."


April 21, 2006

Steven D. Cuozzo
Executive Editor
New York Post
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Dear Mr. Cuozzo:

One offense may be pardonable, but to slight Americans of Asian descent
twice in a matter of days suggests that the leadership of the Post is
asleep at the wheel.

We're writing about the headline "Asian Invasion" (Monday, April 17) that
accompanied a story about vast amounts of money from China, Russia and
India being invested into artwork. Just what were you all thinking?

The word "invasion" conjures up images of under siege, in danger, being
attacked -- military invades, viruses invade, intruders invade. And to pair
such a charged word with "Asian" is frankly flabbergasting. Are readers to
extrapolate that art investment by people in Asia is a bad or unwelcome
phenomenon, that something sinister is at play?

We at AAJA are stunned at the headline, especially after we had flagged the
Post several days earlier about a similarly insensitive headline that
failed to reflect the reportage ("Alien Invasion" on a story about
demonstrators marching in support of immigration reform).

Indeed, the reporter in this latest story, Paul Tharp, quotes the editor
and publisher of ARTNews, who made this observation about Asian investors:
"The tantalizing thing is they're first buying up all the treasures they
can find that had been taken out of their countries years earlier."

This amounts to "Asian invasion?"

The irony is not lost on us. How about with you?

Sincerely,

Esther Wu, AAJA National President

Abe Kwok, AAJA MediaWatch Co-Chair

   The Asian American    Journalists Association    (AAJA) was founded in    1981 by a few Asian    American and Pacific    Islander (AAPI) journalists.    Within the next few years,    AAJA began hosting panel    discussions for members.

   AAJA joins UNITY:    Journalists of Color in    Atlanta, Georgia for its first    conference focusing on    people of color and diversity    in the newsroom.

   AAJA was honored with the    Medal for Distinguished    Service in Journalism by the    University of Missouri for its    contributions to the industry.

   AAJA named the    championship trophy for    its annual photo competition    after the late New York    Times photojournalist Dith    Pran. The names of each    recipient are engraved on    the trophy.

   The organization marks its    25th year anniversary    hosting celebrations in New    York, Texas and Los    Angeles to kick off a $2    million endowment    campaign for programs.

   AAJA presented the 2008    Media Champion Award by    the Asian Community    Mental Health Services for    "challenging misinformation    and stereotypes in media    coverage around the    Virginia Tech tragedy and    helping to present mental    distress as a human and    commonplace experience."