By cataloging the work of male Asian American broadcasters in a DVD available to industry decision-makers, AAJA seeks to remedy the severe lack of Asian American men on television news.
A 2002 study by the Annenberg School for Communications at the University of Southern California found that there were only 20 male Asian Americans on the air in the country's top 25 markets. By comparison, the USC Annenberg study found a total of 85 Asian American female television broadcasters on-air -- a nearly 5 to 1 ratio of women versus men.
Sixty AAJA members are featured on the DVD, which debuted April 2004 at the national convention of the Radio-Television News Directors Association. The DVD was distributed to news directors, recruiters, station managers and educators. In addition to being offered as a hiring tool, AAJA hopes the DVD will help erase stereotypes and encourage Asian American men to choose broadcast journalism as a career.
Tom Dolan, President of Dolan Media Management, and Jill Geisler, Leadership and Management Group Leader of the Poynter Institute -- each with more than 20 years experience as news directors -- served as advisers to this project. Gingold Television in San Francisco donated the labor involved in producing the DVD.
