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CALIFORNIA AS TRENDSETTER FOR THE COUNTRY AND THE WORLD
January, 1998 until the present
Click here for older California Collage articles.
By Harrison Chastang, Julian Do, Andrew Reding, and Franz Schurmann
Date: 08-07-00
The presidential nominating conventions are, these days, matters of pressing interest to many people whose primary information sources are the ethnic media. Pacific News Service offers a summary glance at a dozen or so accounts and analyses available in Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese and African American news media. The reports were gathered by editors of New California Media, a collaboration of ethnic news organizations founded by PNS.
By Faisal Tbeileh
Date: 08-04-00
Despite the most intense, visible effort on the part of President Clinton, peace talks in the middle east seem to be going nowhere. That situation will according to PNS commentator Faisal Tbeileh, until all sides recognize that a single, secular, democratic state that includes both Palestinians and Israelis is the only solution. Palestinian born, Tbeileh has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles. His e-mail address is faisaltb@yahoo.com.
By David Bacon
Date: 07-28-00
Silicon Valley firms are pushing hard for an increase in the number of workers allowed into the United States to work as "specialists." But these workers are often hired under individual contracts, and very badly treated -- which means any expansion of the program would harm all workers. PNS commentator David Bacon writes widely on immigrant and labor issues.
By Chris Jenkins
Date: 06-28-00
With so many Californians locked up, it comes as no surprise that some prisoners are parents or children of other prisoners. But those who work with prisoners and their families, see it as a compact sign of the failures of a system that offers little to help interrupt this unhappy cycle. PNS commentator Chris Jenkins is a freelance journalist, who has contributed to The Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and The Christian Science Monitor. He currently lives in Washington, D.C.
By Koren Capozza
Date: 05-22-00
The extraordinary growth in legalized gambling on Indian land -- from nothing to $8 billion a year in a decade -- is about to grow much larger. An initiative granting each of the state's 95 tribes the right to build two casinos has Californians living anywhere near a reservation looking nervously over a shoulder. PNS associate editor Koren Capozza writes about American Indian issues for the San Francisco-based New California Media (www.ncmonline.com) and American Indian Report in Washington D.C.
By Koren L. Capozza
Date: 03-31-00
It's not all stock options and IPOs and breathtaking incomes. In the heart of high tech country, California's Silicon Valley, there's been a rapid rise in shyness -- a rise that may be connected with the nature of the work itself. PNS writer Koren L. Capozza is also an editor for New California Media, PNS' ethnic news media collaborative and web site (NCMonline.com). She frequently reports on high-technology trends and its surrounding culture.
By Andrew Lam
Date: 03-20-00
The once notoriously anti-Chinese Hearst-owned newspaper, the San Francisco Examiner, is now owned by a Chinese American family, a shift that some Asian Americans see as poetic justice. But the deeper question, raised also by the Chandler family's sale of the L.A. Times to the Chicago Tribune, is whether the Examiner will cover the "new city" -- let alone the "new California" -- that is coming into being. PNS editor Andrew Lam is a journalist and commentator for National Public Radio's All Things Considered.
By Koren L. Capozza
Date: 01-20-00
HMOs are in disrepute in many areas of the U.S., but among California's Indian tribes there is growing interest in shifting from government-run health care programs to a self-managed HMO. PNS associate editor Koren Capozza writes on Native American trends for New California Media, PNS' ethnic news media collaborative and web site (NCMonline.com).
By Steven Zak
Date: 12-30-99
Environmentalists have made it clear they will be heard in the upcoming national elections, and this is considered a plus for candidate Al Gore. A close look at Gore's actions and philosophy, however, indicates he may not be the champion environmentalists have in mind. Steven Zak is an attorney and writer. He has written about ethics and the environment for many publications including The Atlantic Monthly and The New York Times.
By Alfonso Serrano F.
Date: 12-16-99
As they gear up for next year's district elections, defeated mayoral candidate Tom Ammiano's youthful and largely white activists need to reach out to the ethnic neighborhoods of the city. And the good news is they already have a foothold among Latinos, reports PNS associate editor Alfonso Serrano. Serrano is also an editor of NCMonline.com, a multi-ethnic news media web site.
By Song Xiang and Charles Jones
Date: 12-15-99
San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and much of the mainstream media credited his turn to the West -- to the city's staunch Republican white voters -- for his landslide reelection. But Brown also forged a precedent-setting new coalition made up of Chinese immigrants and African Americans. PNS' New California Media reporters tracked the ethnic vote on election day in a heavily Chinese precinct and in an inner city neighborhood where most young black residents can't vote. Song Xiang is a reporter for NCMonline. Charles Jones is a 22-year-old father of two and writes for YO! Youth Outlook, PNS' monthly youth newspaper.
By Rene Ciria-Cruz
Date: 02-19-99
The mayoral runoff saw the biggest effort to turn out the Chinese vote for victorious Willie Brown -- and it worked, reports PNS editor Rene Ciria-Cruz. He is also the executive editor of NCMonline.com, a multi-ethnic news media website.
By Michael Kroll
Date: 12-08-99
Death penalty politics are once again at the forefront of the bitterly contested race in San Francisco for district attorney. The only twist is that in a city where capital punishment is unpopular, the preemptive strike comes from anti- rather than pro-death penalty forces. PNS associate editor Michael Kroll, a founder of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C., writes widely on legal issues.
By Song Hsiang
Date: 11-05-99
Heavy exposure in Chinese-language media and intense personal outreach by San Francisco's Mayor Willie Brown ensured a landslide for the incumbent within the important -- and increasingly civic-minded -- Chinese American community. New California Media editor Song Hsiang accompanied exit pollsters of the Chinese American Voter Education Committee (CAVEC) on voting day. This article is also available in Chinese and Spanish from New California Media at ncmonline.com.
By Jacquiline Keeler
Date: 10-14-99
Just 30 years ago, American Indians achieved a visibility long denied them by occupying Alcatraz Island, once the country's most notorious prison, in San Francisco Bay. The occupation was solidly based on treaty rights, and helped build a movement which continues to support members of the community to this day. PNS commentator Jacqueline Keeler, a member of the Dineh Nation and the Yankton Dakota Sioux, is a Bay Area writer.
By Leslie A. Layton
Date: 11-01-99
Out-of-the-way towns across rural California are beginning to see evidence of gang activity. So far, the response has been punitive, as in the big cities, but in rural areas the human cost is perhaps a little easier to see. PNS correspondent Leslie A. Layton is a free-lance writer who has reported from both Mexico City and Northern California.
By David Bacon
Date: 09-29-99
San Joaquin Valley lettuce workers once formed the sturdy spine of the United Farm Workers union, but changes in agricultural practice -- drawing workers from the fields into enormous packing operations -- have sapped the UFW's strength. However the Laborers' union has stepped into the picture, and the region may see a struggle as dramatic as those of the 1960s. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on immigrant and labor issues.
By Mary Jo McConahay
Date: 09-13-99
Among the many hazards facing workers in California's $27 billion agricultural industry is a practice which has apparently escaped public attention, yet accounts for a significant number of deaths and injuries every year. Use of a tractor without a driver saves money, but puts everyone in the field at risk. Mary Jo McConahay is an editor of New California Media Online, a collaboration of ethnic news media which hosts the first multi-ethnic portal on the Internet at www.NCMOnline.com.
By Michael Kroll
Date: 09-10-99
California Governor Gray Davis is keeping the walls of silence sealed around state prisons -- a policy that reduces the growing inmate population to the level of slaves. PNS associate editor Michael Kroll, former director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, DC, has written on prison issues for two decades.
By Gregory J. Millman
Date: 09-01-99
Controversies over the teaching of evolution and abortion may be filling the headlines, but the focus of the conservative Christian movement may well be the workplace rather than the speakers' platform. PNS commentator Gregory J. Millman points to interesting evidence of a new Christian ethic abroad in the land. Millman is the author of "The Vandals' Crown -- How Rebel Currency Traders Overthrew the World's Central Banks" (Free Press, 1995), which was translated into nine languages and became a Business Week best seller. He is now at work on a book about faith and work.
By Edward Liu
Date: 08-20-99
Generations of Chinese-Americans grew up in Chinese-language movie theaters which served as surrogate parents. Now the last of these theaters in San Francisco's Chinatown has shut down. PNS commentator Edward Liu, a lawyer and writer, offer his eulogy.
By Judith Coburn
Date: 08-12-99
Recent struggles at radio station KPFA -- including demonstrations and a protest march -- have been greeted with knowing remarks about the 1960s and Berkeley radicals. The station is operating again, at least for a time, but PNS commentator Judith Coburn writes that the issues involved are very much of the 1990s, and should concern us all. Coburn has written all over the media map from "The Village Voice" to "The Los Angeles Times" and has taught media at the University of California.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 08-06-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Alfonso Serrano F.
Date: 08-05-99
San Francisco Supervisor Leland Yee leaves the potent Chinese vote up for grabs by pulling out of the mayoral race, citing financial difficulty. Alfonso Serrano F. is a reporter for New California Media Online (www.NCMonline.com), a project of Pacific News Service.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 07-30-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By David Bacon
Date: 07-29-99
The recent offer by Pacifica Foundation to lift its lockout of community radio station KPFA has only fueled suspicions among many staffers and their supporters that the Foundation is secretly plotting the station's sale. PNS contributing editor David Bacon, who hosts a show on labor issues at KPFA, explores the reasons behind their suspicions.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 07-23-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 07-15-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 07-06-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 06-22-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 06-18-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 06-09-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 06-02-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 05-26-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 05-18-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Peter Asmus
Date: 05-12-99
Talk of the environment usually summons images of open spaces and endangered species. But an ordinance now being considered in San Francisco looks at the everyday environment of those who work in a city, and promises tangible and intangible rewards. PNS commentator Peter Asmus is a Sacramento-based writer specializing in environmental issues and a consultant to the Local Government Commission, which advocates the creation of more sustainable cities.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 05-11-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 05-04-99
The ethnic media covered Littleton, but with a difference. Ethnic writers, familiar with marginalization and intolerance, brought a unique perspective that shed some light on the senselessness. PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 04-28-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 04-21-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 04-13-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 04-06-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 03-31-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 03-24-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 03-16-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 03-09-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 03-05-99
What does the world look like as reported by California's growing ethnic media? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic media published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Andrew Lam
Date: 03-02-99
A video store owner in Orange County's Little Saigon provokes a passionate response when he displays a poster of Ho Chi Minh, while teenagers in Hanoi cover the former revolutionary's fading photograph with portraits of Bay Watch starlets. PNS editor Andrew Lam explores the fate of Cold War icons on both sides of the Pacific. Lam is a short story writer and journalist.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 02-25-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 02-18-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 02-10-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese-, Korean-, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Nguyen Xuan Nam
Date: 02-09-99
The San Jose Mercury News, part of the second largest newspaper chain in the United States, has begun to publish a Vietnamese language newspaper. This has produced some feelings of pride in the community, and also some fears that the daily will use its size and muscle to snuff out existing ethnic publications. PNS commentator Nguyen Xuan Nam is editor of CaliToday, a bilingual (English and Vietnamese) periodical published in San Jose.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 02-04-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese, Korean, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 01-28-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese, Korean, Arabic-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 01-21-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese, Arab-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum.
Edited By Emil Guillermo
Date: 01-14-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS monitors the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese, Arab-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum. We hope you will find the column an intriguing window into the new California.
Edited by Emil Guillermo
Date: 01-08-99
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS for two years has monitored the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese, Arab-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. "Gleanings from the Ethnic Media" is now a regular weekly column compiled by Emil Guillermo, host of "NCM: New California Media TV" (seen on PBS station KCSM-TV60 in the Bay Area); assisted by Pacific News Service and the NCM Network. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum. We hope you will find the column an intriguing window into the new California.
Edited by Emil Guillermo
Date: 12-29-98
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS for two years has monitored the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese, Arab-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. Every month PNS has released a digest of select items. This week, we're sending two samples of a column of gleanings we will publish weekly in 1999, compiled by PNS and written by Emil Guillermo, executive producer and host of PNS's New California Media weekly TV show. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum. We hope you will find the column an intriguing window into the new California. (Second of two columns)
Edited by Emil Guillermo
Date: 12-29-98
What does the world look like as reported on the pages of California's growing ethnic newspapers? PNS for two years has monitored the Chinese-, Spanish-, Vietnamese-, Japanese, Arab-language news media as well as English-language newcomer and native-born ethnic press published and/or distributed widely in California. Every month PNS has released a digest of select items. This week, we're sending two samples of a column of gleanings we will publish weekly in 1999, compiled by PNS and written by Emil Guillermo, executive producer and host of PNS's New California Media weekly TV show. Just as the alternative news media connected the disaffected populations in the 1960s, so in the 1990s the ethnic media connects the new ethnic majority communities of California -- to one another and to the larger public forum. We hope you will find the column an intriguing window into the new California. (First of two columns)
Compiled by Franz Schurmann, Andrea Quong and Alfonso Serrano F.
Date: 12-14-98
A tour of Third World media and ethnic media in the U.S. provides a variety of views on Chinese-Japanese relations, capital punishment, and the situation in the Sudan, as well as news of assassination, insults, and pies. One of a series of reviews of the ethnic media in California and elsewhere published regularly by Pacific News Service.
By Yuriko Nagano
Date: 11-25-98
The recent death of one of the founders of the Nichi Bei Times, the oldest Japanese-American daily newspaper in the United States, has placed an additional burden on his sub-editor. But despite the 50 year difference in their ages, Kenji Taguma is committed to keeping the newspaper alive. PNS reporter Yuriko Nagano is a Japanese journalist studying at U.C. Berkeley.
By Emil Guillermo
Date: 11-09-98
Midterm elections, normally predictable and routine affairs, provided a bombshell or two this year, nowhere more explosively than in the matter of "ethnic voting." Voters identified as belonging to one or more nonwhite groups came out in unprecedented numbers, and this is, by all signs, not a blip but the first sign of a long-term change. Emil Guillermo is the host and executive producer of "NCM: New California Media" seen on PBS stations.
By Josh Phillips
Date: 11-05-98
Immigration is not exclusively a concern of the Latino community. A visit with new voters from Northern California's growing Russian immigrant community shows this issue is extremely powerful as a unifying force in more ways than one. PNS corespondent Josh Phillips lives in San Francisco. THIS IS ONE OF A PNS SERIES ON THE YEAR OF THE ETHNIC VOTER.
By Gregory Rodriguez
Date: 11-05-98
Substantial increases in the number of Latino voters going to the polls in recent years have been widely seen as a response to perceived threats to the community. But the turnout -- and results -- in the most recent balloting, a routine midterm election with no "Latino" issue on the ballot, shows that these voters are a new and lasting force to be reckoned with. PNS associate editor Gregory Rodriguez is a Research Fellow at the Pepperdine Institute for Public Policy.
By Jacqueline Keeler
Date: 11-05-98
On November 3, California voters passed Proposition 5 -- the Indian gaming initiative -- by a large margin. This marks the first time an American Indian referendum has passed-- a historic watershed -- and more is yet to come. Jacqueline Keeler, a member of the Dineh Nation and the Yankton Dakota Sioux is a Bay Area writer.
By Chauncey Bailey
Date: 11-05-98
The African American vote has long been considered the exclusive property of the Democratic Party. But PNS commentator Chauncey Bailey -- who voted for a Republican for the first time on November 3 -- thinks it may be time to start crossing some of the lines that divide us. Bailey is news director at KSBT -TV Soul Beat in Oakland.
By Mohamad Ozeir
Date: 11-05-98
The low voter turnout anticipated for Nov. 3 gave Arab American leaders an ideal chance to magnify the impact of their community's vote. Their strategy proved highly successful. PNS reporter Mohamad Ozeir is editor in chief of the Arab American Journal. THIS IS ONE OF A PNS SERIES ON THE YEAR OF THE ETHNIC VOTER.
By A.A. Quong
Date: 11-04-98
A team of Chinese American pollsters fanned out through San Francisco on Nov. 3 to quiz Chinese American voters -- in Chinese and English. Their findings add new brush strokes to an otherwise sketchy picture of the "Asian American" voter. PNS associate editor A.A. Quong accompanied the pollsters.
By Jacqueline Keeler
Date: 10-28-98
The big item on this year's California initiatives ballot is Proposition 5, likely to be the state's most expensive initiative campaign ever, with nearly $60 million spent on both sides. Most of the arguments pro and con involve profit and loss -- but the real issue, writes PNS commentator Jacqueline Keeler, is the right of a sovereign nation to take advantage of the limited choices at hand. Keeler, a member of the Dineh Nation and the Yankton Dakota Sioux is a Bay Area writer.
Compiled by Franz Schurmann, Andrea Quong and Alfonso Serrano F.
Date: 10-20-98
A brief tour of recent issues of the ethnic media provides a taste of how Latin Americans see the debt crisis, an Arab American view of Pat Robertson, and a wry note from the Chinese language press on the U.S. position on human rights. Elsewhere, there is news of software friendly to non-English speakers and movie stars poaching endangered species. One of a series of reviews of the ethnic media in California and elsewhere published biweekly by Pacific News Service
By Joan Walsh
Date: 09-02-98
Thirty years after helping to found the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of California-Berkeley, department chair Ling-chi Wang is proposing a bold initiative to transform itself into an American Studies department. The move, he argues, would help acknowledge race and ethnicity as central to American identity -- and it may also prevent the Ethnic Studies department from becoming victim of its own success. PNS associate editor Joan Walsh writes on issues of race and poverty.
Edited by Andrea Quong, Alfonso Serrano F. and Franz Schurmann
Date: 08-12-98
Is North Korea moving into the world of the dollar? How is the Taliban victory in Afghanistan seen in the Muslim world? What is the theme of this year's Mr. Asian contest? Answers to these questions are hard to find in mainstream media outlets. Every two weeks New California Media, a network of ethnic media organizations, digests news and commentary from this rapidly growing segment of the news media.
By William Wong
Date: 08-10-98
As more and more Asian Americans vote in California, often choosing candidates for their Asian surnames, identity politics could prove more decisive than gender or party affiliation in the upcoming Senatorial race between incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer and Republican challenger Matt Fong. PNS correspondent Bill Wong is a freelance journalist and former reporter for the Wall St. Journal and a columnist for the Oakland Tribune.
By Ruben Martinez
Date: 08-03-98
Looking out your apartment window these days, it's hard to tell whether you're in Mexico or L.A. In both places, the affluent young of all races mix so easily the cultures are almost indistinguishable -- it is only when you venture into nearby neighborhoods of poor people that you become aware of a very real class divide. PNS commentator Ruben Martinez is at work on a book about life and death in the borderlands.
BY Yuriko Nagano
Date: 07-31-98
The everyday miracle of electricity comes at a cost not always revealed by the monthly utility bill -- costs involving dammed rivers, smog, the risks of nuclear power. Wind power seems to offer a way to avoid these costs, but it has run into difficulties on its own. Now new technology may revive hopes for this "clean" energy source. PNS correspondent Yuriko Nagano is a Japanese journalist studying at U.C. Berkeley.
By Julie Reynolds
Date: 07-16-98
California's troubled quarrel over immigration has sprouted into a very large format indeed. Billboards near the Arizona-California border, and close to Los Angeles have sparked controversies that reveal emotions too strong to be concealed for long. PNS commentator Julie Reynolds is an editor for El Andar Publications and the Electric Mercado web site in Santa Cruz, California.
Edited by Alfonso Serrano F.
Date: 07-15-98
Why does a new type of bounty-hunter have some San Diego residents up in arms? How's Bollywood box office this year? What new, and newsworthy role is the internet playing among overseas Chinese? Answers to these questions are hard to find in mainstream media outlets. Every two weeks New California Media, a network of ethnic media organizations, digests news and commentary from this rapidly growing segment of the news media.
Edited by Alfonso Serrano F.
Date: 06-16-98
What do Indians and Pakistanis think about the recent bomb tests? How are Latinos faring at the polls? What do the Ku Klux Klan and the Nation of Islam have in common? You probably won't find answers to these questions in mainstream media outlets. Every two weeks New California Media, a network of ethnic media organizations, digests news and commentary from this rapidly growing segment of the news media.
By Alfonso Serrano
Date: 06-11-98
The emerging political clout of California's communities of color has been the subject of much discussion, but little doubt this election year. Perhaps the most striking sign of this phenomenon is the role now being played by the state's ethnic media. PNS Associate Editor Alfonso Serrano is formerly the editor of El Mensajero, a bilingual weekly published in San Francisco.
By David Gaither
Date: 06-08-98
Are blacks in Oakland, California being edged out of power, or are they exhibiting a new maturity by voting for a white politician? The question has resonance for the entire state, as blacks are a declining percentage of the new majority of ethnic groups increasingly setting their imprint on the political landscape. PNS commentator David Gaither is an Oakland based journalist who writes regularly for the black press.
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 06-04-98
If we were less afraid of one another, we would recognize that the growing interest in politics among Latinos and Asians -- evident in California's recent campaign -- is the key to our reconciliation, not the obstacle to it. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez, author of "Days of Obligation" writes for the Los Angeles Times Sunday Opinion section, Harper's and other publications and is a regular essayist on PBS's "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer."
Edited by Alfonso Serrano
Date: 05-26-98
Perhaps no initiative on California's June ballot stirs emotions like Proposition 227, sponsored by Ron Unz, which would replace existing bilingual education programs. But what do communities most affected by the initiative -- Latino and Asian -- think about the measure? Whatever the polls show, press coverage in the ethnic media has been one-sided. The following is a sample of news articles and editorials on Proposition 227 in California's ethnic press compiled by PNS editor Alfonso Serrano. Serrano is formerly the editor of El Mensajero, a bilingual weekly published in San Francisco.
By David Bacon
Date: 05-20-98
The initiative petition has become a permanent feature of the California political scene, and this year's election is no exception. In an odd twist, however, two initiatives heavily backed by conservative forces seem to be spurring a coalition of immigrant and labor voters that could prove a lasting presence. PNS Associate Editor, David Bacon, writes widely on immigration and labor issues.
By Michael Kroll
Date: 05-13-98
In all the rhetoric of California's gubernatorial campaign, the word "justice" seems to have disappeared completely, Candidates are eager to talk about crime and punishment, writes PNS associate editor Michael Kroll, but this is no substitute for discussion of one of the country's founding principles. Kroll, an associate editor of Pacific News Service, specializes in criminal justice and death penalty issues.
By A Recent Parolee
Date: 03-19-98
Despite a virtual blackout on media coverage of prisons and prisoners in California, news of scandals involving prison officials give cause for alarm about what is happening behind bars. One inmate provides a view of 35 years of California prison history from the inside, and warns that an explosion is in the making. The writer, who is on parole and fears official retaliation, asks to be anonymous. A book on his experiences at the California Youth Authority has been published.
By Michael Kroll
Date: 03-18-98
California's prison system has barred any face-to-face contact between prisoners and any member of the media. This is in effect, writes PNS commentator Michael Kroll, a new sedition law and one that has been imposed because the prisons have much to hide. Kroll, an associate editor of Pacific News Service, specializes in criminal justice and death penalty issues.
By Kevin Weston
Date: 03-13-98
In San Francisco -- with its highly diverse student population -- a battle has erupted over a school board proposal to require that up to seventy percent of the curriculum consist of works by non-white authors. What do young teachers and youth workers on the front lines of the new California majority think of the proposal? This is the last of three articles today by contributors to Brave New Word, a Pacific News Service-based coalition of writers in their twenties. Kevin Weston is a counselor at RISE in Berkeley, California, and AntiVerses editor at the Bay View in San Francisco. THIRD OF THREE ARTICLES.
By Josh Parr
Date: 03-13-98
In San Francisco -- with its highly diverse student population -- a battle has erupted over a school board proposal to require that up to seventy percent of the curriculum consist of works by non-white authors. What do young teachers and youth workers on the front lines of the new California majority think of the proposal? This is the second of three articles today by contributors to Brave New Word, a Pacific News Service-based coalition of writers in their twenties. Josh Parr is editor of Revolutionary Judo and an editor at YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and about young people produced by Pacific News Service. SECOND OF THREE ARTICLES.
By A. Clay Thompson
Date: 03-13-98
In San Francisco -- with its highly diverse student population -- a battle has erupted over a school board proposal to require that up to seventy percent of the curriculum consist of works by non-white authors. What do young teachers and youth workers on the front lines of the new California majority think of the proposal? This is the first of three articles today by contributors to Brave New Word, a Pacific News Service-based coalition of writers in their twenties. A. Clay Thompson is a freelance writer and coordinator of The Beat Within, a Pacific News Service/YO! writing program for incarcerated youth. FIRST OF THREE ARTICLES.
By Dorothy Chin
Date: 03-09-98
In the mix that is "American culture," the line between acceptance and rejection can be hard to cross. But being accepted, writes PNS commentator Dorothy Chin, may have some less-than desirable aspects as well -- as in the case of acupuncture, now viewed by many Americans as the Chinese equivalent to aspirin. Chin is a psychotherapist and writer living in southern California.
By David Bacon
Date: 03-06-98
A California ballot initiative could once again spark a nationwide campaign -- this time to virtually eliminate unions from electoral politics. PNS commentator David Bacon, a veteran labor organizer, writes on labor and immigration issues.
By David Bacon
Date: 01-23-98
California's anti-bilingual education initiative promises to make learning English easier in California's schools -- the goal of every immigrant parent. But a close reading of the text of the initiative shows why it will actually narrow the options for poor and immigrant students and make learning English more difficult. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on immigrant and labor issues.
Edited by Sandy Close and Franz Schurmann
Date: 12-29-97
What would the world look like if at least part of your daily diet of news came from the ethnic media -- which now has more readers than the mainstream press in some California metropolitan regions? PNS, in collaboration with members of the New California Media network of ethnic media organizations, regularly digests news and commentary from this rapidly growing but largely invisible segment of the news media. This digest focuses exclusively on news and opinions drawn from the press serving East and South Asian communities.
By Joan Walsh
Date: 12-09-97
Despite a field of at least three African Americans, former California governor Jerry Brown is generating the strongest buzz among black voters in the race for mayor of Oakland. Although the city is at least 30 percent Asian and Latino, writes PNS associate editor Joan Walsh, Oakland politics is still mostly played on a black and white checkerboard. Walsh, a freelance writer, writes widely on issues of race and poverty.
Edited by Sandy Close and Franz Schurmann
Date: 11-20-97
What would the world look like if at least part of your daily diet of news came from the ethnic media -- which now has more readers than the mainstream press in some California metropolitan regions? Every other week PNS, in collaboration with members of the New California Media network of ethnic media organizations, digests news and commentary from this rapidly growing but largely invisible segment of the news media.
By Nam Nguyen, as Told to Andrew Lam
Date: 10-28-97
Nam Nguyen, 42, is editor-in-chief of Viet Magazine, an international bilingual publication based in San Jose, California. Often referred to in the community as the "Vietnamese Newsweek" the magazine has a readership of 30,000 and covers everything from high-tech industry to affirmative action to politics in Vietnam. Nguyen came to the United States seven years ago and has been active in the Vietnamese American community ever since. He discussed the life of that community with PNS editor Andrew Lam.
Edited by Sandy Close and Franz Schurmann
Date: 10-28-97
What would the world look like if at least part of your daily diet of news came from the ethnic media -- which now has more readers than the mainstream press in some California metropolitan regions? Every other week PNS, in collaboration with members of the New California Media network of ethnic media organizations, digests news and commentary from this rapidly growing but largely invisible segment of the news media. Accompanying the digest is a profile of a key journalist or editor within the ethnic media.
By Adrian Dedomenico
Date: 10-22-97
In many urban public high schools in this country, the real textbook scandal is that there aren't enough books to go around. In one San Francisco Bay Area high school students who have to rely on handouts call their teacher a ditto pusher. Many complain the textbook shortage is chronic and see it as a sign the system doesn't really care whether they get educated or not. Adrian DeDomenico is a reporter for YO! Youth Outlook, a monthly newspaper by and about Bay Area youth published by Pacific News Service.
By Colleen O'Connor
Date: 09-12-97
As California does away with gender and race preferences in higher education, female enrollment at institutions of higher learning continues to gain ground. Just how many of those women students are women of color is unclear, however, because the statistics for minorities aren't broken down by gender and those for women aren't broken down by race. PNS correspondent Colleen O'Connor writes regularly on issues of culture and religion.
By Peter Marin
Date: 09-05-97
Governor Pete Wilson's recent announcement that there would be no funding this winter for shelters in the state's National Guard Armories is sending shivers down the spines of homeless people and their advocates. El Niño promises the worst storms of decades. PNS commentator Peter Marin has written about homeless issues for Harper's and other national publications.
By Michael Blanding
Date: 07-28-97
One participant in the demonstration that stopped San Francisco traffic cold last Friday describes some of the factors that turned participants from innocence to anger in a short time. While the group never conformed fully with city rules, there was an air of joyful following at first; but patronizing talk by city officials and a violent police response may have planted the seeds of a conscious movement. Michael Blanding, a freelance writer, bicycles to and from work.
By Travis Lea
Date: 07-28-97
More than 6,000 cyclists managed to bring San Francisco commuters to a dead stop last Friday evening, an action that illuminated a long-standing controversy in this proud (some would say conceited) city -- just how easy should it be to drive through town. The lines in this battle are clearly drawn and visible; the question is how to find an acceptable path between the opposed forces. Travis Lea is on the staff of YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and about Bay Area young people produced by Pacific News Service.
By Michael Kroll
Date: 07-21-97
The state of California plans to execute Thomas Thompson on August 5 for a crime he says he did not commit -- and he is not alone. Among those who have formally declared their belief in his innocence are seven pro-death penalty prosecutors. Only a grant of clemency from Governor Pete Wilson can stop the execution. Taking such an action would mean bucking a powerful trend, but the convincing proof that Thompson is not guilty and was poorly represented at trial should make it possible to take this unusual action. Michael Kroll, an associate editor of Pacific News Service, specializes in criminal justice and death penalty issues.
Edited By Andrea Quong and Franz Schurmann
Date: 07-03-97
In California, as in the country as a whole, an increasing number of citizens see themselves in part in terms of national or ethnic identity, and turn to the ethnic press (in both English and other languages) for news and comment. To offer a taste of the stories and ideas circulating in this overlooked section of the media, PNS offers a monthly column of gleanings from California ethnic publications with the help of a network of over 50 editors.
By Michael Kroll
Date: 06-27-97
A San Quentin inmate whose death sentence the California Supreme Court reversed earlier this year died anyway last week on death row. An eyewitness says the death occurred following an "extraction" procedure by guards. The news media, prevented from interviewing prisoners under new prison guidelines, remain in the dark. On the day Marshall died, the escape of two convicts from San Quentin received extensive coverage, but the death went basically unremarked. Michael Kroll is an associate editor for PNS specializing in criminal justice issues.
By Vincent Schiraldi
Date: 06-10-97
California Governor Pete Wilson has once again suggested whopping increases in state spending on prison construction -- despite the fact that voters have turned down prison bond issues in recent elections. Wilson's plan involves a somewhat creative use of the state's bond-issuing power, according to PNS commentator Vincent Schiraldi, rather than a creative approach to the very real problems in the area of corrections. Schiraldi is director of the Justice Policy Institute in Washington, DC.
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 05-29-97
Proponents of affirmative action argue that declining black and Hispanic enrollments at state institutions of higher learning in California are evidence of why the policy should be restored. The real question is why after 25 years of affirmative action, the policy that was supposed to change America has produced so few black and Hispanic students able to compete -- especially children of poverty who were supposed to be its primary beneficiaries. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez, author of "Hunger of Memory: the Education of Richard Rodriguez," is an essayist for the News Hour with Jim Lehrer and writes regularly for the Los Angeles Times.
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 05-19-97
Since its beginning as gold town, San Francisco has basked in its exceptionalism. Now, the scandal over a bacchanalia feting one well-known pol suggests that the city's libertine days are over and a new era is about to begin. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez, author of "Days of Obligation: An Argument with my Mexican Father," writes regularly for the Los Angeles Times, Harper's and the News Hour with Jim Lehrer.
Edited By Andrea Lewis and Franz Schurmann
Date: 05-15-97
As non-white immigrants as well as native born ethnic minorities make up an ever greater share of California's population, the ethnic press (both foreign and English language) plays an ever more important role in informing citizens of the state. What stories and ideas are circulating in these newspapers? A network of over 50 ethnic media editors from California -- called the New California Media -- help PNS compile a monthly column of gleanings from this vital but often overlooked segment of the news media.
By Peter Byrne
Date: 04-10-97
San Francisco, a town long known for its diversity, and liberal politics, elected a black mayor for the first time in 1996. Yet, one year after his election, the administration of Willie Brown is vigorously pursuing policies that are pushing members of the mayor's most loyal constituency out of town. PNS corespondent Peter Byrne is publisher of the San Francisco Investigator, a monthly newsletter which examines city politics and finance. He has worked as a consultant and organizer in public housing for ten years.
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 03-31-97
For over a century, people have come to California in search of paradise only to discover land's end -- "the end of the line." So, too, the 39 people, mainly middle-aged, who came to Rancho Santa Fe, desperate for paradise, and wound up prefering to enter the cool of cyberspace. Unlike the world's great religions, which prepare us for death but do so by teaching us how to live, Heaven's Gate taught its followers only about the afterlife. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez, author of "Days of Obligation: An Argument with my Mexican Father" (Viking-Penguin), is a contributing editor of Harper's and the Los Angeles Sunday Times.
By Reginald Major
Date: 03-06-97
In the ground between today's newspapers and the history books, it is sometimes possible to lose the thread of stories, causes, ideas as the world moves by. But for 26 years, Elmer Geronimo Pratt, charged with a murder he says he did not commit, and convicted on evidence that has more and more been revealed as tainted, has held firmly to his request for a new trial. Now it looks as if his day may finally come. PNS commentator Reginald Major is the author of numerous books including "The Panther is a Black Cat," on the origins of the Black Panther Party.
By Michael Datcher
Date: 01-28-97
Flashpoint or beacon -- Los Angeles Police Chief Willie Williams is facing opposition to his bid for a second five-year term despite a hefty increase in public approval of the department and a drop in crime. The situation provides the city's several minority groups with good reason to act in concert, especially since there is a risk the removal of Williams -- appointed in the hope of bringing the city together after the 1992 disturbances -- could heighten tensions in this racially-charged city.
By Corey Weinstein
Date: 01-22-97
California's prison chief James Gomez has quietly moved into a new administrative job with the state retirement system, despite court findings of serious abuse of power in the state's prisons during his tenure. However accountable Gomez may be, the situation reflects a widespread public desire to simply look the other way when it comes to the criminal justice system. PNS correspondent Corey Weinstein is a medical doctor and a board member of California Prison Focus.
Compiled by Andrea Lewis
Date: 01-16-97
What does the world look like to people whose principal source of news is the ethnic media? To explore this, PNS has asked a round table of editors of U.S. publications in languages other than English, or directed at minority communities, to select leading stories and opinion pieces from their publications. Most of these publications are produced in California, but others come from far afield. Their choices will appear in a special monthly column entitled "Briefings from California's Ethnic Media". This is the second column in the series.
By Joan Walsh
Date: 1-2-97
The ebonics debate has become almost as indecipherable as trying to follow an argument in a foreign language. Depicted as yet another battle in the confrontation of black and white America, in fact it reflects rising multiminority tensions over resources and respect. PNS associate editor Joan Walsh writes widely on urban issues. Her new report, "Stories of Renewal: Community Building and the Future of Urban America," has just been published by The Rockefeller Foundation.
By Andrew Lam
Date: 03-05-99
El dueño de un negocio de videos en Little Saigon, en el Condado Orange de California, provoca una respuesta apasionada cuando estrena un afiche de Ho Chi Minh, mientras que jóvenes en Hanoi cubren la foto desteñida del líder revolucionario con fotos de las estrellas del programa televisivo Bay Watch. El editor de PNS Andrew Lam explora el destino de los íconos de la Guerra Fria en ambos lados del Pacífico. Lam es un escritor de cuentos cortos y periodista.
Por Gregory Rodriguez
Date: 11-05-98
Aumentos substanciales en el número de votantes latinos en los últimos años se han considerado como una respuesta a las amenazas dirigidas a la comunidad. Pero la participación -- y los resultados -- en las recientes elecciones, una elección rutinaria sin temas "latinos" en la papeleta, muestra que estos votantes representan una nueva fuerza duradera. Gregory Rodriguez, editor asociado de PNS, es un miembro de la Pepperdine Institute for Public Policy.
By Joan Walsh
Date: 09-08-98
Trienta años después de ayudar a establecer el Departamento de Estudios Étnicos en la Universidad de California-Berkeley, la cátedra del departamento, Ling-chi Wang, está proponiendo una iniciativa audaz que transformaría el departamento en uno de Estudios Estadounidenses. El cambio, según él, ayudaría a reconocer la raza y la etnicidad como rasgos centrales de la identidad estadounidense -- y también podría evitar que el Departamento de Estudios Étnicos sea víctima de su propio éxito. Joan Walsh, editor asociado de PNS, escribe sobre temas de raza y pobreza.
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 06-05-98
Si nos tuviéramos menos miedo los unos a los otros, reconoceríamos que el creciente interés en política entre latinos y asiáticos--evidente en la reciente campaña electoral de California-- es la clave hacia nuestra reconciliación, no un obstáculo. El editor de PNS Richard Rodriguez, autor de "Days of Obligation" (Días de Obligación), escribe para la sección Opinión en el dominical de Los Angeles Times, Harper's y otras publicaciones, y es ensayista regular para el programa de PBS, "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer".
Por Kevin Weston
Date: 03-16-98
En San Francisco, con una población estudiantil muy diversa, la batalla ha explotado sobre una proposición del consejo de escuelas que requiere que hasta el setenta por ciento del plan de estudios consista en obras de autores no blancos. ¿Qué piensan de esta proposición profesores jóvenes y trabajadores de la juventud al frente de esta nueva mayoría de California? Éste es el último de los tres artículos de hoy por colaboradores de Brave New World, una coalición vinculada a Pacific News Service con escritores cuyas edades están alrededor de los veinte años. Kevin Weston es consejero en RISE, Berkeley, California, y el editor de AntiVerses en el Bay View de San Francisco. TERCERO DE TRES ARTÍCULOS.
Por Josh Parr
Date: 03-16-98
En San Francisco, con una población estudiantil muy diversa, la batalla ha explotado sobre una proposición del consejo de escuelas que requiere que hasta el setenta por ciento del plan de estudios consista en obras de autores no blancos. ¿Qué piensan de esta proposición profesores jóvenes y trabajadores de la juventud al frente de esta nueva mayoría de California? Éste es el segundo de los tres artículos de hoy por colaboradores de Brave New World, una coalición vinculada a Pacific News Service con escritores cuyas edades están alrededor de los veinte años. Josh Parr es editor de Revolutionary Judo y uno de los editores de YO! (Youth Outlook), un periódico por y para jóvenes producido por Pacific News Service. SEGUNDO DE TRES ARTÍCULOS.
By A. Clay Thompson
Date: 03-16-98
En San Francisco, con una población estudiantil muy diversa, la batalla ha explotado sobre una proposición del consejo de escuelas que requiere que hasta el setenta por ciento del plan de estudios consista en obras de autores no blancos. ¿Qué piensan de esta proposición profesores jóvenes y trabajadores de la juventud al frente de esta nueva mayoría de California? Éste es el primero de los tres artículos de hoy por colaboradores de Brave New World, una coalición vinculada a Pacific News Service con escritores cuyas edades están alrededor de los veinte años. A. Clay Thompson es escritor independiente y coordinador de "The Beat Within", un programa de escritura creativa de Pacific News Service/YO! para jóvenes en prisión. PRIMERO DE TRES ARTÍCULOS.
By Richard Rodriguez
Date: 02-25-98
En una gama que abarca desde John Hope Franklin hasta los escritores de las obras más recientes sobre relaciones raciales, el pensamiento estadounidense se rige en función de lo blanco y negro. Sin embargo, el color moreno sigue llegándonos incesantemente desde el sur de la frontera. Lo café --el color de los secretos de familia, la tonalidad del amor-- siempre ha espantado a los racistas blancos porque ellos no toleran complejidades ni matices. No obstante, sigue en aumento la complejidad estadounidense, lo moreno. El escritor Richard Rodríguez, editor de PNS y ensayista para el programa News Hour con Jim Lehrer, está terminando de escribir un libro sobre El color moreno.
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