Journalistic vs. Academic Writing

Journalistic versus academic writing is like short versus long, respectively. Journalism looks for short sentences that are to the point, where academic writing requires long, complex, smart sounding sentences to fill up papers that have a much longer length requirement then there should be. While the english language has a lot of rules in itself, the journalistic writing style takes it to a whole new level. There are so many rules in writing for the media that I was not aware until recently that they were rules. They are little nitpicky rules that I despise. People are going to understand what you are saying if you say it well. Changing Senator to Sen. is not going to change the message, though I understand the need for consistency among media professionals. Those are the two main differences: the rules and the length.

Journalistic/Academic Writing

Writing for the media, in journalistic style is much different than how we are taught to write academically. I thought I was a great writer because I have a decent vocabulary and I can use big words over and over until all that the reader is aware of is that I have a seemingly large vocabulary. I found out fast that it is almost the complete opposite in news style writing. The whole point of news writing is for the reader to understand what is written and to get to the point briefly and clearly. Academic style writing is pretty much pointless to most audiences. If the reader has to look up every other word in the sentence, chances are they are lost and on to the next thing that they can understand. The most annoying place that I have found academic style writing is in text books. The whole point of a text book is to be a clear reference for you to look at and learn from, so why the unnecessary wordy writing?

Differences in writing journalistically and academically

Writing journalistically is very different from writing academically. Ever since elementary school, I was always told to elaborate my stories to make them sound better. I am so used to writing long papers so it was hard for me to transition into writing for mass media. Taking this class and reading the books that we bought tells you to make your writings short and sweet to get across effectively for the audience. You don’t know who is listening, watching or reading so you have to make sure it gets to all different education levels because you do not want to lose your viewer.

Differences between Academic Writing and Journalistic Writing

The differences between writing academically and writing journalistically are innumerous. The largest problem I have faced is to transition from writing eloquently and with great detail to writing for brevity. In journalistic writing the ultimate goal is to get the information across as quickly as possible. I’m used to writing 10-15 page papers, which require wordiness and detail and oftentimes “fluff.” The opposite is required for journalistic writing, which requires simple vocabulary and just the need-to-know information. In academic writing we try to convey to the reader that we understand the subject and we try to come up with original ideas. In journalistic writing the point is to write as objectively as possible and to let the readers come up with their own ideas.

Journalism v. Academic

The differences of journalistic writing are largely dependent on the audience. When writing academically, you write for colleagues, and professors, people attuned with the subject and fancy language. You’re supposed to have flow and style as well as voice. An opinion on the subject as well as a concept of how to use language to enhance the writing.

Journalistic writing, involves making entries short and sweet. Writing for journalism involves writing for the mass audience, which includes multiple demographics and education levels. The reader in this case is naïve, and words need to be concise and simple. No erroneous usages of language, or long drawn out sentences. Brief and detached. That’s the main differences between the two. Otherwise, they share a lot of the same roots. If anything, the differences are less than the similarities.

Writing Journalistically vs. Writing Academically

Writing Journalistically is almost a total switch from academic writing. Because I am taking an Composition II class, I’ve been constantly thinking “Does this rule apply to JMC or English?” It’s been a massive switch from writing from a college level, to writing at an 8^th grade level as the Stovall book says media writers should be writing at.

Also, unlike literary or academic writing, Journalism requires much more literal usage of words. Such as “comprised of” cannot necessarily mean how it would in an English essay. Also, I wordiness is a sin, which is a total opposite of the academic standpoint. The shorter is now the better.

Journalistic Writing vs. Academic Writing

When trying to write journalistically, one has to almost forget everything they've been taught about how to write academically.
The goal of the writing is the same, tell the audience what they want to know. However, in academic writing, the goal is to tell a teacher or professor that you understand the material and can write better than a monkey. While journalistic writing is aimed at dispersing information to the masses without attracting attention to the writing itself.
These are done in very different ways: academic writing uses larger words than are necessary and is often required to be longer than the normal person can actually write in order to appease a teacher, and journalistic writing uses the briefest language possible and is often required to be shorter than the normal person can actually condense it naturally in order to fit it into the format of a newspaper.
Clearly, the biggest way that journalistic writing is different from academic writing due to the kind of language required for both.

Sensitivity in writing

Writing about different cultures and communities can often be challenging because there is so much pressure to be politically correct. There are so many terms that can be used to describe these communities that it gets confusing. I am not sure whether I am allowed to call someone black or if I have to say African American. I also don’t know whether I can call someone gay or if I have to say homosexual. These groups are often verbally attacked in the media.  Attacks like these have led to the firing of many prominent media personalities.  It is something that needs to be taken carefully. We need to be respectful of these different cultures.

Southern Poverty Law Center

The SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center) was founded in 1971 by civil rights lawyers Morris Dees and Joseph Levin Jr. It is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. The SPLC is based in Montgomery, Ala., which is the birthplace of the modern civil rights movement, and has offices in Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, Fla. and Jackson, Miss.

The lawsuits won by the SPLC have brought institutional racism in the south to an end, bankrupted some of the nation's most violent white supremacist groups and won justice for exploited workers, abused prison inmates, disabled children and other victims of discrimination.

The organization has an innovative Teaching Tolerance program that distributes free films, books and lesson plans. The program is working to foster school environments that are inclusive and nurturing. The SPLC hopes that the Teaching Tolerance program will instill acceptance and tolerance within future generations. Learning these qualities from an early age will hopefully end the systematic racism and bigotry that plagues our nation.

The SPLC monitors hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States and exposes their activities to law enforcement agencies, the media and the public. They share their findings online and in the Intelligence Report, which is the organization's award winning journal.

The SPLC and the work it does are crucial to all media professionals. It is a journalist's job to remain informed on issues that affect the large majority of people and the SPLC makes it easy for media professionals to follow their work. They keep the media and the public informed on the steps they are taking to improve the world we live in.

Sensitivity in News

I personally believe it is nearly impossible to be respectful to everyone out there. And unless something is blatantly disrespectful to someone, I do not think it is such a big deal. If you use the word 'mailman' instead of 'mail person' or 'mail professional', someone is probably going to get offended, which I believe to be ridiculous. Needing to be so careful in your language that there is a entire book of rules just about words is something that shouldn't need to exist. I think that the rules that govern AP style writing are far to strict and regulated. I will follow them because they are important to the profession that I am trying to be in, but I much prefer the freedom of the blog, where grammar, word choice and comma usage, are not as big of a deal.

Asian American Journalists Association

The AAJA(Asian American Journalists Association) is a group that was founded in 1981. They are a non profit organization based out of San Francisco that has many goals in the journalism industry, one of them being encouraging young people to pursue careers in the Journalism field. They promote "fair and accurate news coverage," along with diversity in the media. The AAJA is partners with many other diversity based journalism foundations like the National Association of Black Journalists.

The AAJA offers many programs both to professionals already in the field of journalism, and students trying to get a career in journalism. Not only do they offer many workshops and programs, the AAJA has internships and scholarships for students, and awards for journalists already in the field.

The AAJA is an important organization because of all of the people it is associated with. The organization covers a extremely large amount of people.

"AAJA uses the term 'Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders' to embrace all Americans--both citizens and residents -- who self-identify with one or more of the three dozen nationalities and ethnic groups in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands."

This is a very large amount of people that live in America and need to be represented respectfully. They have a whole continent of people that they need to make sure are portrayed accurately and respectfully in the American news media. This is a large responsibility for a non profit organization.

Sensitivity in Writing

It is becoming harder and harder in writing today to distinguish what is proper compared to what is improper. It is the writer’s job to decide what they believe is appropriate to use while they are writing. Nowadays it is becoming harder because more and more people will find things that they will find offensive. It is up to the writer to know what is socially acceptable and what is not. They need to realize who will be offended by what. Some groups of people may not find something inappropriate, although another group may find it to be incredibly offensive. The writer needs to keep themselves aware of what each group will find offensive and in their writing try not to make any comment that could be seem as demeaning to any group of people.

Association for Women in Communications

The mission statement for the Association for Women in Communications reads, "The Association for Women in Communications is a professional association that champions the advancement of women across all communications disciplines by recognizing excellence, promoting leadership and positioning its members at the forefront of the evolving communications era.

This group has become incredibly important to women who have careers or wish to begin careers in a media field. They strongly look to try and promote the advancement of women in all fields mainly in the field of media and communications. The women of this group work strongly towards making sure that their rights and the rights of all media professionals are still protected by the law of the first amendment. They find it their duty to recognize those outstanding individuals that who have distinguished professional standards in the department of communication and make sure that there is no bias when these outstanding individuals are chosen. The AWC annually gives out awards that helps promote the excellence in communications. The AWC has a national committee which helps to make decisions on several different fronts. One of the most prominent things that they do is give out the Clarion Awards. These awards are given out to both men and women. The Clarion Awards recognize excellence in 100 different fields of communication and are a highly sought after awards. These awards recognize men and women in large and small businesses and are something the AWC does that promotes excellence in media without just having women that can win.

journalistic vs academic style

Journalistic writing is very different to academic writing. When writing novels, short stories or papers for English class; I was taught to be descriptive and use many elements of writing, such as metaphors and hyperboles. In academic writing, it is typical to be wordy and use many elements to get the point across. Journalistic writing, however, is the opposite of descriptive. It requires you to be brief and to the point instead of explaining everything in full depth. It is a strange transition to come from high school where all we did in English class was academic writing to this class where it is all journalistic writing. I have had to practice saying things in less words and avoid using redundant or unnecessary words.

Sensitivity and Respect

As media professionals, it is our duty to to be sensitive to all cultures and communities in our writing. We must understand that people from all walks of life and from all cultures will most likely see or read our work in the media. In order to prevent bringing offense to anyone we must have respect for all cultures. It is sometimes difficult to do this, especially when we don't particularly understand the culture we are addressing or writing about. In these instances, it is our responsibility as journalists to use sensitive language and to gain at least a general understanding of the group we are dealing with.

Language Sensitivity

The challenge of using language with sensitivity and respect for those of different cultures and communities is that no matter who you are you are not a member of every community or culture, and therefore are not aware of the customs and colloquialisms of every culture. It is imperative that all media professionals make a concerted effort to use respectful language towards all cultures. Not just in respect for basic human decency, but for professionalism. Mistakes will be made, we are all simply human, but a mistake can be forgiven by effort. We cannot pretend to know or understand every culture that surrounds us, but we can all try to be respectful. It is our obligations as media professionals and as human beings.

The American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a non-profit established to defend the constitutional rights of American citizens. Beyond acting as the protectorate, the umbrella between citizens and the government, the ACLU is devoted to extending rights to people traditionally discriminated against. This includes people of color, women, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people, prisoners, and people with disabilities.

The ACLU is important to all mass media professionals because it represents the legal frontline of our right to free speech, guaranteed us in the First Amendment. Without this legal protection our profession could not exist in the same capacity it does today. The United States was founded as a nation on the certain inalienable rights. The media represents our citizen’s right to free expression, to know what is happening in their world, and as a whistleblower for when our government oversteps its boundaries or fails to live up to its responsibilities. The ACLU is the muscle behind these rights, the ever-present boogieman to the overzealous bureaucrats. For all of the corrupt politicians, policymakers, and lobbyists out there who have quashed their conscience, their sense of civic duty, the ACLU is the organization that fights back.

language sensitivity

Language sensitivity in writing for the mass media is used to create a safe and comfortable place for all audiences of different races, genders and disabilities. I have never had a problem with this in my writing experience because I have always been taught to write formally. I can see how it may become an issue in news writing because it is so informal and there are many times that we are needed to make a reference to a minority in news stories. I find it hard to remember how each group prefers to be referred to. As media professionals, we have to be very careful to make sure not to use any references that would offend anyone.

The National Center on Disability and Journalism

I researched the National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ). Its goal is to give journalists support when they cover people with disabilities. The group’s headquarters is at Arizona State University in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. The NCDJ does not have a certain point of view. The group is concerned with the accuracy, fairness and diversity in the news coverage. Many reporters find the website helpful for information and ideas. The website includes a blog, disability news, disability organizations, disability resource list, disability style guide, NCDJ advisory board, NCDJ staff, history of NCDJ, spread the word, tip sheets for reporters, contact information and how to join NCDJ. The disability news is for people to get the latest news and see journalist’s latest work. The link, disability organizations, has a list of different organizations with a description of what the group is all about. The disability resource list shows groups and a description about them. The disability style guide has groups and a description about what they are and do. The NCDJ advisory board serves as a source of support and helps with the center’s course. The link has a picture of each person on the board and a biography about them. The NCDJ staff link shows the coordinator and research assistant and has a biography about each person. The history of NCDJ link gives us information about how the group got started. The tip sheets for reporters link gives additional links for reporters so they can give the best information.

National Association of Hispanic Journalists

National Association

of Hispanic Journalists

by Michael McLaughlin

“The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) is dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry. Established in April 1984, NAHJ created a national voice and unified vision for all Hispanic journalists.”

-National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ mission statement

For Students

The Nationals Association of Hispanic Journalists, in search of its mission statement, provides many benefits to hispanic college students. The benefits for NAHJ members include scholarship, travel, and networking opportunities.

“NAHJ will once again offer $80,000 in scholarships for the 2011-2012 school year to full-time undergraduate and graduate students pursuing careers in journalism in English- or Spanish-language media, or both,” the organization’s website states.

In addition to the scholarships NAHJ offers its members, the organization provides students with much needed internship opportunities. Among the possible internship location include a NBC fellowship in New York City.

The benefits do not stop there. Students have the access of networking with NAHJ’s existing 2,300 members online, all over the United States.

For Media Professionals

The NAHJ is not only for college students, the organization is beneficial for media professionals as well. The organizations hosts workshops and conferences designed to keep its members on the cutting edge of journalism. NAHJ members have access to career fairs, La Plaza NAHJ (official networking site), and a job search database.

For Hispanics

For the hispanic community at large, the NAHJ is dedicated to helping hispanic college students and media professionals succeed. They seek to have a positive impact on this generation of hispanics through the many benefits they provide, and impose change that will be seen throughout the 21st century.

Sensitivity

When writing for the public one must always be careful about how they address another culture. Offending another ethnicity or culture could ruin a career. All cultures are sensitive to how they are referred to and as writers we must acknowledge that and show each culture the respect they deserve. Plus, when writing a story the goal is to get every possible reader to read the story and if the author is known for not being sensitive to how he/she refers to another culture then some cultures will not read their story. To make it clear would you read a story if the writer is always offensive to your culture? I wouldn’t.

Trouble with Diversity

Do I have trouble using race/gender sensitive terms? I think that answer begins with a discussion on language. As we all know language is a means of communication passed down culturally. More importantly however, is that individual words, individual terms are to be used in given contexts. Those contexts and which words are appropriate are learned from society.

This is a primary reason why myself and many others may have trouble being politically correct. We often use terms like “mailman” without thinking about it because we have grown up using those terms. In an age of equality, where we have evolved and sought to be more sensitive to women and minorities, we can not be careless with our words. If we are to have a world where everyone is treated equally, and we want that notion of equality to extends to our language, then the time is now. The time for equality begins with out next sentence.

National Association of Black Journalists

The site I chose was nabj.org, the site of the National Association of Black Journalists. The NABJ has been around for about 35 years now, and currently has about 3,300 members. This is of course a huge jump from the 44 men and women that started it in 1975. Basically, this is a union and support group for black journalists. They serve to help black journalists in the fields of printed media, sports media, broadcast media and most recently, digital media.
The NABJ serves as an important asset to the media community for many reasons. First of all, it helps to bring together black journalists under a united front. Behind this united front, the NABJ tries to help bring sensitivity to the workplace regarding equality as well as help promote and get black journalists promoted to managerial positions in greater numbers than there have been before.
The NABJ is important to more than just black journalists though. Despite its focus being black equality, this message of equality is useful to all. Whether you are Black, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern or part of any other minority group, the NABJ's calls for equality benefit everyone.
The National Association of Black Journalists also serves as a recruitment tool for the journalism community. Many minority youth may not consider a career in journalism or be discouraged because of the majority white cast of their local news shows. For this reason, the NABJ's work is important because they go into high schools and colleges to try to encourage black and minority students to enter this field.

Language Sensitivity

Language sensitivity is something that I will always be extremely cautious about. My generation has become very free with language, so we have all grown up around harsh words and racial slang. For example, I never stopped to think whenever I said something was “gay”. I heard it so often that it was just accepted, and it didn’t seem wrong. Not too long ago, I saw a commercial where a group of young men sat at a table and they said something is “gay” and Wanda Sikes comes around the corner and tells them not to call something gay when they really mean that it is stupid, because it’s disrespectful and hurtful to people who are gay or lesbian. When I saw that commercial, it really got me to thinking because I had never thought about it that way. Language sensitivity is really important, especially in the media. I would never want to offend anyone through my work.

Challenges of Using Language in a Sensitive Way

Having grown up as part of a Jewish household, I understand the value of showing respect for cultures and communities other than my own. That said, it isn't always easy to do so.
I'd like to think that most of us don't hold major prejudices against those of different communities but you wouldn't necessarily know that from the everyday language we use.
The one term that has been etched into my generation's vocabulary that we tend to have trouble with misusing is "gay." More often than not, when you hear someone my age use the term gay it is in respect to something not fair or not cool. This is obviously unfair to those who are homosexual and is often seen as extremely offensive.

UNITY: Journalists of Color

UNITY was started more than 20 years ago when Juan Gonzalez, a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and Will Sutton, a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, began talking and realized that they had much in common. From their discussions, they came up with the idea of UNITY, an organization that joins four national associations: the Asian American Journalists Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association. In 1994, UNITY: Journalists of Color Inc. became a “permanent, nonprofit, strategic” group of journalists of all different nationalities joining together to further themselves in this crazy news industry.

The mission of UNITY is to encourage fair and accurate news coverage about people of color”, and also to encourage diversity in newsrooms across the country. Other goals of UNITY include “increasing representation of people of color at all levels of the news industry, broadening news coverage focusing on people of color, to dispel racial and ethnic stereotypes and myths, and to become the leading organization advocating for multiculturalism in the media”.

This is a unique organization not only for that reason, but also for the reason that these four associations have to work together in order to achieve a common goal, no matter how different they are. UNITY is an important organization to the media world because it bodies not only one, but four culturally diverse groups of journalists.

For more information go to http://unityjournalists.org/.

Language Sensitivity

Cultural and language sensitivity has never really been a problem for me. That is, not on paper anyways. Speaking terms, however, I have been known to use language that some might find offensive. But this is easily remedied for me when it’s down to pen and paper. I realize that many more people will be hearing me than in the speaking world. Therefore, I tend to keep myself locked down to a more acceptable vernacular.

As a writer, I can see the upsides of writing in sensitive language, because it creates an unbiased outlook (allegedly) of the publication by the reader. On the other hand, being overly sensitive also gives the impression of prejudice as it makes it look as if we’re trying to be too cautious not to offend each other. This creates a boundary in itself.

Some censorship is perfectly understandable to an extent. But too much is prejudice in itself. If I was to see a paper being overly cautious in its use of the word “white,” I would be offended. The overuse of words such as “Caucasian,” seems unrealistic and offensive only due to its obviously only being a cover word for the same seemingly offensive word it is replacing.

Sensitivity is essential to creating a unified and accepted media outlet for readers of all races, genders, ethnicities and more. It keeps writers from having free reign on anything which could lead to blatant racism or even more. However, it should only e used to an extent as it also leads to obviously fake courtesy. I believe we should simply be, ironically, more cautious in our caution.

South Asian Journalists Association

The website I chose was South Asian Journalists Association. It was founded in March 1994 as a non-profit organization with 18 members, however, today it has more than 1,000 members. It has members all across North America. It serves as a networking and resource forum for journalists of South Asian origin along with those interested in South Asia. They host events all over North America and encourage people to host events in their area. It is divided up into chapters based on where you live. SAJA is entirely run by volunteers and there are no paid employees. They hold events such as job fairs featuring world-class headliners, illuminative panels and hands-on skills training. SAJA also has awards that they present to its members. Each year, news organizations enter the SAJA Journalism Awards and SAJA board members and specially=recruited judges help pick the best entry. This organization provides $30,000 in scholarships to graduate, college and high school students. The website also allows people to donate through the website that go directly to the organization. To become of member of SAJA it’s $10 a year for students, $20 for journalists and $40 for everyone else. Student membership is open to those attending higher-education institutions or high schools in North America. The SAJA has a board that consists of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and an at-large director. Officers serve for a term of one year, from the meeting at which they are appointed, until the first board meeting after the new officers are elected.

GLAAD

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is an extremely important organization for the gay community.  The organization fights against media companies that defame homosexuals to make sure that the gay community is understood properly.  For example GLAAD attacked NBC after a transphobic “SNL.” Action like this makes sure that the gay community is not disrespected by the media and helps get their message across.  GLAAD also gives out awards to people that have represented the gay community well.  This years recipients were Ricky Martin and Kristin Chenoweth.  The organization also supports television programs like “Glee” and “Modern Family” which portray the community well.  GLAAD also hosts events that help unite the gay community.  TGIF (thank GLAAD It’s Friday) goes around the country helping LGBT individuals network.

            GLAAD helps give a voice to a group of people that often goes unheard.  It does this in order to “promote understanding, increase acceptance, and advance equality.” GLAAD puts pressure on media organizations to represent the gay community and not defame it.  Organizations like these are important for minority groups.  They offer resources that allow these groups to grow despite negative attention from media sources. By highlighting on their website the best and the worst media sources for LGBT representation.  This gives extra attention to companies that are positive about the gay community, giving them an incentive to be positive.  

The Society of Professional Journalism

The Society for Professional Journalists is an organization based on creating a more efficient, more diverse media. They pride themselves on striving for “excellence among journalists,” “a climate in which journalism can be practiced more freely” and “to inspire successive generations of talented individuals to become dedicated journalists.”

According the SPJ site, it was founded in 1909 at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., as a journalistic fraternity; however, in 1988 it became the official Society of Professional Journalists. It is open to all journalists in any field including: broadcast, print and online journalism, journalism educators, and students who are simply interested in joining the profession.

Under SPJ President, Hagit Limor, its Board of Directors consists of 24 people. These people’s positions range from the President to one of the 12 Region Directors. The board also has student representatives to keep all age groups involved. Also, many different races are involved in the board alone. Although most are white, other races are represented including the African Americans and Hispanic community.

SPJ also runs a Diversity Blog known as “Who’s News?” In the blog, articles range from sexual orientation in the media place to Native Americans waiting for their apology from the Republican National Committee. Each blog gives a clear picture of the story that is taking place. It contains quotes that represent each side of the story and create a fully objective environment for the reader or researcher.

The SPJ is a fully diverse organization and makes a good effort to make sure everybody is represented equally and respectfully in the newsroom.

Sensitivity with Language and Culture

Sensitivity is a mild issue for me, partially because people are so sensitive to certain words. I suppose they have good reason, however, it comes as a great crutch because you have to really watch what is said. Gay might be offensive just as “black” would be offensive. There are obviously some slang terms that cannot be said in referencing homosexuals, African-Americans and women. Either way, some of the more common phrases can still be misconstrued and when people take things so out of context, you really have to watch your back.

It is respectful however to have a certain code and ethical boundary when it comes to referencing people outside of our own culture, gender or sexual orientation. However, I don’t think we should totally censor everything or even refrain from mentioning certain things, because words make the news story and we can’t shy away from possibly offensive words. Half of African-Americans will be offended that I didn’t say “black” and the other half will consider black an unnecessary slang word, that is a reference to an era where it was “coloured people”. Sometimes you just can’t win, and in those instances, you should go with the flow of the story.

Just be careful and notice anything you might write or say involving others. Read your work as if you’re the reader, and see if anything you say could be taken in an offensive context. Half the time we just slip up. That’s how I avoid being offensive.

The "Asian-Nation"

The website I chose to explore is the “Asian-Nation”. The websites purpose is to educate their readers about the Asian population. The website also provides general and specific information about different topics and issues that affect the Asian American community. The website also identifies other sources of information that is related to Asian Americans. The “Asian-Nation” gives perspectives about Asian culture, history and issues. The Asian culture is so diverse that it would not be smart to just rely on this website for “all you need to know” about the Asian community. Even “Asian-Nation” says that no one website is completely comprehensive about the whole Asian culture so it would be smart to go and explore more websites. That is, if you want to know more.

The website is important for those who work in the media because it acknowledges Asians in mainstream American society instead of having people represent Asian Americans however they want. With this website people cannot rely on misrepresented or stereotypical portrayals of the Asian community. Everyone in the media needs to not have a stereotypical view on different ethnicities and this website gives a clear view into the Asian American society. A media professional should never stereotype a culture. “Asian-Nation” gives accurate information on how Asians should be viewed and they view themselves. It would be good for people in the media to get acquainted with this website because it gives plenty of information about the community that could be used in stories or in just communication.

Native American Journalists Association (NAJA)

The Native American Journalists Association (NAJA) serves as a collective group for Native Americans. Native Americans are a minority in the field of journalism and the site serves as a sort of gathering place. They can join and bounce ideas off of each other related to their culture as well as promoting job opportunities.

NAJA is a huge networking site to recognize and promote Native cultures in journalism and in the workplace. The representation of Native American journalists is underrepresented and so the NAJA is working towards Native Americans being shown in mainstream media.

It extends not only to college students in the field, but even high school students aspiring to enter the field of journalism in any way. They focus on encouraging Native American students to look into the field, and realize how broad it is, and how open it is for change.

How much they can bring to a newsroom or radio broadcast with their history and culture. They don’t want Native American high school students to think that journalism fields are primarily white. They want them to realize that Native Americans do have a place in the media. A growing one, that NAJA is willing to continue to cultivate.

They also hold conferences and host speakers to increase notice in Native American affairs, as well as giving scholarships to help Natives get through college. They offer several opportunities and resources to the advancement of Natives.

This site is an important tool because it allows for the continued press for representation of Native American media students. The discrepancy of hiring and representation of Native events is significantly one sided. NAJA focuses on righting this imbalance.

It also focuses on eliminating stereotypes that permeate the newspaper. NAJA don’t want focus to just be on local news, but regional and even national news relating to Native Americans. They include all areas of media, including radio and television.