McCormick Grantees Speak Out in Support of Laura Ling and Euna Lee

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two Current TV journalists that were detained in North Korea, were sentenced last week to 12 years of hard labor in a North Korea labor prison. As the United States weighs its diplomatic options and obligations, many of the McCormick Foundation’s journalism grantees are speaking out in support of the two young women.

The Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) has reached out to its Leadership Council members, informing them of the involvement of Bob Dietz, the director of CPJ’s Asia program. Dietz has been working with the families of both journalists and assisted them in voicing their concerns publicly. Dietz has also appeared on such broadcast outlets as NPR, Fox News and Al Jazeera. Additionally, CPJ has reached out to press groups around the globe to sign a joint appeal.

The International Women’s Media Foundation has condemned North Korea’s sentencing of the women, fearing that their imprisonment is unrelated to their work as journalists and instead is being used as pawns in broader political circumstances. IWMF has organized a petition in support of the young women’s release and has encouraged members of journalism groups to call for the release of Ling and Lee.


The Asian American Journalists Association has also expressed deep disappointment in the harsh sentencing. AAJA is worried about the safety of the two young women and urge North Korea to reconsider the punishment. The AAJA Web site features news updates and a list of related links from other media outlets.

The Journalism Program encourages all readers and grantees to share opinions on the imprisonment of Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

--Compiled by Jenn Bollenbacher, Citizenship Program Intern

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AAJA Announces New Executive Director

Former newspaper and television industry professional Ellen Endo has been appointed the new executive director of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), replacing Rene Astudillo, who has led AAJA since 1999.

In her 24 years in TV industry leadership positions, Endo has served as an executive at Republic Pictures Productions, MGM/UA Television, Embassy Communications and ABC. She has also served as managing editor of The Rafu Shimpo, Los Angeles Japanese Daily News and chief operating officer of the nonprofit Go For Broke National Education Center.

Founded in 1981, the San Francisco-based AAJA is a nonprofit professional and educational organization with approximately 2,000 members and 20 chapters in major cities across the U.S. and in Asia.

To see more on Endo’s background and her video introduction as AAJA e.d., click here

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Innovative Partnering

Two MF grantees recently came together to spread the word about voter education issues to journalists across the country. New America Media (NAM) and the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) partnered for an Oct. 1 conference call focused on state-specific voter identification laws, registration deadlines, election information sources and citizenship requirements, according to AAJA (for more, visit: http://www.aaja.org/features/articles/2008_09_26_01/aajateleconference.pdf). The call featured a Q&A with John Bonifaz, legal director of Voter Action.

This unique professional journalism training opportunity allowed NAM, the oldest and largest group representing ethnic media, to partner with a media membership association to provide specific, timely information for journalists serving ethnic audiences.

The teleconference was promoted an NAM public service campaign aimed at informing ethnic media audiences about what documents they need to bring with them to vote on Nov. 4.

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It's Arrived!

Four years and thousands of planning hours later, the mother of all journalistic conferences, UNITY, kicks off this week in Chicago.

The quadrennial convening is organized by UNITY: Journalists of Color, a strategic alliance advocating news coverage about people of color and more diverse news media. More than 10,000 journalists are members, drawing from the four national organizations that comprise UNITY: Asian American Journalists Association, National Association of Black Journalists, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American Journalists Association.

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama is slated to speak, among other dignitaries, including the President of Senegal. For the full schedule, visit: www.2008unity.org. You can catch the McCormick journalism staff at a number of McCormick-funded events and projects, including:

• The student projects ( more than 60 diverse college students are covering"the conference through print, online, broadcast and multimedia)
• A research study measuring the diversity of the Washington Press Corps (in conjunction with Arizona State University's Cronkite School of Journalism)
• A video, produced by the McCormick Fellows, documenting how newsrooms have changed since the 1968 Kerner Commission. It will be shown at Thursday morning's plenary.

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