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Few Asian males work for TV news

We can't all have the instant recognition of Connie Chung. But her success has helped inspire young Asian-American women to become TV journalists. An Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) study last year found that 86 Asian-American women but only 20 men were employed on the air in the USA's top 25 markets. The ratio was even more lopsided among news anchors: Thirteen women held such jobs in those markets; only one man did.

A good journalist is a good journalist, no matter the gender, race or origin. But subtleties contribute to the full body of what we call news. News purveyors' coverage could be more nuanced and audiences' viewpoints expanded if more Asian-American men were in the ranks of TV journalists, just as when other groups are fully represented.

Being accepted as a visible part of America's fabric is important. Would Japanese-Americans have seemed so foreign during World War II if they had been a public presence in the U.S. press corps? Would a Pakistani-American anchoring the news in a midsized city help other Americans judge South Asians as individuals, not solely as would-be terrorists?

The AAJA study asked news directors to name a role model for Asian males with Chung's high name recognition. None could think of one — although several mentioned Hattori as the closest.

So there we are, full circle. News managers complain that there isn't a big-enough pool of qualified job candidates. Perhaps it's because when Asian males watch television, they see a world that largely excludes them.

Mae M. Cheng, a staff writer for Newsday, is president of the Asian American Journalists Association.