Focus on the Ethnic Voter and Bay Area Bridges, San Francisco, CA 2000
Partners:
Pacific News Service/New California Media
Pacific News Service seized the 2000 presidential and local California elections to demonstrate the growing political clout of ethnic voters and, in the process, created new outlets for diverse voices in the mainstream media.
Pooling the resources of 100 ethnic newspapers and broadcast stations in the Bay Area, Pacific News Service started New California Media in 1996 to circulate stories among its members. Pew funding allowed the nascent service to step up activities during the election and focus on the impact of ethnic voters.
Newsmaker breakfasts, for instance, gave ethnic media reporters opportunities to meet with candidates and issues experts. A special area of NCMonline.org was dedicated to “Focus on the Ethnic Voter.” NCM-TV produced a series of half-hour shows on ethnic voters, which aired on the Bay Area PBS and Asian-language stations and statewide on CSPAN.
The coverage got the attention of mainstream media and ultimately led the San Francisco Chronicle to create a Sunday section, “Bay Area Bridges,” summarizing and translating stories from the area’s ethnic newspapers, such as India-West, Pakistan Today, Beirut Daily Star and Nichi Bei Times. In addition, KALW-FM gave NCM a Friday slot for a weekly show, “UpFront,” featuring ethnic media reporters, editors and producers.
Contact:
Sandy Close
Executive Editor
Pacific News Service
660 Market St, Suite 210
San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 438-4755
Email: sclose@pacificnews.org