The Asian American Journalists Association recently sent an advisory cautioning editors against mentioning that Cho Seung-Hui is Korean or an immigrant, saying that it has nothing to do with the massacre.
When I was a student, I was a member of AAJA. It was because a newswriter at WJLA told me to join because “we Asians need to stick together because of our disadvantages.” It almost made sense to me then: culturally speaking, I did not have generations of American experience on my father’s side. Because of this, I might have more ease with American culture than an immigrant, but not as much ease as a person who had many generations of experience on both sides of their family. But I’m digressing. I am not currently a member of AAJA, mostly because I don’t prefer categorization by race.
Here’s the crux of what AAJA is talking about:
We understand the need to research the background of Seung-Hui Cho (first name is pronounced “sung hee”) and to provide details about him as a nation struggles to make sense of the horrific incident.
But we are disturbed by some media outlets’ prominent mention that the suspect is an immigrant from South Korea when such a revelation provides no insight or relevance to the story.
That’s right, editors: the AAJA says please don’t mention he is Korean, but please pronounce his Korean name correclty, and please know the order that Korean names appear in.
So here begins my open letter to the AAJA:
This atrocity in Virginia is the top story in Korea. If anything, its newsworthiness in Korea is worth several stories in American media.
While I agree that race, ethnicity, nationality, et. al. had nothing to do with the incident, I don’t think it’s out of line to mention that Cho is an immigrant for the following reasons:
- If Cho had naturalized, AP would call him Seung-Hui Cho instead of Cho Seung-Hui. Explaining that he is South Korean makes it clear to readers why they use his family name first. (Either that, or AP screwed up and is keeping last name first order for consistency.)
- Knowing how old he was when he came to America provides clues to what challenges he may have faced, coming to a new country and making new friends at such a young age.
- Because he has committed such a heinous crime, it is not unusual to report every detail, relevant or not. Why do we know Lee Oswald’s middle name? Is it unfair to people with a middle name of Harvey to refer to Oswald by his full name?
- Would the AAJA object to reporting on Cho’s nationality if Cho had been naturalized Canadian or British? Or what if Cho were born in Australia? What if he were white and from France? Would the AAJA object if we called him French?
- Did the AAJA object when American media reports mentioned that Osama Bin Laden is Saudi?
- Would AAJA members find it rude or offensive to postal workers to use the term “going postal” in everyday speech?
- Because the crime involved the legal purchase of firearms, isn’t it important to note that Cho was a “resident alien”?
I don’t think it is out of line to mention that Cho was Korean, a “resident alien”. There are too many dimensions to the story that make it relevant.
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