This interview has been edited for clarity.
Depends on how far back you want to know. When I was a kid I wanted to be an author and then sort of bounced around other ideas and then when I started college I signed up for my college newspaper just as more of a social thing than anything else but the fell in love with it.
I oversee our coverage of autos, airlines and energy. But it goes beyond that as well. And I'm also a co-leader for our race and ethnicity team.
Sure, we cover everything from NFL football players taking a knee and all the racial issues around that, confederate statues, affirmative action, minority running for political office, some of the rhetoric we are seeing under the Trump administration and a whole variety of other issues. I'm one of three leaders on our team.
The amount of layers sometimes you have to go through to get a story on the wire. That's for good reason you know. The AP is very particular about standards and making sure we have everything perfect and that the tone is correct. So sometimes stories will take a long time. But then other times, if it's a breaking news story the story will go on the wire in minutes. It's interesting to see how quick or how slow some stories can take to go up.
Accuracy as much as speed. In the world of social media the emphasis is on getting it out first and that's also the AP's intent as well. But I think more than getting it first is getting it right. There's been so many instances where people, media outlets, and not to disparage any outlets but, that have just been so quick to get the story out that they've gotten it wrong and that ruins credibility. Even though there is high pressure to get the story out first and that's always going to be our goal, we don't want to undermine our own credibility in these days of the media under attack. It's even more important for us to get it right.
The way that journalism is being consumed. It's not just reading the newspaper. I mean we are seeing newspapers decline all over the country, but some great interactive is out there. Engaging audiences in a way that we've never seen. I mean some of the stuff that I see not just at the AP but at the New York Times or Washington Post where it just makes the story more alive and more relevant. I think people are more connected to the news than they ever have been because of the way it's been presented to them.
A lot of what we do is media watch which is a watchdog organization where we are monitoring the press to see how Asians are being portrayed in the media.
It's alarming to me that in 2018, we still see inappropriate coverage of Asians.
Just recently Telemundo had a couple hosts on their show after South Korea won a game in the world cup they pulled back their eyes and made fun of the South Korean soccer team. So, you know, it's astonishing to me that something like that is still possible to happen today even though there's so much awareness about these issues. It's pretty clear how offensive that is. This watchdog is necessary to try and correct those kind of issues.
Especially since joining the race and ethnicity team where I've taken on the issue of race more directly. In the past I've covered everything form retail to technology as a reporter and then as an editor the legal profession and a variety of other issues. Now as a minority dealing with minority issues whenever those conversations come up often times I realize I'm the only person in the room or one of very few people in the room that's representing that voice. Not representing it in a way of being an advocate but just as a way to correct the record. You often see a hole conversations being had about race and no one in the room is of that race. So, sometimes I'll jump in and say well no actually that's not how it is. Sometimes, it's good to have that role because it's better to have the right information and report it accurately but then it can be frustrating that there is not that level of understanding that i think everyone should have about certain issues and that you end up having to explain what you think is pretty obvious.
The fact that we have a race and ethnicity team at all is heartening to me and we have really robust conversations about what's happening now.
Anyone who is a minority knows that these issues have always been there under the surface, and now they are just coming to the surface.
But now we have a team in place to address them head on in a way that a lot of newsrooms are starting to see now. It's a polarizing issue. You see all these protests that are taking place. Now that we have a knowledgable team in place is recognition that you can't just swoop in do a quick hit story, because this is a deeper issue that requires expertise and knowledge. Not just a one day story that you're in and out and then you're done with it because this issue is not going away. I'm happy that we have a team in place at the AP and I'm happy to see all the other work that's being done around the country on the issue of race. Certainly there can be a lot more done but at least we're taking it more seriously now.
Within news organizations, I think we still have to have more managers of color. I'm not just speaking in terms of covering those communities but just being in the room so that when an issue like this comes up there is somebody in there who actually understands it from a different perspective. So, more of that has to happen. And just like a lot more coverage. We're seeing a lot of talk about white identity and how it's going to be a majority minority country. But there are cities now that are majority minority so we don't have to wait 20 years from now before the demographics change to write those stories we should be writing about them now. I would like to see a lot more coverage about that as well. And what does it mean to for a place to have a majority minority population. How does that change what the issues are in schools or what they are in local politics how has that changed the conversation by changing the demographics.
Look for allies. I think that even though we are minorities in news organizations there are others in those news organizations like us who understand where we are coming from and what it's like to be a minority. And if you don't have that in your own newsroom find it in other organizations. In larger newsrooms you might have more diversity but in smaller newsrooms you might be the only one. If that's where you're at in your career then reach out to organizations where you can bring community outside of your newsroom and use it for support to talk out stories to make sure you're not crazy when sometime you feel like you're the only one in the room talking about this. It's good to have a connection with people who understand this and realize it is actually a story, and maybe they help you find a way to get your story told.