Monday, September 24, 2007

Interviews 

Appendix B
 
----- Original Message -----
From: "Momoye Sugiman" <msugiman@sympatico.ca>
To: "marian meiyuan tseng" <mtseng@u.washington.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2002 11:11 PM
Subject: Re: Asianadian,
> Dear Marian:
> 
> My answers have to be very brief because, as you pointed out, I am very
> busy.
> 
> 1. My role in Asianadian varied from issue to issue, but I guess you could
> say that I was at the core of it steadily from the summer of 1978 until
the winter of 1984.
>     Since we were a collective, we took turns doing the editing and
layout.
> Any major decisions were made democratically. During my involvement with
> Asianadian,
>     I edited or co-edited about six (?) issues. I also wrote several
> articles and reviews, sometimes under pseudonyms. In addition, I was
> involved in the layout,
>     liaising with the printer, distribution, publicity and circulation. I
> tried as much as possible to remain in the creative end of the magazine
> rather than the business end
>     of it.
> 
> 2.  I have no accurate recollection of the "stockholders" and how they
came
> to be. All I know is that the magazine was a vehicle of The Asianadian
>      Resource Workshop founded by Cheuk Kwan, Tony Chan and Paul Levine.
> 
> 3. I saw threee basic "missions" of our project: 1) to combat stereotyping
> and racism; 2) to promote intercultural communication and understanding
> among the
>     various Asian Canadian ethnocultural groups, and 3) to give individual
> Asian Canadians a forum to express their views and showcase their talent.
>     I think that we did a remarkable job in fulfilling these goals. Our
> readership--albeit relatively small--was loyal. And as individuals, we
made
> valuable contributions
>     to a very worthwhile, revolutionary endeavor.
> 
> 4. Our "vision" is more or less articulated in my response to question 3
> above. This vision originated with the three individuals who founded the
> Asianadian
>     Resource Workshop: Paul, Tony and Cheuk.
> 
> 5. I NEVER had all the control, and I certainly would not have wanted to
> have it. I don't think any of us tried to dominate decision making. We
were
> very
>     conscious of the fact that we were NOT a hierarchy but a collective of
> equals. However, there is no doubt that some of us put in a lot more WORK
> than
>     others. Cheuk, Tony,  Bobby and I were perhaps more committed to The
> Asianadian in terms of time, energy, heart and soul. For some of us,
working
> on
>     this publication was an all-consuming addictive passion.
> 
> NOTE: My responses are just off the top of my head. Sorry that I don't
have
> time to go into greater depth. Good luck with your assignment.
> 
> Warm regards,
> 
> Momoye
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "marian meiyuan tseng" <mtseng@u.washington.edu>
> To: <msugiman@sympatico.ca>; <bsiuninfoworth@sprint.ca>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2002 6:27 PM
> Subject: Asianadian,
> 
> 
> > Hi Momoye and Bobby,
> >
> > My name is Marian and I'm in Anthony Chan's Chinese Communication
Systems
> > course.  We're doing an executive summary on Asianadian and I had a few
> > questions that I hope you would be able to answer for me.  I'm really
> > excited to be working on this, my group and I went to look at the 24
> > issues and I think the magazine was quite revolutionary for it's time.
> > I know you both are very busy so if you could just answer these
questions
> > by next Wednesday, that would be fantastic.  Thank you so much!  I'll be
> > sure to include a link to our site when the project is finished at the
end
> > of the quarter.
> >
> > 1) What were your roles in Asianadian
> > 2) Can you give me a brief profile of the stockholders and how they came
> > to be?
> > 3) How would you define the mission of the company?  Do you think you
> > achieved that during Asianadian's "life"?
> > 4) What was the vision of the company?  How did you come up with it?
> > 5) Who ran the magazine?  Who were the leaders that had major control
over
> > decisions?  When were times where you all had control, if any?
> >
> > Thank you so much Momoye and Bobby!  I promise we'll try and present
> > Asianadian as accurately as possible and keep it's spirit alive!
> >
> > Marian Tseng
> > Senior at University of Washington
> > School of Communications
> >
> >
> 

Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 18:31:06 -0500
From: B. Siu 
To: R. Bareng 
Subject: Re: Asianadian Magazine
 
Russell:
 
Thanks for your note.  I will try to answer you questions as follows:
 
How and why did you help start Asianadian start?  It would help if you
include what you know of the history and why it stopped print.
 
The founders of Asianadian were interested in providing a forum for Asian
Canadians to speak out, and the magazine is also a good medium for sharing
of ideas and insights.  The founders were friends and together they decided
to do something about what they felt was good for Asian Canadians.  They
saw the production of Asianadian as the beginning of a social movement,
similar to the Asian Americans' movement.
 
What was the value of the company at the time of its operation?
 
Asianadian Resource Workshop is the name of the organization that produced
the Asianadian magazine.  The Workshop was a collective of like-minded
Asian Canadians and it was not a company.  Unlike companies, the Workshop
had no interest in making a profit.
 
What was the leadership worth of the company?
 
The leadership of the organization was based on a rotational basis.  There
were some key members who were active.  Each member can be an editor
depending on the issues of the magazine.
 
I hope the above helps.
 
Dr. Bobby Siu
Infoworth Consulting Inc.
Tel.: 416-967-5292
Fax: 416-967-6024
 
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 20:24:11 -0800 (PST)
From: A. Chan 
To: R. Bareng 
Subject: Re: Asianadian questions
 
value can be determined by the number and cost of the ads.
so, you need to take several issues and determine the cost of each ad and
calculate what each issue's advertising cost would be.  probably less than
1k.
 
ask bobby about some of the grants that asianadian received, especially
government grants.  sady bronfman foundation gave 1k for the quebec issue,
for example.
 
since this was a collective, leadership work can't be determined, only the
value of the ads.
 
the magazine was started by me, cheuk kwan and paul levine or lau bo in
1978.  levine is now at city university in hong kong.  check that
university and find his e-mail to contact him.
 
see the site on the asianadian on my URL below.  in 1979, there was a
large contingent of people- all volunteers.  did you e-mail richard fung?
he was the first gay member and wrote stories about asian gays.
 
did you contact aminur rahim in s. africa?  he brought global politics to
the magazine.
 
momoye sugiman came in 1979 and she was instrumental in moving the
magazine from 1979 to 1983.  asianadian got some of the first interviews
with celebrities like wayne wang and joy kogawa.
 
i left in 1980, so you need to write to momoye to get an historical
breakdown.  the magazine got a lot of funding from 1984-1985 and that
shows in the art design, etc.
 
ask bobby and momoye why it ended in 1985.
 
did you get a hold of chek kwan.  he was the main founder and should know
a lot.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Tony Chan, Associate Professor, Communication & International
Studies, Box 353740, Room Cmu 229, University of Washington Seattle, WA
98195 206/685-3992, //faculty.washington.edu/chanant
 
On Wed, 20 Nov 2002, R. Bareng wrote:
 
> "Sir" Chan, I was hoping I could ask you a few questions about Asianadian.
> I've gotten responses from Bobby Siu but it doesn't seem complete.  All
> I've gotten timeline wise was that the Asianadian was started in 1978 and
> that it ended in 1985.  Also, I was expecting more statistical data for
> value of the company and leadership worth.
> 
> Could you give me a what history you know of the Collective?  Also could
> you give me some information you know about the value and leadership worth
> of the company?
> 
> I already have some stuff written down but I was hoping to add more.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Russel
> 
> 
 
 
Date: Wed, 20 Nov 2002 23:59:26 -0500
From: Momoye Sugiman 
To: R. Bareng 
Subject: Re: Asianadian
 
Dear Russel:
 
Did you receive my response to your previous e-mail a few weeks ago? I
attempted to answer all your earlier questions. If you didn't get that
e-mail, I could try to send it again.
 
Regarding your request for a historical breakdown, I'm afraid that my mind
is getting foggier and foggier. All I can remember is that the magazine was
founded in April 1978 by Tony Chan, Cheuk Kwan and Paul Levine. I came on
board by the summer of 1978 and I stayed actively involved until some point
in 1982, although I did get involved again briefly in the women's issue
(1984 or 85?) as one of the editors. All those intervening years are a blur
to me. Thus, I can't give you a play by play recap of those Asianadian
years.
 
You asked about what caused theAsianadian to end?  I think that we were all
burnt out. It was getting too hard to continue working from issue to issue
on a shoestring budget.  Most of us had young families by that time. Thus,
personal concerns took priority. Also, we were well into the 1980s. Sadly,
the political fervor of the 1970s had died down across North America. That's
the way I see it.
 
Sorry that I can't be of more help to you. Good luck with your project.
 
- Momoye
----- Original Message -----
From: "R. Bareng" <rusbar@u.washington.edu>
To: <msugiman@sympatico.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, November 20, 2002 11:43 PM
Subject: Asianadian
 
 
> Hello Ms. Sugiman, my name is Russel Bareng and I'm currently a University
> of Washington student and I am taking a course from Anthony Chan.  I am
> working on a profile on the Asianadian and Anthony suggested that we
> email some of the key figures in the magazine.
> 
> I was hoping that you could give me a historical breakdown of Asianadian
> and what caused Asianadian to end in 1985.
> 
> Thank you for your time.
> 
> Russel Wi Bareng
> 
> 
 
 
Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 09:58:46 -0500
From: B. Siu 
To: R. Bareng 
Subject: Re: Asianadian Magazine
 
Russell:
 
Here are the answers to your questions:
 
How does the content of the product reflect the media organization?
 
The magazine consisted of articles on Asian Canadians' experiences and how
we viewed the world.  These articles reflect well the mandate of the
Asianadian Resources Workshop.
 
Knowing what you know now, what do you think should be done differently
than what was done in the first run of Asiandian?
 
Running a magazine is not easy as there are many factors that would make it
successful.  A few areas in which we can do more are:  Getting famous Asian
Canadians ("Stars") to contribute articles or be interviewed; more
partnerships with other organizations; getting more advertising and
commercials; creating an advisory board with some influential people, etc.
 
Did you ever feel unsatisfied with the magazine?
 
The lack of volunteers to produce the magazines meant heavy workloads for
existing members, and that seems to be one of the contributing problems.
 
 
Dr. Bobby Siu
Infoworth Consulting Inc.
Tel.: 416-967-5292
Fax: 416-967-6024

Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 10:02:12 -0500

From: B. Siu 
To: R. Bareng 
Subject: Re: a few more Asianadian questions.
 
Russell:
 
Would it be possible for you to tell me about the grants received, how
much was given, and by which organizations?
 
Asianadian Resources Workshop received a one-year grant from the
government.  I am not able to remember whether it was from the provincial
or federal government, or the amount of the grant.  However, the grant
covered the salaries of four workers, rental of an office space, labour and
materials for the production of the magazine (4 issues) for one year.
 
Dr. Bobby Siu
Infoworth Consulting Inc.
Tel.: 416-967-5292
Fax: 416-967-6024
 
Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 23:52:23 -0500
From: Momoye Sugiman 
To: Tina Lin 
Subject: Re: Questions about Asianadian
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Hi, Tina:
 
Sorry that  I was unable to get back to you sooner than tonight. My
recollections of those Asianadian days are becoming increasingly
cloudy. I'm afraid I can't provide detailed responses to all your
questions. This is the best I could do:
 
1) How was Asianadian produced and distributed?  Was it a
close-knit operation where those involved in writing were also
involved in putting together and printing out issues of the
magazine?
 
THE ASIANADIAN was produced by a collective. Adhering to idealistic
principles of democracy and equality, we made a concerted effort to
remain a collective of equals rather than a hierarchy. As a
grassroots organization, none of us was paid, and most of us had
steady day jobs  or university classes to attend and essays and
exams to write. Thus, we were indeed a close-knit operation. We met
in each other's living rooms and kitchens. Since the actual work of
putting the magazine together had to be shared, we had rotating
duties. But, inevitably, some of us were more committed to the
magazine than were others.
 
 
2) Considering the time period and the fact that computers were
not as sophisticated as they are now, was the process of producing
a magazine more tedious?  Who was responsible for maintaining the
quality of the final product?
 
Yes, the process of producing the magazine was ridiculously tedious
and time consuming because we not only had to type all the pages on
a regular electric typewriter, but we also had to justify the
margins manually. We even had to use Letraset--something
which probably disappeared by the time you were born. (Ask Tony
Chan about it.) Looking back on that process today, years after the
advent of Word Perfect, I marvel at what a few crazy individuals
were able to accomplish. Personally, I remember having to pass up
tempting opportunities to go to parties or dances on a Friday or
Saturday night simply because I had to meet an Asianadian deadline.
My friends outside of the Asianadian collective thought that I was
absolutely insane. There I would be typing and retyping
articles on my electric typewriter--without a self-correcting
ribbon--until 3:00 in the morning. During the first few years of
the magazine's existence, it was Cheuk Kwan or Tony Chan who would
take responsibility for "maintaining the quality of the final
product" and liaising with our printer.
 
 
3)  Asianadian was ahead of its time in terms of the issues it
addressed.  Who were its major suppliers and was it hard to find
people willing to distribute a magazine that dealt with various
controversial issues?  In addition, did Asianadian have any
competitors in the market at the time that had similar themes and
vied for a similar audience?
 
Yes, I suppose our publication was ahead of its time and sometimes
too controversial for mainstream Asian Canadian readers. We never
seemed to have a shortage of articles, for we solicited articles
from outspoken individuals in the various Asian Canadian
communities--or we wrote articles ourselves, sometimes under
pseudonyms. For example, under the pseudonym of Dawn Kiyoye Ono, I
once wrote an article on the depiction of Asian women in American
movies. And under the pseudonym of Amy Chiyo Hori, I penned an
article on interracial marriage in the Japanese Canadian community.
We never had trouble finding material to fill our pages, but we did
not have as many loyal readers as we had dreamed of
having. Sometimes our articles aroused the wrath of some of
our readers. (I remember that we used to get angry letters from
time to time from a reader named V. Featherstone, but we never did
find out his/her true identity.) Although university libraries and
other institutions and individuals subscribed to our little
journal, it was difficult to get it into stores. Generally,
only the left leaning bookstores and a few "ethnic" stores would
carry it. Unfortunately, the majority of "ethnic" grocery stores
and bookstores found it a little too radical for their
customers. After all, we were the first Asian Canadian publication
to devote a whole issue to the topic of sexuality, including an
article by Gerald Chan on growing up gay. During our heyday of the
late 1970s, our major competitor in the market was a magazine
called Rikka, which was basically a one-man operation geared to a
more middle of the road, academic and literary audience.
 
 
4)  Who were key managers of Asianadian and, if available, may we
have copies of resumes of some of those managers involved with the
magazine?
 
During the first few years of our publication, Tony Chan (at that
time an instructor/Ph.D candidate in Chinese history at York
University in Toronto) and Cheuk Kwan (at that time a systems
analyst by day) were the "key managers", but they were not at all
dictatorial. They were the ones who inspired the rest of us with
their enthusiasm and creativity, thus drawing us in. Once I was
drawn in, it was very difficult for me to escape. Tony and Cheuk
were very dynamic and dedicated spokesmen for The
Asianadian.  Their passion for The Asianadian and its possibilities
was infectious. I feel very nostalgic about those Asianadian days
of my youth. Looking back now, I feel very grateful to Tony and
Cheuk for being my mentors--for helping me gain more
self-confidence by encouraging me to write and take on the enormous
responsibility of editing some of the issues almost as soon as I
joined the collective. When I entered the picture, I was still an
introverted, young university student with an awakening political
consciousness. However, by the time their careers took Tony and
Cheuk away from Toronto, the home base of our collective, I felt
ready to take over a large portion of the responsibility for
managing the magazine. For a few years after they had both left
town, I was the one who retrieved our mail from the post office box
#1256.  I was the one who arranged editorial meetings and layout
meetings -- and I was the one who mailed the magazine out to our
subscribers. Had I not gotten tied down with family
responsibilities by marriage and pregnancy in 1982, I could have
carried on indefinitely. 
 
 
5)  How did Asianadian come into existence?  What type of research
was done in order to decide the content of the magazine as well as
its target audience?
 
 The Asianadian was founded by three individuals who shared the
same vision: Cheuk Kwan, Tony Chan--and Paul Levine. I am not sure
what "research" they did to decide the content of the magazine or
its target audience. In fact, I doubt that they did any formal
market research. (Perhaps we once published a reader survey--or did
we just talk about it? I can't remember now.) In any case, Tony,
Cheuk and Paul had a lot to say as individuals, and they had many 
Asian Canadian contacts with progressive ideas and research to
share--people who were not afraid to rock the boat. Our target
audience was the large  and varied Asian Canadian community. We
wanted to give Asian Canadians--whether from Japanese, Chinese,
Korean, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, East Indian,
Pakistani or Sri Lankan roots--a sense of collective identity.
 
 
6)  Please describe the process Asianadian underwent to analyze the
market.  What marketing strategies were implemented to
successfully bring attention to Asianadian and encourage the public
to read it.
 
Again, I don't think we ever underwent a formal process to analyze
the market. We were probably preaching to the already converted.
Nevertheless, we felt an overwhelming need to express ourselves, to
expose current and historical injustices, to bridge gaps between
various Asian Canadian communities -- and to smash stultifying
racist stereotypes. We did not worry about offending any readers or
being labelled as radicals. Had we watered down our views to
conform to the status quo and thereby increase our readership, we
would have been compromising our principles--our entire mission
statement. We did not do any formal advertising except
for strategically placed flyers and some exchange ads with other
progressive publications. From the start, we did not set commercial
success as our goal. We were just interested in
raising consciousness levels. It is wonderful that Tony Chan and
his students have put our little journal out there in cyberspace.
Who knows? Perhaps a few young Asian Canadians--who were born
when The Asianadian was launched--will become politicized after
reading the entire collection of past Asianadian issues. Perhaps
they will even take up where we left off back in 1985. 
 
 
TINA, COULD YOU PLEASE CONFIRM THAT YOU GOT THIS E-MAIL? I'VE BEEN
HAVING A LOT OF TROUBLE WITH MY INTERNET CONNECTION LATELY.
THANKS, AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PROJECT. PLEASE SAY "HELLO" TO TONY
CHAN FROM ME.
 
WARM REGARDS,
 
MOMOYE SUGIMAN
 
 
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2002 15:35:28 -0500
From: B. Siu 
To: marian meiyuan tseng 
Subject: Re: Asianadian, (fwd)
 
Marian:
 
The followings are brief answers to your questions:
 
1) What were your roles in Asianadian?
 
My roles, as any other members in Asianadian, were to identify and motivate
writers to submit articles,  write articles (sometimes), prepared layout,
liaise with printers and assist in distribution.
 
 
2) Can you give me a brief profile of the stockholders and how they came
to be?
 
There were no stockholders for the Asianadian Workshop as it was not a
company.  The people who were in the collective also worked and produced
the magazine.
 
3) How would you define the mission of the company?  Do you think you
achieved that during Asianadian's "life"?
 
Asianadian was not a company.  It was a collective of like-minded people
working on a magazine called Asianadian. The mission of the collective was
was sensitize both Asian and non-Asian Canadians about Asian Canadian ways
of life.  It therefore included the dispelling of stereotyping and biases,
and the inclusion of personal experiences of Asian Canadians.
 
 
4) What was the vision of the company?  How did you come up with it?
 
The vision of the company was to unite Asian Canadians, irrespective of
their ethnicity, languages and countries of origin.  The founders of the
Asianadian Workshop came up with that mission.
 
 
5) Who ran the magazine?  Who were the leaders that had major control over
decisions?  When were times where you all had control, if any?
 
Everyone who joined the collective run the magazine.  They have as much say
as other members of the collective.  Each member, on an rotational basis,
became the "editor" of specific issues.  As this was rotational, each
member has a chance to make decision.  Very often, decisions were made on a
group basis, where the entire membership reviewed the articles and make
decisions together.
 
I hope the above meet your need.  Meanwhile, all the best!
 
 
Dr. Bobby Siu
Infoworth Consulting Inc.
 
Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 22:51:40 -0500
From: B. Siu 
To: Tina Lin 
Subject: Re: Questions about Asianadian
 
Tina:
 
Thanks for writing to me.  I will answer your questions in the same
sequence that you have presented:
 
1) How was Asianadian produced and distributed?  Was it a close-knit
operation where those involved in writing were also involved in putting
together and printing out issues of the magazine?  
 
Asianadian editions were produced by a collective of Asian Canadians
working together from planning, writing, typing, doing lay-out and
graphics, and preparing for printing.   A printing shop did all the
printing.  After printing, boxes of Asianadian copies were then packaged
for mailing or distribution.
 
The collective was a closely knit operation.  We wrote articles sometimes
and we invited people outside the collective to write too.
 
2) Considering the time period and the fact that computers were not so
widespread then as they are now, was the process of producing a magazine
more tedious?  Who was responsible for maintaining the quality of the final
product?  
 
The process of producing the magazine was very time consuming as we were
still using electric typewriters.  All the layouts were done by cutting
from the typed copies and manually lay them out on cardboards one page at a
time.
 
Usually one person or two persons (sometimes rotationally) is responsible
for the quality of the final product.
 
3)  Asianadian was ahead of its time in terms of the issues it addressed. 
Who were its major suppliers and was it hard to find people willing to
distribute a magazine that dealt with various controversial issues?  In
addition, did Asianadian have any competitors in the market at the time
that had similar themes and vied for a similar audience?  
 
If "suppliers" means writers, then in our experience, in the early days of
Asianadian, it was not difficult to find writers; however, it gets harder
to find them later as writing articles demands certain skills and
determination.
 
As Asianadian developed, distribution was done through a company that
specialized in distributing magazines in Canada.  All we have to do was to
pay the company to distribute copies to book and magazine stores.  
 
At that time, there was another magazine  ("Rikki" ??) in Canada, run by a
Japanese Canadian, which documented the experiences of Japanese Canadians. 
We did not see it as "competitor" at all, we saw it as a supporter, as it
provided a forum for Japanese Canadians, just as Asianadian had provided a
forum for Asian Canadians.
 
4)  Who were key managers of Asianadian and, if available, may we have
copies of resumes of some of those managers involved with the magazine?  
 
As Asianadian was run as a collective of people, there were actually no key
managers, as the "managing" function was rotational across Asianadian's
collective members.  As I understand it, some of the biographies of key
members are included in the Asianadian' web site.
 
5)  How did Asianadian come into existence?  What type of research was done
in order to decide the content of the magazine as well as its target
audience?  
 
Asianadian was created by three Asian Canadians after talking about the
issues of Asian Canadians in a restaurant.  It was not sure whether market
research had actually been done; but the magazine was launched on the basis
that it was about time that Asian Canadians speak out and share their
experiences with others.
 
 
6)  Please describe the process Asianadian underwent to analyze the market.
 What marketing strategies were implemented to successfully bring attention
to Asianadian and encourage the public to read it.  
 
There were some discussions on who would likely to read the magazine, but
there was no market analysis in the professional sense of the word.  The
marketing strategies used including the "word of mouth", promotion in
public community events, marketing to university and school libraries, etc.
 
 
I hope the above paragraphs help.  Best wishes!
 
Dr. Bobby Siu
 
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 20:29:09 -0500
From: B. Siu 
To: Tina Lin 
Subject: Re: A couple more details.
 
Tina:
 
I am currently a consultant specializing in diversity management and
multicultural marketing.  I provide consulting, training and research
services for the business and government sectors in managing a diversified
workforce and assist them to reach out and market to multicultural
communities.
 
As for Satish Dhar, I lost touch with him.  As far as I know, he is still
in Toronto.
 
I hope the above helps.
 
Dr. Bobby Siu
Infoworth Consulting Inc.
Tel.: 416-967-5292
Fax: 416-967-6024
 
 
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2002 15:37:12 -0800 (PST)
From: Larson 
To: Tina Lin 
Subject: Re: Questions about Asianadian
 
Dear Tina--
 
Hmmm...Tony may have slightly miscommunicated my
"involvement" with Asianadian.
 
First of all, I was (technically I still am)a doctoral
student at UW several years ago.  Tony continues to
act as my advisor, even though I have vacated the
Seattle scene.  While working with Tony, I wrote a
paper on Asianadian and Rikka, a similar publication.
I was attempting to look at aspects of identity and
activism in the content of each during their
publication histories.  Alas, I have no information
pertinent to the remaining questions that you are
seeking answers to for your project.
 
What I can provide, briefly, is some insight to
thinking about Asianadian (which you may already
have).  To me, the publication was a concrete artifact
of the relationships between a discrete set of
individuals at a key point in the development of
political identities among young Canadians of Asian
descent.  Many of the key contributors have gone on to
become important voices in the respective communities
of academia, film, government and business.
 
In my studies of the publication, I think that the
idea of competitors was very interesting indeed. We
can only be sure that in terms of subscription, some
of the main competition were more traditional sources
of information and editorial opinion, such as national
and regional newspapers, community newspapers, and
campus publications (not excluding artistic
endeavors--much of the content featured poetry and
essays).  The editorial staff of Asianadian may never
have been too sure of their subscriber base or
intended audience, but at least their published
content clearly focused on the needs of the Asian
communities throughout Canada and to some extent the
U.S.  By comparison, Rikka (whose editorial staff was
predominantly Canadians of Japanese descent) cast a
much wider net and took on issues of global importance
including Vietnam and apartheid.  Asianadian never
tackled broader stories without context to their
self-described mission.
 
If you look around today at the number and type of
publications available in print and on-line for
communities of Asian descent in Canada and the U.S.
you will find gloss and advertising support that did
not exist for Asianadian.  I have not been keeping up
with recent thematic coverage in Yolk or A but my
former impression would probably hold.  Issues of
political identity, while still important today for
all people of color (ironically now including
Caucasians if you scan the academic literature), have
changed markedly.  They are no longer discussing the
need to participate in order to gain cache...they have
it and largely know how to wield it when and where. 
Becoming media savvy is just one more step on the road
to power.
 
Hope this helps.  If you can think of different
questions more appropriate to my "involvement", just
e-mail them at your convenience.
 
Laura
 
 
 
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Date: Wed, 04 Dec 2002 21:55:06 -0500
From: Richard Fung 
To: tinalin@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: Questions about Asianadian
 
Tina,
 
Sorry for not returning your letter ealier but I've been very busy in and
out of town, and this IS ancient history so I'm not sure how useful I'll
be. I'm also leaving town tomorrow morning again until Tuesday. Please
don't respond until then as my email becomes clogged when I'm travelling.
 
Hope this helps:
 
>so widespread then as they are now, what was the process of producing and
>distributing Asianadian like?
 This is best asked of Bobby Siu who was more involved in the production.
I can't even remember the name of the process, but it involved typeset
sheets which were glued onto boards.
> 
> 
>2)  Did Asianadian have any competitors in the market at the time that
>had similar themes and vied for a similar audience?
 We didn't think in terms of market but rather community development. The
only equivalent publications I remember were Bridge which came from the
US, and Rikka which was a progressive Japanese Canadian journal.
> 
> 
>3)  What were some marketing strategies implemented to get the word out
>about Asianadian?
 Don't remember.
> 
> 
>4)  What were you doing before Asianadian?  What else were you doing
>while involved with Asianadian?
 I was also involved in the Body Politic which was a gay and lesbian
journal, and I was a founder of Gay Asians Toronto. I was a member of the
Toronto Committee for the Liberation of Southern Africa, and I was a
volunteer translator at the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples.
> 
> 
>5)  What about Asianadian attracted you to become involved?
 Their progressive stance on gay issues, and their pan-Asian, anti-racist
and generally progressive agenda. I liked meeting and working with
likeminded folks.
> 
> 
>6)  What other projects have you worked on/are you working on?
 See above. I am currently involved with Creative Response, an
organization of artists and academics in support of peace in the Middle
East and opposed to the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian territories. I
sit on many boards, including the Reel Asian Film and Video Festival.
> 
> 
>7)  Where has your career path led you since Asianadian?
 Asianadian was a community and political commitment and not a career
path. 
> 
> 
>Thank you so much for your time in answering these questions!  We are
>excited to hear about your experience in working on this magazine.
 
Cheers,
 
Ricahrd Fung
> 
 
 
 
Richard Fung
Coordinator,
Centre for Media and Culture in Education
OISE/University of Toronto
252 Bloor St. West, Rm. 12-216
Toronto, ON
M5S 1V6
Canada
tel: 416-923-6641X 2275
fax: 416-926-4751

WORKS CITED

Chan, Anthony. Personal Interview. 21 Nov. 2002

Chan, Anthony. “Re: Asianadian Questions.” Email to Russel Wi Bareng. 20 Nov. 2002.

Chan, Anthony. “The Asianadian.” 2002. http://faculty.washington.edu/chanant/asianadian

(18 Nov. 2002).

Chan, Anthony. “The Asianadian.”

Charles, Elliot. “Defining Development News Values: An examination of Press Releases from

the New China News Agency in Bryce T. McIntyre, ed.” Mass Media in the Asian Pacific, 72-84

Chong, Jean. 25 November 2002. Email Interview.

Chong, Jean. “Answers on Asianadian.” Email to Russel Wi Bareng. 24 Nov. 2002

Mote, Frederick. “Intellectual Foundations of China,” New York, Knopf, 1971

Siu, Bobby, “Re: a few more Asianadian questions.” Email to Russel Wi Bareng. 21 Nov. 2002.

Siu, Bobby, “Re: Asianadian Magazine.” Email to Russel Wi Bareng. 21 Nov. 2002.

Siu, Bobby. “Re: Asianadian Questions.” Email to Russel Wi Bareng. 15 Nov. 2002.

Sugiman, Momoye. “Asianadian.” Email to Russel Wi Bareng. 20 Nov. 2002.

Siu, Bobby. 31 October 2002. Email Interview.

Sugiman, Momoye. 30 October 2002. Email Interview.

Yin, Robert K. “Case Study Research: Design and Methods, especially. “Introduction,” 13-26;

“Conducting Case Study,” 78-98.

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