00:00:10.800 - 00:00:45.540

OK. I was hired as a vacation relief, sick relief on-air television reporter, which meant that I, was promised first dibs at any vacancies that came up and, you know, people would go on vacation and they needed to find people to Sort of fill in. So, that

00:00:45.540 - 00:01:03.740

was my entry in, and the distinction of it is that um you had no job security. You were basically working freelance and you were, if you weren't working, then you were waiting by your phone, waiting for a call to go to work. But at that time

00:01:03.740 - 00:01:31.400

in 1970, there were no Asian-Americans on air. Um, in the San Francisco Bay Area doing news reporting. Um, in 1970, there were actually no Asian-Americans who were Reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle, or the San Francisco Examiner, or the Oakland Tribune, or the San Jose Mercury

00:01:31.400 - 00:01:52.059

News, which at the time were the four big metropolitan daily newspapers of the Bay Area. Um, So, my hire was a real breakthrough because before then there were no Asian-Americans who were, who were hired. In fact, we weren't even considered, uh, we were not considered as

00:01:52.069 - 00:02:07.040

people who could be hired. I do remember going to a uh broadcast jobs fair, uh, and meeting the news director of KCBS News Radio, and he asked me, uh, young man, you know, what do you wanna, what do you wanna be, what do you wanna do?

00:02:07.459 - 00:02:27.589

I said, I wanna be an announcer. He laughed. Now, you can say, well, OK, he laughed because he said, aha, you know, that's what everybody who's interested in broadcasting wants to do. But he didn't like give me any words of encouragement. You know, he just laughed

00:02:28.050 - 00:02:46.449

and because he didn't give any words of encouragement and I didn't really see that he was, you know, laughing at, you know, the wonder of a young man wanting to break into this field, I took it as, he really thought it was laughable that a Chinese

00:02:46.449 - 00:03:04.839

person. You know, could be an announcer. You know, I wondered if he even thought that I could speak English. So, that was part of the atmosphere of racism that I grew up with uh at that time in 1970. I'm a Chinatown kid. I was raised in

00:03:04.839 - 00:03:24.550

Chinatown. I'm born in San Francisco. I grew up on Stockton Street in front of the 30 Stockton bus stop. At that time, Stockton Street was maybe uh 1/3 as busy as it is today because when I was a child, I could ride my bicycle on the

00:03:24.550 - 00:03:50.039

sidewalk down, down Stockton Street. So, you know, times were different back then, but even then, um, it was very rare to hear of an Asian-American who was working downtown or any place outside of our ethnic enclaves, so in my case, Chinatown and other, other people's cases

00:03:50.039 - 00:04:07.490

would be Japantown and and whatnot, um. And my parents always told me that, you know, you really have to work hard and do better than your competition if they're going to be considered, but when I told them that I wanted to go, you know, go into

00:04:07.490 - 00:04:42.130

journalism, uh, they said, uh, you're crazy. No one will hire you. TV. Well, 1970 is sort of like. You know, the civil rights movement um and the really started in the, in the 50s and Chinese and other Asian-Americans didn't start pushing for representation. Um, in the

00:04:42.130 - 00:05:07.209

rest of society, didn't start pushing for employment in the professional fields and in any areas outside of the ethnic enclaves until the 60s. So this is the time where affirmative action came to the fore and After the race riots, uh, of the 60s of Watts, uh,

00:05:07.269 - 00:05:32.049

Chicago, Detroit, Newark, New Jersey, The country became aware that there was a lot of unrest because of racial discrimination in employment, housing, and whatnot. And so there was a big push for affirmative action to have representation of ethnic minorities in all facets of society. And the

00:05:32.049 - 00:05:53.709

Kerner Commission report, which was commissioned by the president of the United States, demonstrated. That one of the key areas of non-representation of ethnic minorities in the country was in the media, was in the newspapers, radio, television, and movies and advertising. And that report also found that

00:05:54.230 - 00:06:22.980

because of the lack of representation. The lives of ethnic minorities was not well known. The um aspirations of ethnic minorities was not understood. The true history of ethnic minorities was Suppressed, I mean, that's. You know, we have to remember that ethnic studies started here at San

00:06:22.980 - 00:06:48.130

Francisco State College, during the Third world strike. That was in 1968. Which is the same year as the Kerner Commission report. And the same forces that created ethnic studies here at San Francisco State were the same forces, you know, socio-economic, social justice, were the same forces

00:06:48.459 - 00:07:11.820

creating affirmative action throughout our society. And it was also impacting the media because the commission said the media is lily white. You know, not just Lilly White but also had virtually no women representation in positions of decision-making or reporting. So, a vast area of society was

00:07:11.820 - 00:07:36.609

being Is voiceless. You know, was not being represented. So I do remember growing up in the Bay Area and seeing that the portrayal of my own people was very limited to New Year's, to um Fu Manchu, Charlie Chan, um, you know, and other negative stereotypes. Um,

00:07:36.899 - 00:08:01.619

and there was really no uh role models for us. To like, you know, move up in the world. We made great strides because people became conscious and aware and they became conscious and aware through the media, the news media. And that's why the Bay Area archives

00:08:01.619 - 00:08:22.459

is so important because it's a window. To history. It's a window to the world as it was back then, and from, and from what you see through this window, you will know where you came from. And where and and the reasons why the society that you

00:08:22.459 - 00:08:43.640

see today has evolved into this. You know, we've come a long way, but a lot of the same issues, a lot of the same problems, a lot of the same aspirations. 50, 70 years ago are even more compelling today. And by knowing what people were doing

00:08:43.640 - 00:09:04.239

back then and knowing what people were saying back then will definitely inform you going forward and also may inspire you as to how you can make change for the better and what mistakes to avoid. Uh, the archives are very important because it gives you, I mean,

00:09:04.440 - 00:09:20.049

today, people are visual learners. People don't read. You know, back in my time, you know, you would go to the library and you would find a lot of knowledge in the library. Today, people go to the library to study, but they don't really go to the

00:09:20.049 - 00:09:40.440

library to explore and to find out new things. But now, you know, we live in a totally different world where you have instant communication and you have instant audio visual. Back then, it was a, a labor to create. You know, television reports, you know, to create

00:09:41.190 - 00:10:01.140

uh stories that incorporated sound and picture, you know. Back then, when I started, we worked in 16 millimeter film. So you would go out and shoot a story in the morning, come back in the afternoon, put the film into a laboratory, wait a couple of hours

00:10:01.140 - 00:10:19.859

for the film to be developed and to come out that you can start to edit, and then hopefully you would get it on the 6 o'clock news. Today. You can film a story on your phone, and then you can broadcast it on your phone. To the

00:10:19.859 - 00:10:42.799

World Wide Web. Uh, that was. I think to a lot of people, unthinkable back in the time that I started, uh, 70, what is it, 55 years ago? So that's why the Bay Area archives is very important because outside of the newspapers, there's no record. Of

00:10:42.799 - 00:11:04.729

what people We're doing, uh, and what changes were going on. I mean, the archives has a record of the Summer of Love, 1967, uh, the birth of the San Francisco sound and rock music, um, all kinds, I mean, incredible amounts of history that, you know, maybe,

00:11:04.809 - 00:11:23.039

you know, you study now in, in the textbooks and whatnot, is actually in the archives because it's history reported in that instant. And you can also see where some of the reporting was wrong. You know, because you have 50 years of hindsight to, to, to back

00:11:23.039 - 00:11:41.580

on. But the value of the archives is, is incalculable. I mean, it, it's up there with, you know, people say, oh, the Bancroft Library, the Library of Congress, you know, it preserves our Constitution and our Declaration of Independence and glass things. Archives of the San Francisco.

00:11:42.479 - 00:12:08.830

Equivalent audio visual wise. You know, when you're trying to break into a field like broadcast journalism. Um, you know, you. You are mindful of the. Of sort of the, uh, I don't know how do you express it, but uh there's an ethos, you know, you know,

00:12:08.979 - 00:12:29.750

in journalism school, they teach you about objectivity, being objective, or if not objective, then being fair, you know, there's always two sides to a story at least and so you're conscious of. Not showing bias, you know, not taking one side or the other, and you're conscious

00:12:29.750 - 00:12:46.890

that management is is is going to be watching you for that, but at the same time, you also know that you want to give voice to the people who you are covering, to people who heretofore didn't have a voice. So, and then if you're an ethnic

00:12:46.890 - 00:13:08.000

minority or if you were a woman. Who was considered a minority at that time. You would also be bearing the burden of not pushing your ethnicity or your gender as a cause. So you had to be mindful of, of walking down a line where you could

00:13:08.000 - 00:13:28.630

appear to be impartial, objective, even-handed, and sometimes that would neuter the impact of your stories. But at the same, and, but at the same time, you knew that what you brought to the table was. Knowledge and a perspective that people who are not of your background

00:13:29.330 - 00:13:55.500

would have. Um, I happen to be very lucky in not only getting in. To a dream job at the age of 21. You know, And getting a job at the number one TV station. In the area and at the TV, the commercial station where reporting was

00:13:55.500 - 00:14:17.299

respected. I was lucky to be in that position. Um, so, and management, when they hired me, when they looked at me, they were under pressure to hire a Chinese or an Asian for, you know, diversity, equity and inclusion principles. We didn't have those letters back then,

00:14:17.409 - 00:14:34.169

but that's basically the same thing. And they were looking to hire someone, and I had, you know, other people who applied for my job was Connie Chung, who everybody knows, and, and others who were also of my persuasion. But the reason why they gave me a

00:14:34.169 - 00:14:51.359

shot was they were looking for someone who was from the area and who had some knowledge of the community. So I was with a with an employer who was broad-minded enough to think in those terms. So when I was, so when I came onto the scene,

00:14:51.659 - 00:15:10.549

I did feel that I could look for stories that were about my community, but at the same time, I had a heavy burden to prove. That I could do a story as well as anyone and I could do any story as well as anyone. And that

00:15:10.549 - 00:15:32.219

meant that you sometimes us ethnic reporters would have the burden of not wanting to be. Pigeonholed or, you know, ghettoized as the black reporter, the Chicano reporter, you know, the Native Ame Native American reporter, you know, the reporter who only covers women's issues. So we were

00:15:32.219 - 00:15:51.320

conscious of not falling into that trap. So some of us, you know, would consciously look for white stories or, or stories that were, uh, you know, of, of, of general impact. But in the case of Under Their Ancestors Shadows, which was a half-hour documentary about Chinatown's

00:15:51.320 - 00:16:11.919

youth gangs who were emerging as a problem because they were being used as soldiers in um, In the criminal underworld around and They came to the fore because bodies started to wash up on the shores of uh Redwood City uh that were trussed up and these

00:16:12.609 - 00:16:32.119

appeared to be like gangland style murders. And then there were uh merchants in Chinatown who were complaining of being extorted by, by, by youth gangs who were offering themselves as protection. You know, like if you, you know, if you don't, uh, if you don't, if you

00:16:32.119 - 00:16:49.330

don't pay me, then, you know, I'll bust your windows or I'll, you know, I'll sit in the corner of your restaurant in my gangland style outfit and intimidate everybody, which basically turns away business. So, you know, that was sort of like a racket. But there were

00:16:49.330 - 00:17:04.609

socio-economic reasons for why these things were going on. So I explored that in the half-hour and, uh, and the station actually asked me because they, they read in the newspapers of all these things going on, and they said, do you think you could do something about

00:17:04.609 - 00:17:19.430

this? And I said, well, let me think about it because this is my community and you're talking about gangs, you know, like, you know, you know, I'm at risk. But I, I said, Let me think about it, let me find out what I can find out.

00:17:19.500 - 00:17:35.989

And so I did some research and I realized, found out that a lot of these gang members were contemporaries of mine. I went to high school with them, some of them. And then I talked to other people who were involved in uh social services and who

00:17:35.989 - 00:17:51.290

were involved at City College and who said, hey, you know, these kids are troubled kids and they're, some of them are involved in gangs because for protection, self-protection. And because there's no jobs, well, you know, what else can they do? And, you know, we live in

00:17:51.290 - 00:18:07.530

a dog eat dog world, so, you know, you gotta do what you gotta do to stay alive. So, I went back to my employers and I said, I can do this, but I, you know, but I'm gonna need time to develop sources and, and, and shoot

00:18:07.530 - 00:18:24.380

these, uh, these scenes and interviews. So I was able to get the, the gang members to, to talk on camera. I got. You know, interviews with the police, I got interviews with social workers, and then I, you know, got the whole socio-economic profile of the community,

00:18:24.640 - 00:18:43.400

and I won an Associated Press Award for investigative reporting as, as a result of that. So, As an ethnic rep reporter, I said, I did a, you know, I did a service to my community. But I was also recognized journalistically for excellence. So that's sort of

00:18:43.400 - 00:18:55.239

like the, uh, tightrope that you're walking down as a, as an ethnic reporter as, and some people looked at me as I said, you know, where did you come from? You know, did, did you work at some smaller station and work your way up? You know,

00:18:55.359 - 00:19:10.319

you just bang, you know, hit the big time, you know, right, right out of college. Well, I had prepared myself in college from high school, you know, in journalism, you know, I had done radio at UC Berkeley. So when I was a student at Berkeley, you

00:19:10.319 - 00:19:28.000

know, I was covering People's Park. The peace protests of Vietnam, you know, you know, I was tear gassed by helicopters and all that kind of stuff, but I also, you know, did reporting on the, on the student stations and I measured myself up against what I

00:19:28.000 - 00:19:39.000

saw on television. You know, I would, I would go out, cover the, do my stories, then I'd go home and, and then I'd, I'd watch what the coverage was on, on the media, and I, and I would measure myself. I said, I could do that if

00:19:39.000 - 00:19:58.670

I knew. I knew what the process was. I didn't know what the process was and I had to go to school to learn what the process was, but I already had the chops, as they say, to do journalism. In today's society, a lot of media that

00:19:58.670 - 00:20:16.800

we see is of a documentary form, you know, it's like a portrayal of reality. And the archives are important because they're a source of the history in the past. So in the films like Free Cho So Lee, um, a lot of the footage of the past,

00:20:17.380 - 00:20:38.189

of, of the, of that era, uh, are from the archives. Um, there's a film called uh Chinatown Rising, uh, which was, is a film by Harry Chuck, who is a, a film student. He's a film graduate of SF State. And when he, he could not finish

00:20:38.189 - 00:20:59.430

his, he could not finish his um his thesis project, his film project, which was on Chinatown because he was busy advocating for affordable housing and housing for seniors in Chinatown. And so he couldn't make a film and lead a social justice movement at the same time.

00:20:59.900 - 00:21:17.329

But 50 years later with his son, he was able to take that footage that he shot here at SF State, combine it with the footage that he was able to get from the archives which portrayed conditions of society back then into a film called Chinatown Rising,

00:21:17.660 - 00:21:38.510

which is, you know, a great educational document. It's been on PBS. That portrays a history of Asian-America from the 60s to the present, that, um, you know, even there are a few textbooks around that subject area. So the archives, uh, I mean you could do the

00:21:38.510 - 00:21:59.310

same thing with the Black Panther movement, you know, I, when I was at at Channel 5, I covered Huey Newton. I covered his second trial for murder. Uh, I covered the fatal prison escape attempt by George Jackson at San Quentin Prison. Um I covered the new

00:21:59.310 - 00:22:21.739

mobilization. Uh, there were these mass protests against the Vietnam War. People would march from the ferry Building. Down Market Street. Out Gary to the polo fields. And the, and this was, and this was like a mass mobilization of like 200,000 people, you know, I covered that,

00:22:21.910 - 00:22:41.400

you know, I had a little bit where we had some live coverage on the CBS network where we, we cut into the daytime programming to do that. So those were great movements that raised people's consciousness and really contributed towards America changing its stance on the war.

00:22:42.319 - 00:23:12.810

So those things are in. The Bay Area TV archives. I'm not only the first Asian hired, but I was also the first Asian fired. From uh on-air television work in 1973. And I was basically a victim of a purge because the station went from number one.

00:23:13.680 - 00:23:35.040

To 2 and station management freaked out. And hired all kinds of Consultants to tinker with the format and the presentation to a point where we said, are we, I thought we were journalists. I thought we were doing journalism, and we were told, no, you're in show

00:23:35.040 - 00:23:53.969

business. So that's So I was a victim of that in one sense. And then for several years, I could not find another full-time job in journalism. I was blackballed as someone who was intractable. So, I left journalism for a while, went back to my community, and

00:23:53.969 - 00:24:14.770

I started to do oral history interviews using my media skills for the benefit of my community. In the process, I discovered that Angel Island contained an immigration station that had been operating for from 1910 to 1940 and this was the main immigration point for people coming

00:24:14.770 - 00:24:35.989

from the Pacific. I found out that the state, and this immigration station is now A national historic landmark that you can visit because on its walls are poetry and graffiti that was carved by the inmates who were expressing their grief at being held in detention because

00:24:36.000 - 00:24:57.619

of the immigration laws. After I left Channel 5, I started a group to save that immigration station from demolition by the state. So that's one of my other distinctions. I was also, I also became active in Asian-American cultural affairs. I organized the first National Asian-American Writers

00:24:57.619 - 00:25:24.680

Conference at the Oakland Museum and the San Francisco Chinese Culture Center. Um, what other distinctions have I done? Um. I'm blanking out, but I've also. Um I'm the co-producer, co-director, co-writer. For the film Fall of the Eye Hotel, which was about the eviction of the elderly

00:25:24.680 - 00:25:47.229

Asian tenants at the International Hotel on Kearney Street, which is the last remnant of Manila town. Um I have since Uh, gone into youth work. So I was also director of the Beacon Center, um, for the Richmond district in San Francisco. And, uh, today, the Beacons,

00:25:47.319 - 00:26:09.780

there are like 8 Beacon Centers throughout the city that provides, uh, after-school, um, enrichment programs, academic support for Middle school and high school students. So I ran a youth program before. Um, I'm currently working on a couple of books, one about the history of Asian-American journalism

00:26:09.780 - 00:26:30.869

pioneers, and also two, I'm a co-founder of the Asian Pacific Democratic Caucus in the National Committee. So I was involved in the emergence of Asian-Americans in, in politics here. Now, I'm, I'm not a politician. But I helped to push the representation of Asian-Americans in the system.

00:26:31.290 - 00:26:46.780

And I've done all of these things from the perspective of one who wanted to do something for my community and to use my media skills. In that regard. And so I think that, you know, my message to young people today would be in the words of

00:26:46.780 - 00:27:15.449

Jesse Jackson, keep hope alive and I would add to that, keep hope alive with truth, justice, and good journalism. Let the people know. What young people have today is Incredibly great access to the tools of production, to the tools of journalism, or the tools of media.

00:27:16.180 - 00:27:36.260

I mean, being able to record events on your phone and being able to broadcast it, um, You know, via the internet or, you know, via TikTok or via messaging or whatnot, you know, Zoom, I mean, today, you know, Zoom is a great substitute for television interviews

00:27:36.260 - 00:27:57.189

because, you know, you can, you don't have to go to someone's house or someone's office to conduct an interview. You can Zoom it. So, today, people have greater tools and greater accessibility. The difference is the audience has changed, you know, you've heard about the fragmentation. Uh,

00:27:57.329 - 00:28:24.069

of television, of television itself, you know. Streaming and the web have taken huge slices of audience of market share away from traditional media, which is television, radio, and newspapers. And newspapers, you know, newspapers, newspapers today now have their own video sections. I mean, you, if you

00:28:24.069 - 00:28:43.979

go online and you go to the website of the Los Angeles Times, You know, instead of seeing the headlines of today's top stories, you see what is streaming now on the LA Times website. So, the LA Times is, you know, they have their own video units,

00:28:44.099 - 00:29:04.939

their own people who are, you know, Recording video, editing video, and posting it. Those are, those are people who are competing with your traditional journalists. So, today's environment has changed. The need for journalism and the need for people to go into journalism is higher than ever

00:29:04.939 - 00:29:29.189

before because of the proliferation of misinformation, disinformation, you know, people talk about fake news, but, um, How do you combat fake news? It's, it seemed like in today's times, you, you combat fake news by having a louder voice, having a bigger trumpet than the other guy.

00:29:30.770 - 00:29:49.790

Um I mean, if you talk to people in politics, they'll say the reason, you know, why the Democrats are doing so poorly is because the Republicans have, have out-mediaed them. You know, they've got quicker, rapid response, uh, catchier, catchier slogans, uh, you know, they're able to

00:29:49.790 - 00:30:08.150

paint the opposition in a negative, uh, in a negative picture in a, uh, easily rememberable, memorable way. Um, so, it's sort of like, OK. Whoever shouts the loudest gets the most benefit, is the winner. So that's sort of the environment that they're in. So, but the

00:30:08.150 - 00:30:27.989

need for people to compete is as great as ever. If you're asking me today, would I encourage anyone to go into journalism, I would say no. Not if you are looking to make a living. Not have you, you know, choosing this as a lifelong career path,

00:30:28.239 - 00:30:47.300

you know, because there are no permanent jobs in journalism. And, and, and in today's environment, you know, there are, the journalism jobs for, that have, uh, you know, that's full-time, pays benefits, you know, those are reserved for a very few. So if, if you're a young

00:30:47.300 - 00:31:04.540

student and you come to me asking me for advice, I would say no. Don't go into journalism as a career path, you know, fall into it, you know, get your foundation in some skills first. You know, and you can develop, you know, you can go and,

00:31:04.670 - 00:31:23.770

you know, if you really want to pursue journalism, do it after your undergraduate years. You know, but you need a firm foundation in a subject matter, you know, it could be political science, it could be, Language, you know, Spanish, Chinese, you know, English, of course. Those

00:31:23.770 - 00:31:39.689

are the 3 number #1 languages in the fucking world. So if you have those languages, then you can function, you know, and then, you know, and these skills will, and then also to develop some business skills. You know, you have to learn how to market yourself

00:31:39.689 - 00:31:56.979

in today's climate. So you need all of these things besides the journalism. And, you know, there's a lot of people who are in journalism who fall into it. It came upon them because they were doing something else and somebody came to them and said, You are

00:31:56.979 - 00:32:14.250

an expert. I want your expertise, and you can express and explain your expertise in a way that people understand, so that makes you media wise. So that's the way I would encourage people to pursue journalism. But also you could look at journalism as, you know, portal,

00:32:14.430 - 00:32:32.709

you know, people go into media for art, you know, they want to express themselves, they want to create a story. Well, that's great But right now, you know. Making money from it, being able to support a family. It's for the few. I mean, you really got

00:32:32.709 - 00:32:50.959

to be lucky and fortunate. So if you're starting out, you just really got to like hone in on developing your skills and keeping your, your goal in mind and saying I'm gonna get there by different paths, but I'm going to arm myself. With the basic skills.

00:32:56.449 - 00:33:16.349

So times have gotten better, but you know we're still dealing with, you know. We're still dealing with some, some terrible things, but if you You know, if you master the skills, you know, and you keep hope alive in your, in your heart, you, you could make

00:33:16.349 - 00:33:36.810

change. And that's what I would like to see. I'd like to see you young people do that, you know, pursue your dreams, you know, get ahead. Make use of the archives. You really should. I mean just the visuals alone can be mind blowing. I know, Alex,

00:33:36.859 - 00:33:54.119

you have a hard job with the archives because Basically, you have pieces. Of the news reports. You have a few that you're able to like reconstruct. But because back then when you had film, you know, I don't, I don't know if you ever, if any of

00:33:54.119 - 00:34:11.899

you have ever taken a film class, but, you know, to do a report for television, you would have to have one reel, one projector for the pictures, for the visual. You had another projector for the soundtrack. And then you had another projector for the B-roll for

00:34:11.899 - 00:34:28.290

the cutaways. And so when you got into the studio, the director would be going. Praj 1, Praj 2, Praj 3, and then the technical director would be pressing the button to put up whatever the picture or the sound that needed to go with it, and that

00:34:28.290 - 00:34:51.090

was what was broadcast. And if they videotaped that broadcast, that's how you would have a record of the complete story. But because the stupid stations erased those videotapes, recycled them after one week, a lot of those wonderful reports. In their integrity are lost. Because all, so

00:34:51.090 - 00:35:10.139

all we have now are the reels. And so the difficulty for, for you, Alex, is how do you piece these pieces together without a script and do you have all of the, you know, the, There are also a script that has the instructions of like, you

00:35:10.139 - 00:35:23.189

know, when you, when you go to, when you go to projector 1, when you go to projector 2, when you go to projector 3, that you have to guess. You've done quite a job from what I've seen so far, but there's so much more that you

00:35:23.189 - 00:35:31.179

have in your, uh, in, in, in your library. Um, so I think, um, you know. The university's got to give you more support.