ETHNIC PRESS:
Media Fusion: 40 Years of NAM
Over 400 journalists and well wishers from around the globe attended New America Media’s 40th anniversary party. A Siliconeer report.
Over 400 people attended the Anniversary Reunion Party of Pacific News Service/New America Media to honor four decades of alumni of PNS and NAM and their youth programs. The party, marking a coming together of old and new— a “media fusion” as one guest called it — as journalists from the first two decades heard about and embraced those from the last two decades, was held on Nov. 12 at Metreon’s City View in San Francisco.
Dining on a buffet of six cuisines from local ethnic restaurants, journalists and guests from many points on the globe mingled amongst the elegant backdrop of San Francisco’s skyline. Running the length of the first hall was an interactive timeline featuring much of the award-winning news service’s history. Light projections and a jazz trio added to the evening’s ambiance.
“We’re all trespassers of borders,” explained noted author Richard Rodriguez (Hunger of Memory) who delivered the evening’s keynote.
(Above): A sketch of Franz Schurmann, co-founder of PNS, who passed away earlier this year.
The evening was emcee’d by feisty journalist, author and former-NAM TV show host Emil Guillermo. State Senator Mark Leno presented a proclamation of appreciation from the State of California, noting, to the delight of the audience, that although the Golden State was running of out of funds, they “would always have money to provide for the frames that encase (their) proclamations.” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom sent over a declaration of his own, proclaiming November 12 as New America Media day.
Reminiscences, some hilarious and some maudlin, spanning the breadth of PNS’ forty years were offered by a dozen alumni (including Renee Montagne, Clark Norton, Frank Viviano, Mary Jo McConahay, Louis Freedberg, Joan Walsh, Ruben Martinez, Charles Jones, Thuy Vu and Dori Maynard). Also offered was a song by NAM’s longtime receptionist Sister Teresa Anne Coronas. The trip down memory lane culminated in a short video of looking at the NAM of today, with greetings from the current staff.
(Above): Sandy Close and Edward Alden (r) speaking at Pacific News Service 40th Anniversary celebration, Nov. 12, at the Sony Metreon, San Francisco.
The evening ended with a tribute to NAM’s late co-founder Franz Schurmann. In addition to stories from Ted Alden and Cobie Harris, two of Franz’ closest friends, former Taiwan radio celebrity Kay Wang Levanthal (NAM’s current marketing director) offered a moving version of “Unforgettable Love,” a gorgeous love song.
Pacific News Service was founded in 1970 by two UC Berkeley professors, Franz Schurmann and Orville Schell. Four years later, former China editor for the Far Eastern Economic Review and founder of The Flatlands newspaper, a voice of inner-city Oakland, Sandy Close, became executive editor, broadening the original mandate to tell the stories and amplify the voices of people from South East Asia to South Central Los Angeles.
Founded by the nonprofit Pacific News Service in 1996, New America Media is the nation’s first and largest network of ethnic news service for stories about African, Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latino communities.
The 40th Anniversary Reunion was supported by The Westin St. Francis, Comcast, PG&E, The California Wellness Foundation, Jan Masaoka, East Bay Regional Parks District, The Hellman Family Foundation and the Werner-Kohstamm Family Giving Fund. The evening was produced by Winslow & Associates.
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