Ethnic Media Working Together To Build a Stronger Sector
June 4-5, 2009, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 265 Peachtree Steet NE, Atlanta, GA

June 4, 2009
Census 2010: A New Portrait of America

Why is the New America Media Expo being held in Atlanta?

“Ethnic media has had the greatest growth in the south and Atlanta is the capital,” says Sandy Close, executive director of New America Media, at the start of the Census 2010 briefing in the Atlanta Hyatt Regency Hotel on June 4. “It used to be California but now it’s the south.”

“Every person will be counted, no matter where they live,” states a promotional video.

Urg. Post 9-11, this sounds straight up scary, whereas last Census, when I wrote a series about initiatives to count Hispanics for Latino.com, it sounded like a helpful way for communities to plan their emergency services and facilities.

Is it because I am older now and because I know that corporations also use Census demographics to sell more effectively? Hmmm. This video is over the top with the sappy song, “America, let’s celebrate…the portrait of us all.” Ugh. Everything is a commercial!

The first speaker is Arnold Jackson, associate director for the Decennial Census, who says he is happy to be out of the office and away from bureaucracy. Is this not still a bureaucratic event? I think I must be an anarchist now. Hmmm.

Jackson calls the Census a democratic process. “Time to shout out and be counted.”

I should note that I filled out my Census form…reluctantly. For the reasons I mentioned above, but I went through with it because I just think it’s interesting for the government to ask me questions about my income. I wonder if they will notice that I make less than I did 10 years ago despite being more educated? And will they notice that it’s because I moved to the country’s poorest big city, as The New Times called it back in 2003, when I moved to Miami from San Francisco?

There are 140,000 listers using GPS and deleting invalid addresses moving  about in the first phase of “Address Canvassing Operations.”

Next April 1 is actual “Census Day.”

“The clock is ticking,” Jackson says, adding that the job can’t be done without the help of local media.

Hmm. I wonder – with newspapers going out of business, does this mean bloggers’ role in Census counting becomes more important? But then you have to assume that poor people are reading their news online, and we already know that’s not the case.

“Your ideas on how to reach the population are priceless,” Jackson says. “I look forward to talking to as many of you as possible.”

Manuel Landivar, assistant regional Census manager from Atlanta, speaks next with a Spanish accent to give an “executive report.”

The southeast corner of Florida and Georgia has the largest population in the region, he reports, but the southern part of Florida represents every part of the world. It used to be Chicago and New York, but now it’s South Florida, and it is difficult to make all these people from different cultures answer their surveys.

“We are chasing after 14 million housing units,” he says. “There will be 57 Census offices in this region; 17 are now open.”

The other 40 will open by October.

A complete address list is important; 14,000 Census workers have been recruited, and it’s important for them to look like the people they are trying to count.

Census 2010 is going to cost about $14.5 billion.

Awareness must include tips for filling out the Census form correctly, because it is difficult to go back and fill in the blanks after the fact.

Census spokesman Stephen L. Bruckner, who is based in Washington, DC, facilitated a partnership with New America Media to create awareness and create a platform for ethnic journalists to ask questions.

“We have no agenda,” he says. “We truly represent the community.”

He adds that Census 2000 reversed the three-decade decline in male response rates.

“It increased 67%,” he says. “It was the most successful Census count.”

One of the tactics to improve the response rates was shortening the form so that it could be answered in 10 minutes.

There are 3 things he wants ethnic journalists to take away:

1. Create awareness. It trumps the Homeland Security Act. Census workers must keep information confidential – there is a $250,000 fine for violations.

2. We want media organizations to form a formal partnership agreement. That means linking to your web site (if you’re a blogger, perhaps this is a way to increase traffic! Oops, sorry, the publisher hat is competing with the “no agenda” journalist hat. Doh!)

3. Be an advocate in your community. There is an advertising initiative, which means media organizations can pick up their financial losses from the downturn in advertising sales.

Ugh! Oh no! So they will pay for advertising AND they want editorials? Blurring the lines between content and advertising again…has there ever been a media organization that hasn’t done this? Yes – The Biscayne Boulevard Times when I was editor (pat on the back), Bitch Magazine (they put a really expensive ad on the back cover to pay for the bulk of their costs, rather than trying to sell baby ads throughout the pub). But perhaps a way around this is to develop a policy – tell your particular Census rep that you will run ads, but not articles, or vice versa. This is good, ethical journalism. I’m not sure if I’ve followed this exactly – I do have Hostwire.com articles that compliment that ad up on top. Have you clicked on it yet? Do you realize what a good deal they’re offering? LOL.

Sandy Close says the Census 2010 advertising campaign is different from others because this press briefing offers transparency, meaning that the players – media buyers, PR reps – are right here in this room ready to network.

It’s like Luke and Darth Vadar talking things out rather than resorting to lightsabers! Yeah, I’ve always thought of advertising as the dark side and journalists as the light; but then when you really think about it, with all the negative news out there, it seems the other way around, right? Now that I’ve played both sides, I understand it’s a child’s task of balancing a seesaw. Easy breezy. KISS – Keep it simple, stupid. Just weigh both sides and try to keep it balanced (not FOX’s version of “fair and balanced,” people!).

During the Q&A, one Hispanic journalist asks about the Census’s “intimidating” questions – full name, phone numbers and the number of people in a household – in today’s anti-immigration climate.

“Will these questions be optional?” asks the Hispanic journalist.

Manuel Landivar says surveys will not reveal who is documented and who is not. In 1980, those who answered the Census qualified for the amnesty program, “and this is a powerful anecdote that shows the importance of the Census,” he says.

The phone number is for Census workers to follow up with respondents if the form hasn’t been filled out correctly – no other reason – the information is not shared with any other government agency.

This seems so hard to believe. Besides being in an anti-immigration climate, we are also in an anti-trust environment. I don’t know too many people in my generation that believe what they see and hear on the media, let alone what they hear from our government (despite Obama’s best efforts).

It’s like this – eight years of lies from a president has shaped our collective psyche. Once the lie is planted, it is hard to forgive and forget. Once a cheater always a cheater, right?

Think of Sonia Sotomayor – she probably is not a racist, but so many have injected this idea into the public domain that it is already fact. If we can learn from advertising, all we need is 6 times exposed to a message and it’s planted in the subconscious whether we know it or not.

We think of Clinton’s sexual transgressions over any positive policy he instilled; we think of Sarah Palin as a twit; we think of Ghandi as a good guy who taught us to forgive…that perhaps there is such a thing as a second chance. Humans can change because we “live and learn” from our mistakes.

So maybe our government deserves the benefit of the doubt just like a juvenile hall kid who messed up and needs a chance to grow up and “Do The Right Thing.” Maybe it’s OK to answer the Census, and give a little trust back to the government. After all, millions of people continue to trust a corporation like Facebook with more information than the 10-minute Census questionnaire.

This is Melanie Feliciano reporting live from The New America Media Expo in Atlanta Georgia.

Amen. Namaste. Ciao.

June 2, 2009
I am on my way up to Atlanta for the New America Media National Ethnic Media & Expo Awards Conference. There will be hella writers here talking about Census 2010, expanding revenue in a recession and covering key news beats. It’s a great educational event for an independent journalist/blogger/publisher like me, so stay tuned for regular updates, right here on www.BiscayneWriters.com.

About NAM’s First National Ethic Media Awards
Washington, D.C., 2006

Hillary Rodham Clinton

I want to congratulate the honorees who are receiving the equivalent of the “Pulitzer Prize.” Every generation brings so many voices to the debate. Ethnic media represent the way the new Washington needs to connect to the new America.

Len Downie, Executive Editor, Washington Post

I was very pleased that I could be at the awards ceremony. New America Media is a very significant journalistic organization and you are doing important work.

Michael Jack, VP of Diversity, NBC Network

Congratulations for pulling off such a successful event. It is not easy to do anything for the first time, but you managed to do just that. The well deserving recipients truly appreciated the acknowledgement.