Ding Ding TV report from CapCon 2023
On Thursday, February 3rd, Ding Ding TV attended the CapCon 2023. California News Publishers Association (CNPA) organized the event and gathered publishers, editors, and government authorities. The topic of CapCon 2023 was misinformation, the all-time low faith public has in mainstream media, and how to fix it.
Sandy Close (the Founder and Executive Director of Ethnic Media Services) received a lifetime journalism award for her work with ethnic media. In 1996, she founded New America Media, the first and largest collaboration of ethnic news organizations. In 2017, she founded Ethnic Media Services to continue her work of promoting and elevating the voices of ethnic media.
Accepting her award, Sandy Close said when compared to the early years, the room looks different. In her words: “We look like California.”
Ding Ding TV and other members of ethnic media talked to Sandy Close at the event. She said: “I think Ding Ding TV sparks because you are so close to the communities you serve. You give a platform to a teenager, a housewife, or a community leader, you are always interested in bringing their voices out and hearing what they think about the issues. You make people confident enough to speak publicly, and that is a scary thing. You have to trust the person who asks you to speak publicly.”
She also spoke about CapCon 2023 and said it matters to her so many of the ethnic media came to celebrate what they have achieved over the last 25 years, which is to bring ethnic media into the center of California’s journalism. She also noted: “We need to work together so that our stories have a bigger impact… Nothing gets me more excited than efforts that show us working together.” When talking about hate crimes, she said: “For all the hate crimes that have increased, more powerful is the story of people coming together, finding each other, and loving each other.”
According to Sandy, ethnic media does not have equal standing as mainstream media: “We still do not have an equal recognition and investment in proportion to the audiences we serve.” Especially when it comes to the government, which is, Sandy notes, the 20th biggest advertiser in the country. For that, ethnic media needs the help of CNPA. Corporate advertising is diffused. But as Sandy posits: “the government really has an obligation because, without us, they cannot communicate to audiences they need to communicate with. The pandemic and census made that clear.” But having CNPA as a partner may help ethnic media reach that tipping point.
Sandy concluded: “The biggest challenge is the same challenge – breaking the stereotypes that ethnic media is somehow the stepchild, the footnote, that it comes after, not at the same time. It should be at an equal standing.”