FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:
Brahmani Houston
415-503-4170
bhouston@pacificnews.org

THE �PULITZERS� OF ETHNIC MEDIA HONOR THE STORIES
MAKING NEWS IN CALIFORNIA�S NEW MAJORITY COMMUNITIES

SAN JOSE �� NCM (New California Media), America�s largest association of ethnic media, announces the winners of its seventh annual ethnic media journalism awards, dubbed �The Ethnic Pulitzers� by the Jim Lehrer News Hour.  The NCM Awards, honoring excellence in ethnic media, will be presented at the San Jose Fairmont hotel on Thursday, January 26 from 6 to 9 pm.

Over 40 judges selected winners from 250 print, broadcast, and online submissions in more than 10 languages from Spanish to Punjabi.

�As we add on new nominees every year from Caribbean media to Arab weeklies and Punjabi newspapers, the multiple lenses these media provide are becoming indispensable,� says awards coordinator Sandip Roy. �This is the new media paradigm for covering the global society.�

Among the winning entries:

• Nancy Lan-Hsin Kao of the World Journal won for the best reporting on Environment and Natural Resources with a series on how a model Chinese start-up in the Silicon Valley became the target of environmental activists and how it tried to outsource its most polluting jobs to China.
• Hiram Soto of the Spanish language Enlace in San Diego won for Best Investigative story for his in-depth expose of how undocumented immigrants are at the mercy of unscrupulous car salesmen, tow truck companies and even city and state governments just because they have no drivers� licenses but still need to drive.
• Lisa Tsering of India West in San Leandro won for Best Investigative story in English for exposing the little-known plight of Indian immigrants who went back to India to get married and found themselves blackmailed by their in-laws who abused India�s anti-dowry laws to extort money and green cards.

Each year NCM presents three Exceptional Communicator Awards to individuals who personify boundary-crossing leadership. This year the awards honor Hardy Brown, publisher of the Black Voice News of San Bernardino; Rick Rodriguez, executive editor of the Sacramento Bee and president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors; and Chaplain James Yee who ministered to Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo at the cost of his liberty.

�We�re honoring Yee for never wavering and sharing his story as an author and a speaker,� says Sandy Close, executive director of NCM.

NCM will also honor the Lifetime Achievement of Lillian Howell who founded KTSF television station in 1976 because she understood the importance of ethnic communities having their own voice in media.

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REGISTER FOR THE AWARDS

EXCEPTIONAL COMMUNICATORS
Hardy Brown, Black Voice News
Executive Editor

Rick Rodriguez, ASNE President  and Executive Editor, Sacramento Bee

James Yee, Author and Chaplain

PRINT/ONLINE

BEST INVESTIGATIVE/IN DEPTH (ENGLISH)
Winner: Lisa Tsering, India West
Runner Up: Lynda Lin, The Pacific Citizen

BEST INVESTIGATIVE/IN DEPTH (IN-LANGUAGE)
Winner: Hiram Soto, Enlace,
Runner Up: Kathleen Nguyen, Viet Tide Newspaper

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (ENGLISH)
Winner: Grace E. Jang, KoreAm Journal
Runner Up: Larry Derfner, Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (IN-LANGUAGE)
Winner: Benito Ortiz, Noticiero Semanal
Runner Up: Yeonhwa Nicole Chang, Korea Daily
Runner Up: Jianhong Hu, Singtao Daily

HEALTH CARE
Winner: Yi-Fen Lan, Singtao Daily
Runner Up: Grace E. Jang,  KoreAm Journal

ARTS, SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT (ENGLISH)
Winner: Sadanand Dhume, Little India
Runner Up: Bushra Rehman, ColorLines

ARTS, SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT (IN-LANGAUGE)
Winner: Monica Xu, The World Journal
Runner Up: Sheldon Yuan, Chinese Times