VOA常速英语2016--亚裔美国人成新闻媒体里的弱势群体

Asian Americans Underrepresented in News Media 亚裔美国人成新闻媒体里的弱势群体

WASHINGTON—

Recent controversies 1 surrounding Hollywood’s casting of white actors to play Asian characters have some people wondering why popular media continue to ignore minorities. Despite calls by advocacy groups to increase hiring, some Asians fear they are becoming invisible, token characters, especially in the entertainment media. Analysts 2 say the problem extends to television news, where they say minorities are often underrepresented and their viewpoints largely ignored.

Clicking through the channels, you might not see many Asians reporting on the evening news, even though they're the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population.

尽管是美国人口中增长最快的群体，但在各电视台间浏览时，你可能仍不会在晚间新闻播报中看到很多亚裔女主播的身影。

Juju Chang is one of a only a handful of Asian-American news anchors, and she said it’s due to a lack of diversity in top management.

长久久是为数不多的一位亚裔美国籍新闻主播，她表示这是因为最高管理层缺少多样性所致。

“When I went on air at the network here, I was the only Asian-American and among the few women, and I'm sad to say that many all these many years later, I think that we've gone a long way in terms of diversity in front of the camera, but I think we still have a ways to go behind the scenes, especially in upper management,” said Chang.

“当我做主播时，我是少数女主播中唯一的一位亚裔美国人，而且我要很遗憾的说，在这么多年之后，我想我们在荧幕前的多样化方面走了很长一段路。但我仍觉得在幕后我们还有很长一段路要走，尤其是高层管理方面。”

Chang said it's important for minorities to be involved when story ideas are approved.

长久久表示在故事点子得到批准时，少数人的参与十分重要。

“Until Asian-Americans get real traction 3 in that sense, you know, we're going to keep pressing our noses against the invisible window,” she said.

“直到人们真正注意亚裔美国人前，我们要一直对抗这种无形的歧视。”

Asians make up only three percent of the broadcast workforce 4. Journalism 5 Professor Angie Chuang said a cultural bias 6 may be to blame.

在广播人员中亚洲人只占3%。新闻学教授庄安琪表示文化偏见可能是其中的原因。

“The truth is that all kinds of psychological studies and employment studies have shown that we tend to favor or be more comfortable with people who are like us,” said Chuang.

“事实是各种心理学研究及雇用研究表明我们倾向于支持和我们相似的人，或者说同和自己一样的人相处感觉才舒服。”

Gender 7 bias is another issue. Television journalist Alan Wang spoke 8 to us on Skype.

另一个问题则是性别偏见。电视记者王艾伦通过Skype上同我们交流。

“I think the image for Asian women for other people is that they’re soft, they're beautiful, they're not threatening, whereas the image of the Asian male, what you’re looking at, really has been the face of the enemy of this country during the last three major conflicts,” said Wang.

“我认为在其他人看来，亚洲女性的形象纤柔，美丽，不具备威胁性，而亚洲男性的形象，正如你所见，经过过去3次的主要冲突已经成为这个国家的敌人。”

Analysts say Asians lack the political clout 9 of other groups such as African-Americans and Hispanics. Another group fighting for greater representation is the Asian American Journalists Association.  VOA spoke with the group's Vice-President for Broadcast Niala Boodhoo on Skype.

分析师表示亚洲人缺少像非裔美国人及西班牙裔美国人那样的政治影响力。而另一个为争取更多重视的组织是亚裔美国人记者协会。通过Skype，VOA新闻采访到了该组织的广播部副主席尼亚拉?布德赫。

“I feel like even having those conversations is something that would not have happened years ago, and I think the fact that we're even having those conversations is a sign of progress. But there is more to be done,” said Boodhoo.

“当然，我感觉像那样的交谈在几年前根本不会发生，我认为实际上我们这样交流都是进步的标志。”

A leading broadcast industry group says 2011 was the best year for Asian American broadcasters - that’s when Asians made up just 3.5 percent of the industry. But that percentage has declined since then. And, without greater representation, many Asians fear issues important to their communities will continue to be misinterpreted or ignored.

一家领先的广播行业组织表示2011年对于亚裔美国播音员来说是最好的一年。但亚洲人仍然只占该行业的3.5%。而从那时起亚裔美国播音员的比例就一直在减少。而且，正因为这样，许多亚洲人担心对于他们群体至关重要的问题仍将被继续忽视。