[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21903]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING NEW AMERICA MEDIA'S FIRST NATIONAL ETHNIC MEDIA AWARDS

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                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 13, 2006

  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize New America Media 
(NAM) and The First National Ethnic Media Awards. From its inception, 
NAM has worked to create a more inclusive public forum and to bring 
visibility and economic viability to ethnic media, a critical sector of 
American journalism that covers and serves our country's growing ethnic 
and immigrant communities that are often marginalized by barriers of 
culture and language.
  NAM has continued to build the profile of ethnic media by developing 
first a California and now a national awards program to recognize 
journalists working in the ethnic media and covering stories critical 
to their communities.
  NAM conducted a nationwide poll of ethnic communities in multiple 
languages that found 52 million adult Americans access ethnic media 
regularly; ethnic media represent the forefront of civic and 
independent journalism; it is where ethnic and immigrant Americans turn 
to find information about their communities, their states, their 
government, their healthcare, education for their children, their civil 
rights as citizens in our society--yet ethnic media has received only 
marginal recognition from the public and private sector.
  NAM's work to highlight the important role that ethnic media plays is 
commendable. NAM's work to create bridges between ethnic media and the 
mainstream as well as cross-cultural understanding between ethnic 
communities is praiseworthy. NAM's commitment to honoring the ethnic 
media through an increasingly prestigious Awards Program is admirable.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend New America Media and the First National 
Ethnic Media Awards for its courageous goal to create a more equitable 
and integrated American society.

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