Even More Influence

We read with interest your article on Asian American news anchors on Los Angeles television stations (“Asian Americans Anchor Their Influence,” by Jon Matsumoto, Sept. 4) and were pleased with the well-deserved recognition they received.

However, we wish to point out that not all Asian American news reporters are found on the so-called major stations.

For example, KSCI-TV Channel 18 presents a nightly Mandarin Chinese news broadcast, originating in our studios, that covers local news throughout Southern California. Our news anchors, Thomas Kao, April Kwan, Shan Lin and Hong Li, are as well known in the Chinese community in the Southland as Asian American anchors on the English-language stations. They participate in just as many community events (probably more) and are every bit as important to the almost half-million Chinese Americans who live in Southern California as the Asian anchors on other Los Angeles stations. The same sort of recognition goes for the many Asian American reporters who also appear on the program.

ANNIE E. CHO

Director, Community Relations

KSCI-TV Channel 18

Los Angeles

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It’s a little disingenuous for the article to attribute the preponderance of Asian female anchors and the paucity of Asian male anchors to Asian American “parental pressure” in influencing their sons’ career choices.

Let’s face it: Broadcast news is part of show business. And American show business has historically shown great institutional resistance to the presence of Asian men.

Scores of Hollywood movies from “Sayonara” and “The World of Suzie Wong” to “Tomorrow Never Dies” and the upcoming “Snow Falling on Cedars” have positively portrayed romances between white men and Asian women. By contrast, Hollywood usually presents Asian men either as sexual threats to white women or as laughable, nonthreatening eunuchs. Seldom are Asian men romantically paired with white women--or women of any race.

ROBERT PAYNE

Studio City