Via Kalpesh Lathigra

Check out the new website of London-based photo agency – NBpictures. No coincidence that my friend Kalpesh is a member of this fine agency. I noticed Delhi-based documentary photographer Dayanita Singh and the much-critiqued Sebastiao Salgado are also represented.

The site hosts a great collection of contemporary documentary images that you must check out.

The Seventh Annual Asian American Literary Awards

Each year, The Asian American Writers' Workshop honors outstanding achievement in Asian American literature through our Annual Asian American Literary Awards. Now in their seventh year, the literary awards are again taking submissions for eligible works in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. We encourage you to take part in this wonderful opportunity.

The postmark deadline for submitting work is Friday, April 16, 2004. Please read through the guidelines below to see if your work is eligible.

Books may be nominated by literary agents, publicists, or authors. All entries must be accompanied by an application form. To download an application, please check here.

To find out more about the literary awards, visit our website.

Thanks and good luck!
AAWW

2004 Application Guidelines for The Asian American Literary Awards

The Award

? The purpose of the Asian American Literary Award is to recognize an individual work written by an Asian American, on the basis of artistic and literary merit, published during the calendar year of 2003.

? The Award will be presented to a maximum of three works considered by the Judging Committee to be the best among all entries eligible for the Award.

? The Award consists of a crystal artpiece etched with the name of the work, author and year; an opportunity to read at the Seventh Annual Literary Awards Ceremony; additional media notification through press releases; and the possibility of going on a national award tour (up to five U.S. cities) sponsored in part by The Asian American Writers' Workshop.

Eligible Works

? Works eligible must have had premiere publication during the calendar year 2003 (January 1, 2003 through December 31, 2003) and must have been published for general commercial release in the United States.

? The types of genres eligible are as follows: fiction, a short story collection by a single author, novellas, a poetry collection by a single author, creative nonfiction, memoir and plays.

? Works must have been written by a person of Asian descent currently residing or who has resided in the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. “Asia” is defined as the regions of East, South and Southeast Asia as well as the Pacific Islands. The Asian American Writers' Workshop and the Judging Committee reserve the right to take the term “Asian descent” on a case-by-case basis if need be.

? Works must have been published by large, trade or small presses/publishers. Self-published works, ‘zines or vanity publications are not eligible. Anthologies or books containing more than one author are not eligible.

? Works must be originally written in English.

? The Award may be awarded to works that have previously won other prizes or recognition.

Entry of Works

? Entries may only be submitted by the author, agent, publicist or publisher of the work.

? A completed application form must be submitted with each entry. Four copies of the work (clear photocopies and galleys are acceptable) must also be submitted for review by the Judging Committee. No books will be returned. Additional copies may be requested for shortlisted works. All entries become the property of The Asian American Writers' Workshop or members of the Judging Committee.

? Authors, publicists, publishers or agents may submit more than one entry, but a separate application form must be completed for each entry.

? A $100.00 entry fee must accompany each separate entry. Checks should be made payable to “The Asian American Writers' Workshop.” In the event that a participant cannot pay this fee, a waiver may be granted upon approval. Participants requesting a waiver must contact the Workshop prior to submitting an entry.

? Entries must be received by Friday, April 16, 2004. No exceptions will be made. The Asian American Writers' Workshop will accept entries via First Class Mail, FedEx or UPS. The Workshop is not responsible for lost entries.

? Participants are urged to submit eligible works as soon as possible. As soon as entries are received, the Workshop will mail participants acknowledgment cards. Please contact the Workshop via telephone or email if participants do not receive a card four (4) weeks after an entry was submitted.

? Please do not contact The Asian American Writers' Workshop or the Judging Committee to inquire about the status of your entry once you have received the acknowledgment card.

Judging

? The Judging Committee is selected by the Workshop.

? The Judging Committee will be divided into three (3) subcommittees. These subcommittees are responsible for compiling a shortlist of entries submitted for the Award. Once shortlists have been compiled, all nine (9) judges will individually rank shortlisted works on a 1?10 point system (10 being highest) on literary and artistic merit. The works with the highest overall ranking will be awarded Annual Asian American Literary Awards.

? The decision of the Judging Committee is final.

Contact Information

The Asian American Literary Award
The Asian American Writers? Workshop
16 West 32nd Street, Suite 10A
New York, NY 10001
tel: 212.494.0061
fax: 212.494.0062
email desk@aaww.org
web http://www.aaww.org

Via Jigsha Desai

HonestReporting.com uses one of AP photographer Enric Marti's images to convey to us how the media is manipulated by Palestinians.

I went looking for other stories about photojournalists on that site and I found a story called “Something Fishy at AFP,” taking a jab at how an Agence France Presse photographer covered the bombing of a suspected terrorist's home.

HonestReporting.com calls itself one of the largest media watch groups. I found the anti-Palestinian stance to be too much of a coincidence. So, I dug a little deeper to find out if the site was at all independent.

Give them credit for being, um, honest. HonestReporting.com says this about itself:

Since October 2000, in addition to fighting an anti-terror war, Israel has been fighting a media war. In news outlets around the globe, journalists regularly misrepresent Israel as the aggressor and Palestinians as the victims.

In response, HonestReporting was established to scrutinize the media for anti-Israel bias, then mobilize subscribers to respond directly to relevant news agencies.

While they make somewhat convincing arguments about the photographs and the methods used to “capture” the conflict in Israel, I get the feeling that they would rejoice the end of the Palestinian perspective altogether.

Is there bias in the media? You bet there is. If there wasn't any, it would all be rather boring. No one can deny that corporations, governments and individuals have agendas. Who narrates the story and how is of great consequence. But let's see these stories all played out in the open. What we should be wary of is the temptation to snuff out these different perspectives. And I think that's where I disagree with HonestReporting.com.

Play fair and, um, be honest!

Via Mediabistro.com

I have really enjoyed Gary Trudeau's long-running political cartoon – DOONESBURY. Trudeau's web site announced awarding $10,000 to whomever can prove that our commander-in-chief – “Dubya” – actually served his tour-of-duty with the Air National Guard. It's a contentious issue this election year here in the US; with the Democrats coming short of calling the President a liar and the Republicans hoping that this too shall pass.

The FAQ on the site answers the question by Trudeau is doing this. Don't forget to take the straw poll on the site.

On a tangent, did you know Ohio State University houses the Cartoon Research Library? Imagine working there!

For those of you considering school again – why wouldn't you in this soft economy when interest rates for school loans have been the lowest in history? – think about Columbia University's School of Journalism. Now, I am an alumnus of Indiana University, but my friend Prof. Sreenath Srinivasan has been instrumental in designing and sculpting the new media program at Columbia's j-school and he is doing some very exciting things there and I urge you to check the program out.

Should I ever find an opportunity to go back to school and retool, Columbia would be my top choice. Plus, the new dean is thinking of revamping the course structure all together making it a two-year program. I always thought a one-year Masters program was plain wonky. By the time you got your feet on the ground, especially in Gotham city, it would be time to pack your bags and leave. Two years seems like just enough time to get things done and actually learn something.

Imagine that – two years to sink your teeth into things like online reporting, designing websites, creating interactive multimedia presentations. If it runs right, it could be down right empowering.