Post-Riot News Coverage Topic of Workshop

The quality of news coverage of Los Angeles’ ethnic communities since the 1992 riots will be debated as part of a workshop Saturday designed to teach community-based organizations how to reach the news media.

The event, on the third anniversary of the start of the riots, launches the second year of workshops offered by the Unity Media Access Project, a group funded by a Ford Foundation grant. Richard Fruto, president of the local chapter of the Asian American Journalists Assn., said ignorance of the inner city and misguided media coverage in the past contributed to the frustration that fueled the unrest.

There is a need for the type of workshops offered by the project because most community organizations are eager to learn how to reach reporters and editors, said Ray Estrada, a board member of Unity Media Access Project.

“They are hungry to know how to write a press release,” said Estrada, an editorial page writer for the Whittier Daily News.

“From Ashes to Headline News” features panelists John Mack, president of the Urban League; Angela Oh, activist and former president of the Korean American Bar Assn., and Jorge Mancillas, a UCLA professor. News executives and managers from the mainstream and ethnic media, including the Los Angeles Times, will also answer questions.

The workshop will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, 350 S. Bixel St.

Information: (213) 461-1506.