R&D, Product Line, Leadership, Management Organization

Research & Developement

The idea for Asianadian came about in April of 1978. Tony Chan, Cheuk Kwan, and Paul Levine (also known as Lai Bo) were sitting in a restaurant discussing issues which concerned Asian Canadians of that time period. The concept for Asianadian was inspired by the Asian American movement, which was spreading across university campuses in America during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The founders of Asianadian had set out to create a similar sense of cultural identity and political consciousness among Asian Canadians through this magazine, which would give the Asian community an opportunity to speak out. This small group then united under what would become the aims of the Asianadian and registered a non-profit organization called "The Asianadian Resource Workshop."

It is unclear if market research had been done prior to putting the magazine in motion. Momoye Sugiman recalls that a reader survey may have been published in order to determine the type of people who were reading Asianadian. However, founders of the magazine were certain that their target audience would be the "large and varied" Asian Canadian community. One of the goals of the Asianadian was to give this group - Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, East Indian, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan - a sense of collective identity. Chan, Kwan, and Levine had much to share with the community themselves as well as many Asian Canadian contacts with progressive ideas and research who were not afraid to "rock the boat" (Sugiman interview). The magazine was launched on the basis that it was time for Asian Canadians to be heard. Asian Canadians were long in need of a forum to speak out and to share their experiences with others. Thus, the first "grassroots magazine dedicated to Asian Canada" was born, and it focused on issues such as "social justice, social activism and social criticism in the Asian Canadian community" (Asianadian website).

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Product Line

At first glance, a reader today would most likely look at Asianadian and realize it was made before the era of computers and the Internet. In fact, the process of printing the magazine was "ridiculously tedious and time consuming," as IBM electronic typewriters were the most up-to-date word processors of the time (Sugiman interview). Asianadian was produced by a close-knit group of Asian Canadians based in Toronto. Members of the Asianadian collective worked together in planning, writing, typing, doing lay-outs, graphics, and printing. Writing was, for the most part, done by people within the collective. There was never a shortage of articles as material could also be solicited from "outspoken individuals in the various Asian Canadian communities" (Sugiman interview). Asianadian was a magazine that was ahead of its time in the issues it addressed within the Asian community. In the early years of Asianadian, finding writers for the magazine was an easy task. As the years progressed, however, it grew more and more difficult to find writers due to the fact that the task demanded a certain level of determination as well as skill.

1978 to 1985, during the lifespan of Asianadian, was over a decade before desktop computers would become the norm. Much more effort was required in putting together a magazine at that time than it would take today. Writers had to justify the text of the article manually using a device called Letraset. Articles would sometimes have to be re-typed without self-correcting ribbon, making the process much more difficult than it is today with the advent of Microsoft Word. Once articles were completed, lay-outs were done by cutting the typed copies and manually laying them out on cardboards one page at a time. Lay-out sessions would sometimes last the entire night. Final lay-outs were then taken to a print shop for mass printing. During the first few years of the magazine's existence, Anthony Chan and Cheuk Kwan were responsible for maintaining the quality of the final product. This role would later be rotated among members of the collective. After completion of printing the issue, copies of Asianadian were packaged in boxes for mailing and distribution. Distribution was done by a company which specialized in distributing magazines throughout Canada. The collective at Asianadian only needed to pay the company and copies of the magazine were then distributed to book and magazine stores.

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Leadership

Unlike many publications today, Asianadian was unique in the sense that not one person dominated the publication process or control over the collective. Since Asianadian was not a traditional company but rather a collective, the sense of equality between colleagues was especially strong. Every member was on equal footing and was able to contribute ideas, constructive criticism, and feedback freely. Each issue had a rotating editor that oversaw the production of that particular edition but even then, decisions tended to be made as a group (Siu 2002). Each member was aware of the duty they had- to bring important Asian issues to the surface. This duty enabled them to stay humble and work cooperatively as a group.

In addition, due to the lack of traditional business ethics, each writer had the chance to focus on the stories rather than try to get advertisers and so on. This way, there was no need to restrain themselves from reporting on certain stories for fear that an advertiser would pull sponsorship from the magazine if they did not agree with the articles that were written. In fact, Jean Chong shared that Asianadian made a point to stay away from obtaining corporate funding because they wanted independence when penning their articles (Chong 2002). This allowed each member to write unabashedly, focusing on issues that were sometimes difficult to write about at the time.

It is apparent in articles of Asianadian that these revolutionary learners were writing for the magazine because it was their passion to pass on the vision of Asianadian. Although passion for the magazine consumed some writers more than others, there were no issues with people being more authoritarian. In her interview, Momoye Sugiman really stressed that the group was not a hierarchy but rather equals (Sugiman 2002). This promoted harmony and allowed the members to work on the magazine rather than disagree with each other. By doing so, their ideas were disseminated more widely than if they had spent time worrying about advertising and bickering over control of the collective.

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Management Organization

A collective of people saw to it that Asianadian ran and operated smoothly. There were no key managers; rather the role of manager was rotated throughout the group involved with Asianadian. During the first few years of publication, Anthony Chan and Cheuk Kwan were "key managers" though not "dictatorial" (Sugiman interview). A few years into publication of Asianadian, Momoye Sugiman joined the collective and took on responsibility of editing issues. Once Chan and Kwan moved on in their careers and passed on responsibilities of operating Asianadian, Sugiman was ready to take over a large portion of the responsibility for managing the magazine. She arranged editorial meetings and layout meetings as well as mailed the magazine out to subscribers. Due to family responsibilities, Sugiman was no longer available to continue managing Asianadian full time after 1982. Leadership responsibilities were later on passed to Bobby Siu and Satish Dhar until Asianadian came to a close in 1985.

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Competitors

During the time Asianadian was in print, another magazine with a similar theme was being published. The magazine was called Rikki and was run by a Japanese Canadian. Rikki documented the experience of Japanese Canadians much like Asianadian documented the experience of Asian Canadians. It was geared more toward a middle-of-the-road, academic and literary audience. Though this magazine had a somewhat related subject matter in terms of the Asian Canadian experience, the Asianadian collective did not view it as a competitor. Rikki was instead viewed as a supporter in that it gave a voice to the Japanese Canadian community just as Asianadian gave a voice to the rest of the Asian Canadian community.

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Governemtn Relations

PREAMBLE
This statement of principles expresses the commitment of Canada's daily newspapers to operate in the public interest. A newspaper is a vital source of information and a private business enterprise with responsibility to the community it serves.

FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
Freedom of the press is an exercise of every Canadian's right to freedom of expression guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is the right to gather and disseminate information, to discuss, to advocate, to dissent. A free press is essential to our democratic society. It enables readers to use their Charter right to receive information and make informed judgments on the issues and ideas of the time.

INDEPENDENCE
The newspaper's primary obligation is fidelity to the public good. It should pay the costs of gathering the news. Conflicts of interest, real or apparent, should be declared. The newspaper should guard its independence from government, commercial and other interests seeking to subvert content for their own purposes.

ACCURACY AND FAIRNESS
The newspaper keeps faith with readers by presenting information that is accurate, fair, comprehensive, interesting and timely. It should acknowledge its mistakes promptly and conspicuously. Sound practice clearly distinguishes among news reports, expressions of opinion, and materials produced for and by advertisers. When images have been altered or simulated, readers should be told.

COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY
The newspaper has responsibilities to its readers, its shareholders, its employees and its advertisers. But the operation of a newspaper is a public trust and its overriding responsibility is to the society it serves. The newspaper plays many roles: a watchdog against evil and wrongdoing, an advocate for good works and noble deeds, and an opinion leader for its community. The newspaper should strive to paint a representative picture of its diverse communities, to encourage the expression of disparate views and to be accessible and accountable to the readers it serves, whether rich or poor, weak or powerful, minority or majority. When published material attacks an individual or group, those affected should be given an opportunity to reply.

RESPECT
The newspaper should strive to treat the people it covers with courtesy and fairness. It should respect the rights of others, particularly every person's right to a fair trial. The inevitable conflict between privacy and the public good should be judged in the light of common sense and with decency.

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Main	History	The Collective	Worth	Research	Links

R&D Product Line Leadership Management Organization Competitors Government Relations
Research & Developement The idea for Asianadian came about in April of 1978. Tony Chan, Cheuk Kwan, and Paul Levine (also known as Lai Bo) were sitting in a restaurant discussing issues which concerned Asian Canadians of that time period. The concept for Asianadian was inspired by the Asian American movement, which was spreading across university campuses in America during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The founders of Asianadian had set out to create a similar sense of cultural identity and political consciousness among Asian Canadians through this magazine, which would give the Asian community an opportunity to speak out. This small group then united under what would become the aims of the Asianadian and registered a non-profit organization called "The Asianadian Resource Workshop." It is unclear if market research had been done prior to putting the magazine in motion. Momoye Sugiman recalls that a reader survey may have been published in order to determine the type of people who were reading Asianadian. However, founders of the magazine were certain that their target audience would be the "large and varied" Asian Canadian community. One of the goals of the Asianadian was to give this group - Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, East Indian, Pakistani, and Sri Lankan - a sense of collective identity. Chan, Kwan, and Levine had much to share with the community themselves as well as many Asian Canadian contacts with progressive ideas and research who were not afraid to "rock the boat" (Sugiman interview). The magazine was launched on the basis that it was time for Asian Canadians to be heard. Asian Canadians were long in need of a forum to speak out and to share their experiences with others. Thus, the first "grassroots magazine dedicated to Asian Canada" was born, and it focused on issues such as "social justice, social activism and social criticism in the Asian Canadian community" (Asianadian website). top Product Line At first glance, a reader today would most likely look at Asianadian and realize it was made before the era of computers and the Internet. In fact, the process of printing the magazine was "ridiculously tedious and time consuming," as IBM electronic typewriters were the most up-to-date word processors of the time (Sugiman interview). Asianadian was produced by a close-knit group of Asian Canadians based in Toronto. Members of the Asianadian collective worked together in planning, writing, typing, doing lay-outs, graphics, and printing. Writing was, for the most part, done by people within the collective. There was never a shortage of articles as material could also be solicited from "outspoken individuals in the various Asian Canadian communities" (Sugiman interview). Asianadian was a magazine that was ahead of its time in the issues it addressed within the Asian community. In the early years of Asianadian, finding writers for the magazine was an easy task. As the years progressed, however, it grew more and more difficult to find writers due to the fact that the task demanded a certain level of determination as well as skill. 1978 to 1985, during the lifespan of Asianadian, was over a decade before desktop computers would become the norm. Much more effort was required in putting together a magazine at that time than it would take today. Writers had to justify the text of the article manually using a device called Letraset. Articles would sometimes have to be re-typed without self-correcting ribbon, making the process much more difficult than it is today with the advent of Microsoft Word. Once articles were completed, lay-outs were done by cutting the typed copies and manually laying them out on cardboards one page at a time. Lay-out sessions would sometimes last the entire night. Final lay-outs were then taken to a print shop for mass printing. During the first few years of the magazine's existence, Anthony Chan and Cheuk Kwan were responsible for maintaining the quality of the final product. This role would later be rotated among members of the collective. After completion of printing the issue, copies of Asianadian were packaged in boxes for mailing and distribution. Distribution was done by a company which specialized in distributing magazines throughout Canada. The collective at Asianadian only needed to pay the company and copies of the magazine were then distributed to book and magazine stores. top Leadership Unlike many publications today, Asianadian was unique in the sense that not one person dominated the publication process or control over the collective. Since Asianadian was not a traditional company but rather a collective, the sense of equality between colleagues was especially strong. Every member was on equal footing and was able to contribute ideas, constructive criticism, and feedback freely. Each issue had a rotating editor that oversaw the production of that particular edition but even then, decisions tended to be made as a group (Siu 2002). Each member was aware of the duty they had- to bring important Asian issues to the surface. This duty enabled them to stay humble and work cooperatively as a group. In addition, due to the lack of traditional business ethics, each writer had the chance to focus on the stories rather than try to get advertisers and so on. This way, there was no need to restrain themselves from reporting on certain stories for fear that an advertiser would pull sponsorship from the magazine if they did not agree with the articles that were written. In fact, Jean Chong shared that Asianadian made a point to stay away from obtaining corporate funding because they wanted independence when penning their articles (Chong 2002). This allowed each member to write unabashedly, focusing on issues that were sometimes difficult to write about at the time. It is apparent in articles of Asianadian that these revolutionary learners were writing for the magazine because it was their passion to pass on the vision of Asianadian. Although passion for the magazine consumed some writers more than others, there were no issues with people being more authoritarian. In her interview, Momoye Sugiman really stressed that the group was not a hierarchy but rather equals (Sugiman 2002). This promoted harmony and allowed the members to work on the magazine rather than disagree with each other. By doing so, their ideas were disseminated more widely than if they had spent time worrying about advertising and bickering over control of the collective. top Management Organization A collective of people saw to it that Asianadian ran and operated smoothly. There were no key managers; rather the role of manager was rotated throughout the group involved with Asianadian. During the first few years of publication, Anthony Chan and Cheuk Kwan were "key managers" though not "dictatorial" (Sugiman interview). A few years into publication of Asianadian, Momoye Sugiman joined the collective and took on responsibility of editing issues. Once Chan and Kwan moved on in their careers and passed on responsibilities of operating Asianadian, Sugiman was ready to take over a large portion of the responsibility for managing the magazine. She arranged editorial meetings and layout meetings as well as mailed the magazine out to subscribers. Due to family responsibilities, Sugiman was no longer available to continue managing Asianadian full time after 1982. Leadership responsibilities were later on passed to Bobby Siu and Satish Dhar until Asianadian came to a close in 1985. top Competitors During the time Asianadian was in print, another magazine with a similar theme was being published. The magazine was called Rikki and was run by a Japanese Canadian. Rikki documented the experience of Japanese Canadians much like Asianadian documented the experience of Asian Canadians. It was geared more toward a middle-of-the-road, academic and literary audience. Though this magazine had a somewhat related subject matter in terms of the Asian Canadian experience, the Asianadian collective did not view it as a competitor. Rikki was instead viewed as a supporter in that it gave a voice to the Japanese Canadian community just as Asianadian gave a voice to the rest of the Asian Canadian community. top Governemtn Relations PREAMBLE This statement of principles expresses the commitment of Canada's daily newspapers to operate in the public interest. A newspaper is a vital source of information and a private business enterprise with responsibility to the community it serves. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS Freedom of the press is an exercise of every Canadian's right to freedom of expression guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is the right to gather and disseminate information, to discuss, to advocate, to dissent. A free press is essential to our democratic society. It enables readers to use their Charter right to receive information and make informed judgments on the issues and ideas of the time. INDEPENDENCE The newspaper's primary obligation is fidelity to the public good. It should pay the costs of gathering the news. Conflicts of interest, real or apparent, should be declared. The newspaper should guard its independence from government, commercial and other interests seeking to subvert content for their own purposes. ACCURACY AND FAIRNESS The newspaper keeps faith with readers by presenting information that is accurate, fair, comprehensive, interesting and timely. It should acknowledge its mistakes promptly and conspicuously. Sound practice clearly distinguishes among news reports, expressions of opinion, and materials produced for and by advertisers. When images have been altered or simulated, readers should be told. COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY The newspaper has responsibilities to its readers, its shareholders, its employees and its advertisers. But the operation of a newspaper is a public trust and its overriding responsibility is to the society it serves. The newspaper plays many roles: a watchdog against evil and wrongdoing, an advocate for good works and noble deeds, and an opinion leader for its community. The newspaper should strive to paint a representative picture of its diverse communities, to encourage the expression of disparate views and to be accessible and accountable to the readers it serves, whether rich or poor, weak or powerful, minority or majority. When published material attacks an individual or group, those affected should be given an opportunity to reply. RESPECT The newspaper should strive to treat the people it covers with courtesy and fairness. It should respect the rights of others, particularly every person's right to a fair trial. The inevitable conflict between privacy and the public good should be judged in the light of common sense and with decency. top