Code OF COnduct

AZI Media is a news media company that focuses storytelling on Asian American* and diasporic experiences.

AZI Media strives for fairness, transparency, depth and inclusivity in all facets of our reporting and operations. AZI’s effort in inclusive journalism is at the core of our commitment to accurate and representative Asian American storytelling.

From pitching, structuring headlines and cutlines, editing content, designing graphics and community building, bias could come in many different ways. AZI Media recognizes that journalists and creators bring in an array of personal backgrounds and biases that could potentially blind AZI from telling the full truth. So we want to proactively combat our own implicit bias and continuously challenge our bar of diversity and inclusion. 

While creating guidelines and holding ourselves accountable, we will center our politics and cover Asian American communities’ lived experiences and stories that mainstream US media will not. Through our platform and multi-media storytelling, we work to provide Asian Americans tools to learn more about our histories and activism, and further spur change in our own community. 

AZI Media strives to create and foster an open and safe space for all creators and audiences and communities to raise any concerns regarding AZI’s diversity and inclusion in our Asian American-focused storytelling.

Our Mission

AZI Media works to amplify historically marginalized voices through multimedia storytelling to spark conversation and inspire action amongst Asian Americans.

Our Vision

AZI strives to become a reliable media platform that builds solidarity amongst Asian American* communities and across racial, geographic, and other identity lines to achieve collective liberation.

“Asian” can imply many things: Asians living in Asia, Asians living outside of Asia, residents and/or citizens of non-Asian countries with Asian heritage, folks socialized in non-Asian countries with Asian heritage living in Asia. “Asian” is a word, category, an identity that with deep historical context and continually shifting in our society. 

In the US, “Asian” has been used as a political tool to exclude and discriminate, but also has been reclaimed to unite, demand justice, and make change by Asian American communities. The constant fluctuation reveals the identity to be a created social construction, meaning that this identity is simultaneously very real and made-up. 

At AZI Media, we acknowledge the power of Asian, Asian American, Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI), Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA), and all Asian diasporic, gender, religious identities, and will utilize the term “Asian American” to do the work of community storytelling. 

In addition to the general SPJ Code of Ethics, we strive to follow these guidelines to handle our collective stories with care.

As AZI Reporters: 

AZI Reporters are in charge of the majority of podcast and web content creation that encompasses the main product of AZI. While creating content and facilitating conversations for Asian American communities: 

• We hold ourselves to acknowledging that we can’t fully understand how another person lives their Asian American*  identity 

• We hold ourselves to always remember that how we speak about Asian American* identity can create harm for the collective 

• We hold ourselves to check our own privileges and their influence on our perspectives

• We hold ourselves to report intersectionality on Asian American* identity 

• We hold ourselves to be okay with contradiction within identities 

• We hold ourselves to not take solidarity for granted 

• We hold ourselves to handle other identities (race, gender, sexuality, nationality, religion, and more (un)categorizable ones) with at least the same care and nuance. 

• We recognize the unique challenges of those who sit at the intersections of overlapping systems of discrimination.

As Audio Producers and Editors: 

Our podcast producers and editors work closely with reporters to create audio stories. Audio producers and editors are committed to truthful producing and editing only to enhance reporters’ perspectives and storytelling that will benefit our listeners.

Production tools:

• We always have 2-3 different interviewing platforms built for varying levels of access to the internet for our interviewees.

• We ensure our interviewees have access to our recording guide days before recording and are fully aware of our recording practices.

Editing Practices:

• Sound effects and music selection are used to create mood and enhance the spoken words by the interviewee, not used for judgement or characterization.

• We do not change the story or sentiment in editing.

• We only edit out filler words and phrases.

• We do not piece together different parts of questions to form a different response, even if it keeps the same sentiment expressed. Responses to specific questions are kept to those questions. 

As Community Members:  

While building community: 

• Do I hold myself accountable to building a diverse, inclusive podcast community?

• Am I doing outreach outside of the most convenient spaces to avoid ethnocentrism? 

• Will I hold myself accountable to using anti-oppressive group facilitation techniques during group discussions and interactive events? 

While interacting with the community:

• Will I construct and enforce guidelines to ensure the safety of ALL community members on AZI Media platforms?

• Will I take time to understand our community’s needs and feedback and relay this information back to the podcast creators?

As Digital Content Creators:

AZI digital content creators contribute information through various platforms, such as our social media accounts, newsletter and official website. Content creators are not only committed to publishing accurate information, but also ensuring that our content is inclusive and accessible.

Transparency:

• Our sources are always cited.

• When we share information, we also share actionable items whenever possible.

• We provide trigger and content warnings when appropriate.

• We make corrections in a timely manner and take responsibility for any mistakes.

• We understand that simplified information can also be reductive, so we actively encourage our community to do further research.

Inclusivity:

• We cover topics that are being underreported and can uplift other voices in our community.

• We aim to cover diverse stories and regularly reflect on the topics we cover.

• We hold ourselves accountable in checking our own privilege and biases.

Accessibility:

• We strive to make our content accessible to our audience through readability, graphic design and more.

• We use alt-text to describe images.

• We provide transcripts of text in images and caption speech in videos.

• Our design elements do not distract from or obscure the main content.

Design:

• All borrowed images, media, video, design elements will be given credit to the original source/artist.

• We strive to create original design content to encourage engagement and interest in the issues we cover.

• We create clean and simple designs to enhance rather than distract from the main content.

*Asian American - AZI acknowledges the effort in popularizing AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) and APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American) and replacing “Asian American,” as the terms create nuances to diverse and complex Asian American diaspora and identities. However, many have argued that the new terms inefficiently widen the umbrella of Asian Americans and still leave out some people of multi-racial or other Asian descent. In addition, while people of South Asian descent commonly used “Desi” to categorize the richness of South Asian ethnicities, “Desi” has become conveniently reductive to the western society. Thus, AZI Media will use “Asian American” to encompass the complexity of all Asian American identities for accessibility.