Finding a page to write on

When he first came to Penn, Jonathan Leung, now an Engineering sophomore, noticed an ad recruiting new students for Mosaic, Penn's Asian-American magazine. Though he was toying with the idea of joining The Daily Pennsylvanian as a sports writer, Leung went to Mosaic's introductory meeting and has not looked back since. He is now one of the magazine's editors-in-chief.

The Vision was founded 11 years ago with the goal of "providing a written voice for black students at Penn," according to Michelle Watson, its current executive editor. "We felt we were not being properly represented by the DP." Politically based, The Vision -- which has produced one issue this year and has a sporadic publishing schedule -- includes everything from poetry to editorials on the politics of being black. And Mosaic, published twice a year, is a "synthesis between a literary magazine and a politically oriented magazine," according to Managing Editor Linda Oh. Much like The Vision, content ranges from political commentary to artistic endeavors. Writers for the two publications say they are motivated by a sense of social responsibility. "A lot of [African-American students] talk amongst ourselves, but have no outlet," noted Watson, a College junior. And Oh, also a College junior, said, "We cover a lot of issues that pertain to the Asian Pacific American community that the DP and media in Philadelphia and nationally don't cover." Both editors say they strive to produce publications that aren't totally race-oriented. "You don't have to be writing about racism to write in The Vision," Watson said.

Contributors to these papers are often students who decided that the mostly white DP office was not a place they wanted to be. "When you are not satisfied with the norm, you create your own," Watson noted. Watson said she has become so irritated with the DP's minority coverage that she has stopped reading it at all. "I'm sick of us having no representation," Watson said, her tone growing increasingly annoyed. "Every time I read an article [in the DP] about what we do, we are represented in a trivial way." Still, because the DP is the most widely read publication on campus, it has the ability to dictate what issues hit the campus radar. And minority groups are frequently unsatisfied with the paper's amount of minority coverage and its approach to these stories. Though the DP does have a reporter specifically assigned to covering events and issues of interest to the minority community, editors admit that it is not always the top priority. "Our first priority now and always will be covering stories that affect the most students on campus," said DP Executive Editor Binyamin Appelbaum, a College senior. The newspaper is also frequently criticized when its Editorial Page lacks minority columnists. In response, top editors often try to solicit leaders of the minority community to apply for a column, and that effort has been at least marginally successful. But Watson slammed those efforts, as well. "Many people don't want to write because they feel they will be the 'token' and nobody wants to be the token," said Watson, who has been solicited several times and wrote one guest column last semester. Appelbaum said the fact that this perception exists is a shame. "It is tremendously unfortunate that we as a campus and as a society believe the goal of these efforts is to have minorities representing minority viewpoints," he said. Instead, "the goal of these efforts is to have minorities talking about everything. There should be no lines." In addition, minority groups often criticize the DP's writing style, saying that a writing staff that is mostly white cannot effectively cover some issues. "I believe that no one at the DP sits down and says, 'I will be racist,' but that they sit and a tone of self-assuredness comes out," said former Vision editor Malik Wilson, who won the DP's Columnist of the Year award in 1999. "It's the way the DP states itself as the authoritative voice." Last year, the newspaper launched a particularly ambitious effort to enhance minority relations by trying to link The Vision with the DP. Effectively, the DP would have financially supported The Vision, giving them full use of the newspaper's advertising staff, resources and facilities. The Vision would have maintained complete control over its content. But after lengthy discussions, The Vision rejected the plan. "Black folks were not ready for it and did not embrace it," Wilson said. And Watson flatly added, "There will be no merging, not as long as I'm in charge." Just as this effort failed, attempts to diversify are always difficult. For one, the paper's newsroom can be an intimidating place for new reporters. It has a sub-culture all its own, complete with inside jokes and a specific rapport between staffers. "You are aware of the fact that it is a very specific culture in the office, with its own specific cultural references," Wilson noted. "There are really no cultural anchors [for minorities]." A lack of role models and a very limited pool of minority students who are already stretched paper-thin across a myriad of other campus activities contributes to the problem as well. "It's difficult for a minority [reporter] to look ahead and see a path for themselves, difficult to visualize progressing through the ranks of the organization," Appelbaum said. "And every group on campus correctly feels minority students would be of benefit [to them]."

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