AAJA declines off-the-record meeting with U.S. Department of Justice on media policy

The Asian American Journalists Association, along with several journalism organizations, was invited by Attorney General Eric Holder to attend an off-the-record meeting on media policy.

AAJA, however, will not attend. National President Paul Cheung explained the organization’s reasoning in a statement released Sunday:

While AAJA welcomed the invitation to meet with the U.S. Department of Justice on media policy, AAJA will not be attending the meeting.

We advocate for fair and accurate media coverage on behalf of our 1,700 members. An off-the-record conversation would not allow us to inform our full membership about the meeting.

Transparency is key to building trust between the news industry, our government and the public. Should there be a future on-the-record meeting, AAJA would gladly join the conversation to help shape media policy in a way that best serves the public and diversity in news media.

Several other organizations, including the National Association of Black Journalists and the Native American Journalists Association have also declined the invitation.

UNITY: Journalists of Diversity Inc., an umbrella group that includes AAJA, will be attending the meeting.