With the support of the Rose Community Foundation and Colorado Media Project, Mile High Asian Media was a 2021-2022 grantee of the Advancing Equity in Local News grant program.
Through this grant opportunity, Mile High Asian Media, the umbrella organization for Asian Avenue Magazine, Rocky Mountain Chinese Weekly, and Colorado Chinese Radio Network, met with community members to: "strengthen connections and build trust between Colorado newsrooms and the diverse communities they serve, with a focus on communities of color and others whose perspectives and stories have historically been left out of coverage."
Community gatherings included Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) events where Mile High Asian Media staff would survey audiences for feedback on our media channels, as well as dinner and meeting gatherings to host informal focus groups to learn more about Colorado's AAPI community needs and interests.
After participating in the Advancing Equity in Local News Convening in September, AAPI journalists discussed a need to rebuild the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) chapter in Denver. With an interest in creating a stronger support system for AAPIs in media, Mile High Asian Media took a leadership role to move things forward.
On November 21, 2022, AAPI journalists met at Empress Seafood Restaurant in Denver to strategize how to develop a local AAJA chapter and what resources and supports they need to thrive and succeed in their newsrooms and/or media environments. On December 4, 2022, another group of AAPI journalists will gather and on December 12, 2022, a webinar with AAJ-National will be held to discuss next steps for the local chapter.
