Missouri School of Journalism

Modeling Non-crisis International ReportingColumbia, Missouri’s Vietnamese Community

Ally McEntire, Evan Townsend & J. Evan ArnoldJournalism 4992 Reporting, Editing & Marketing Converged Media

Prof. Mike McKean & Prof. Lynda KraxbergerFriday, May 16, 2014

Table of Contents I. Executive Summary

i. Introduction, goalsi. Aggregated research

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ii. What we did (and will do)iii. Conclusions drawn

II. Methods; A Case StudyA. Community researchB. Content AnalysisC. Survey

III. Project ComponentsA. OverviewB. What’s Vietnam to a Missourian: infographicC.Raising a Tiger: Vox-style video scriptD. Vietnamese family returns home: Text piece and photo essayE. Vietnam Veterans in new Context: broadcast-style video scriptF. Continuation

IV. ConclusionA. SWOT AnalysisB. Takeaways

V. Supplementary material

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I. Executive SummaryOur team of three journalism students has spent the last semester trying to create and

implement a plan to solve the problem of lack of non-crisis international reporting. We planned to challenge ourselves to choose one local, under-reported, foreign-born community; find how that community was covered in local news; establish the community’s opinions about coverage and then fill in what was missing. We wanted to do this in order to create a case study for global newsrooms. Many communities have foreign-born populations that go unrecognized by media organizations due often to lack of awareness, immersion and resources. The team set out to prove that this coverage can be filled in despite these shortcomings.

We knew that there was more information available about this topic beside our initial hunch, so we set about finding the previous research that had been done on the topic. Our purpose for this research was to discover what is already known about the subject, and to see what solutions, if any, had been proposed. There was a substantial amount of literature about international reporting in general, but we were able to pull three substantial conclusions from our review of the material.

First, international news is bad news. The frequency of international news is consistently higher in times of war and lower at times of peace (Allen and Hamilton 2010, Jones and Vliegenthart 2013). Of the topics covered, international news was most likely to be about conflict, scandal, and crime (Shaw, 2001). Second, it was expensive. Media producers were reluctant to fund international reporting because it had a relatively high cost with no direct guarantee of payoff. This risk deterred outlets from pursuing many stories (Aalberg et. al). Third and most importantly, through our research we found that there’s a disconnect between media producers and consumers. For example, Tai and Chang published a study in which they asked both editors and readers to indicate whether they thought an international story was newsworthy. They found that the opinions of the two groups overlapped on less than a third of the stories, and that audiences consistently prefered positive news to negative. Of this, the pair write “In the world of global news, audiences and journalists do not see eye to eye as to what constitutes the most important stories of the year, particularly from a long-term point of views. The longitudinal pattern offers little support for the agenda-setting function of the mass media as far as the salience of news and audience attention are concerned.” This sentiment is mirrored in another study by Hargrove and Stemple who conducted a survey of more than 1,000 Americans. They asked respondents to indicate what kind of international news they are interested in. Of the four categories, they had the least interest in accidents and disaster at 29% interest. In the middle were politics/government and economics. The category with the highest rate, at 45% interest, was stories about ordinary people. A full annotated bibliography, see page 23.

Through our research we reaffirmed the need for non-negative international reporting with depth, that is inexpensive, and fulfills audiences’ true interests in international stories. We believed that all three of these could be accomplished through reporting on local international news. While it may not be international news in the traditional since, we believed that this was one of its strengths. As we have already shown, international news as it currently stands is lacking in many areas, so this category-challenging approach could revitalize it in a way that traditional international news cannot. Because local news about international communities is more than just bad news, it is cheaper and easier to produce than traditional international news, and because it fulfills an audience desire for positive news about ordinary people, it addresses all three of the primary needs described earlier.

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After completing our initial research, the goal of our project was to create a case study that could serve as a model for newsrooms interested in doing their own ‘international reporting’ within their own communities. In other words, we hoped to blend traditional international reporting with traditional local reporting by actively seeking out stories about a foreign-born population in our own community. In order to do so, we did a content analysis that looked at coverage of Boone County’s top five foreign-born populations (China, Korea, India, Mexico and Vietnam, respectively) in the Columbia Daily Tribune. Our findings indicated the Vietnamese community was the least covered and that stories the mentioned Vietnam were often not specific to the Columbia community. We then created a questionnaire that we sent out to the Vietnamese community aimed at discovering their media consumption habits, their opinions about coverage of Vietnam by local media outlets and what kind of coverage they would like to see.

From there, we began our reporting. In total, we completed one infographic, two video pieces and a text piece with accompanying photos. Story topics ranged from Vietnamese perspectives on the Vietnam War to the struggles and triumphs of daily life for Vietnamese families living in Columbia. Our project will continue with two more stories and a follow-up survey that expands upon our initial questionnaire.

From our case study, we were able to determine that there is indeed a need for reporting on foreign born communities, because there is a wealth of stories waiting to be told that often go unnoticed. There were obstacles, of course—we particularly struggled with language barriers and gaining access to the community—but stories like these are much more accessible to newsrooms interested in doing their own international reporting than sending reporters abroad. These stories have depth and integrity and provide a crucial insight into a subset of the broader community that everyone can benefit from—foreign born communities can see themselves represented in local media where they are often absent and the larger community is given an opportunity to learn about their neighbors.

II. Methods; A Case StudyBefore we could select a community, we had to know from which countries the foreign-

born communities in Boone County emigrated. To do this we used the American Community Survey database to look up the numbers for foreign-born populations. The top five communities were China, 1,727 people; Korea, 875 citizens; India, 577; Mexico, 571; and Vietnam, 488. From this we were inclined to choose Vietnam for the reasons that we, as a group, felt we had heard the least about this community in local media. This was also the community we knew the least about in general, which proved to be a somewhat challenging aspect. Based on this perception, we conducted a content analysis in order to confirm or deny what we predicted.

To do the content analysis, we chose The Columbia Daily Tribune, for their stronger community emphasis in comparison to The Missourian or The Maneater. The Tribune had a less-limited paywall and so we were able to read stories to determine the significance of stories on communities. We also found that their archive and search capabilities were stronger than local media companies, including KOMU. Since the content was also text-based and not video, it was simpler to quickly separate significant stories from irrelevant ones. In the Tribune we found 75 stories between December 2013 and February 2014 total for all 5 largest foreign-born populations. They ranged from local and relevant to distant and insignificant. Mexico had the largest amount of coverage with 23 stories, making up 31 percent of the foreign-born population

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coverage. They also had the most local, non-wire, stories. Korea was featured in 22 stories. This is a 29 percent coverage compared to the other four nationalities. China, whose population in Boone County is highest of the five examined, received 17 percent of the foreign-born population coverage with 13 stories. 11 stories covered India in some manner: 14 percent of the foreign-born population coverage. The least covered country was Vietnam, as the group had suspected, with 8 percent coverage of the top five. This confirmed what we had predicted and we were able to choose Vietnam as our country of focus with confidence we were filling a gap.

After choosing the community we wanted to cover, our first step was to create a questionnaire for the community. This would allow us to gain a foundational knowledge of the community before we began reporting, and would serve primarily to gather qualitative information. We had hoped for responses from a significant portion of the community. This questionnaire was for our own purposes primarily, but it also served to let the Vietnamese community know of our existence and of our intent. The kinds of questions we asked were about general information about the community, media consumption habits, their perception of Vietnam in the news, and their basic demographic information.

A total of 18 people responded to the survey, which is less than we had hoped. 18 people is only 4% of the 448 Vietnamese living in Columbia, far too small a response to draw any significant conclusions. A few trends started to emerge, however. For example, all but two respondents indicated they felt Vietnam did not receive enough coverage in the news. Our own findings also coincided with the previous research we had done in which audience members want positive news about ordinary people. We asked the question “What kind of stories would you like to see covered in your community?” and got several responses, including the following:

“Activities. Achievement. Culture. Food. Music.”“Cultural events, profiles of community members, philanthropic events”“How we help each others and build a close and supportive community”

Analyzing the responses we see that a few of the words that most commonly appear are “cultural,” “community,” “traditional,” “events,” “students,” and “children.”

III. Project ComponentsThe components of our project, as it currently stands, are an infographic, two video

pieces and a text piece with accompanying photos. We chose a diverse range of media so that newsrooms of all kinds can see examples of our stories, although all can be published online as one cohesive package. The subjects of our stories were everyday individuals—exactly the kind of people our research told us audiences are most interested in and exactly the kind of people that comprise Columbia’ Vietnamese community. Two more stories are in progress.

The first of our components was an infographic. It can be viewed by clicking here (Supplement 3: http://bit.ly/T70upa). This infographic is intended to be shared on social media, similar to projects that have been done for the Outreach team at the Columbia Missourian, for example. It is a long, vertical graphic ideal for scrolling. This graphic would serve as an introduction to the project as a whole by answer the question “Why should we care?” Since it will be on social media, it will also get people talking about the project and lead them back to our other components. The infographic begins by explaining its purpose, then moves to a comparison of Vietnam and Missouri by population and landmass. Next, it talks about Vietnamese Americans, including the region where they are currently living and their country of origin. Final it talks specifically about the number and location of Vietnamese Missourians. After working

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with this component, we learned its strengths are that it is visual and easy to read. It’s colorful and simple, so readers will quickly and easily be attracted to it because it doesn’t take much time investment to understand. It’s also versatile. Since it is designed to be shared on social media, any news outlet can publish it regardless of whether their a magazine, print, broadcast, or online establishment. It’s weaknesses however are that it lacks depth. It doesn’t tell a story as much as any of the other components do. As such, it also relies on the other components of the story. This graphic wouldn’t have much purpose without the other components, so it doesn’t work well as a standalone piece.

To find what became the text piece (Supplement 4) and photo essay (photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/62477414@N02/sets/72157644230049918/), contact was made with the Vietnam Institute on the University of Missouri campus. Though this was most likely to produce sources associated with the university, it was a valuable resource that led to other information and sourcing down the road. Parents Cuong Nguyen and Thi Ho are planning on returning to their native country of Vietnam and have to make the difficult decision to split up their family. Their two daughters, Dzung and Thao, are very close but the family decided Dzung would be better served to continue her American education while Thao comes home with them. This story allowed in-depth reporting that required multiple visits. The story was also very visual so a photo essay was chosen to highlight these aspects. Instead of a video, the photo essay is able to capture specific moments and activities that are meant to highlight specific things that vary from the Vietnamese culture. More information is provided in the captions to illustrate these differences. This story proved challenging in a couple of ways. Language created a barrier between reporter and the parents. Often the parents would defer to their children to explain and verbalize an answer to a particular question. This is problematic because with quotes only from the children, the story appears to lack emotion and authority through the main figures in the daughters’ lives from an audience perspective without that piece of context. The challenge of invasion was also present. Multiple trips to activities and the family home helped with immersion, but at a point there existed a feeling of obligation. Because the family had already agreed to the story, they may have felt obligated to continue it. This may or may not have changed their attitude and answers in some situations, especially towards the end. The issue of timeliness also exists. The family does not leave until the summer of 2015, making the story seem less urgent, even though paperwork like obtaining a visa often takes a long time. Alongside these disadvantages, though, were positive aspects of the story. Everyone involved was very cooperative. Working with Grant Elementary school to get access to Thao’s class, joining Dzung for her swim team banquet and speaking with the soon-to-be host family were all made very simple. The visual elements of the story made it easy to choose a photo essay as one component to the story. Third, the use of education and immigration data supplemented the story with some of the authority it lacked in human voice. The story was created with The Missourian or The Columbia Daily Tribune in mind and can be pitched to them as a stand-alone text piece and photo essay, separate from the rest of the components of this project, if necessary.

The third of our components was a video piece called “Raising a Tiger.” It can be viewed here (Supplement 5: https://vimeo.com/94913048). The piece is a soft feature with a magazine style approach. At about three minutes long and with no voice over, this piece is similar to what you might see produced for a publication like Vox. The story centers around a young Vietnamese family in Columbia— a mother facing impending graduation with her PhD, a father who is still trying to learn the American language and culture, and a their three-year-old son who was born here in the States. The son, whom the parents named Mizzou, is the focus of the story. The piece

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tells the story of his struggle with the language, and his conflicting identities as American and Vietnamese. What we learned from this piece is that kids are cute and fun no matter what their language or country of origin. Mizzou made this story enjoyable to create and watch. It also directly meets audience wants. This story is positive and about “ordinary people.” “Children” was also one of the most common words mentioned in survey responses to the question “What kind of stories would you like to see covered in your community?” Like with the other pieces, one of the disadvantages was the language barrier. Neither of the parents spoke English as their first language, and it made it difficult to get concise soundbites that are easy to tell the story. As a result, a lot of work had to be done in the editing process to tighten up the quotes. Subtitles were necessary to make the entire video understandable.

The second video piece (Supplement 6: https://vimeo.com/95454708, password: capstone) had a more broadcast style. It took an issue from the past and put it in a new context using timely events. The issue of the Vietnam War has been reported on since the late 1960s. Some U.S. coverage has been done of a Vietnamese point of view, but mostly on after effects of Agent Orange, not on the war specifically or events such as Vietnam Veteran’s day or Memorial Day. This was the aim of the report. To source the story, contacts at the Vietnam Institute were able to find one voice. Then an event on the protests in 1970 at Mizzou surrounding the Vietnam conflict came to attention. This led to a second source. The third source was found after extensive calling and asking. This was the key source to the story. Without someone who had lived in Vietnam during the conflict, the right points of view were not in the story. Another essential component to the story was archival footage. Without a confirmed pitch to KOMU, NBC archive footage was inaccessible, so other footage had to be found in the meantime. Though one of the advantages to this piece was its timeliness, one of the disadvantages stemmed from that. The story, being political, includes elements that may offend some veterans. This makes pitching it more challenging because proving its importance despite possible negative feedback is difficult to do. However, the importance this story has to bringing a mutual understanding between two cultures through one event is what makes it significant. When this piece came near completion, discussion was held about possibly making it more similar to The New York Times piece “Snowfall” which would allow embedded content that could increase viewer understanding and contextualize possibly misunderstood aspects of the story’s background. This piece also has the potential to be made even more modern had the inclusion of China and Vietnam’s present relationship been added, as the past and current situations mirror one another quite closely.

The project will continue with two additional stories and a follow-up survey of the Vietnamese community. One of the two stories will be a profile of two MU faculty members who have worked closely with the Vietnamese community during their tenure at Mizzou and can therefore provide insight into the ways Columbia’s Vietnamese population has changed over the course of their time at Mizzou. The topic of the second story has yet to be determined. Finally, the follow-up survey will ask the opinions of Vietnamese community members on the stories we have completed and will hopefully answer some questions left by the initial questionnaire.

IV. ConclusionThe strengths of this case study are that we all brought a diverse skill set and experience

with a broad array of media and platforms, which meant that components of this case study is accessible to a range of newsrooms. Also helpful was our collective experience in international reporting and data journalism skills. The weaknesses of the project were that we are all white American students and there is simply no substitute for diversity in the newsroom, especially on

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a project focused on reporting on a culture different than our own. Additionally, we had few prior connections to the Vietnamese community, which meant we struggled to contact sources, find stories and conduct our survey, which had a very low response. The opportunities of this project are, as mentioned previously, that international reporting is less than ideal and foreign-born communities are infrequently reported on, which meant that there was a clear space we were able to fill with this project. Finally, the threats to this project are a disconnect between local media and the Vietnamese community in Columbia—almost all of our survey respondents said they do not real local news and many struggle with English, meaning our stories may not reach them—and, of course, the uncertainty of whether or not this case study will be of use to any newsroom.

The whole purpose of this case study was to discover how we could make local international news reporting work for other newsrooms. The struggles and roadblocks we faced are likely the same ones other newsrooms would as well. We hope that our experiences can help other journalists and editors navigate the similar terrain. Through the course of the semester we learned that there is a definite need in international reporting that needs to be addressed. There’s a gap in the amount and type of coverage international issues receive. We also learned that there is a wealth of stories in local international communities to fill this gap. We learned that there are many obstacles to covering these communities, but it’s far cheaper and far easier than the traditional route of international reporting. These stories are also the kinds of stories audiences want to know. They have depth, they have integrity, and they are stories worth telling.

V. Supplementary MaterialOur component material, graphs and charts can all be found below:

Supplement 1Population and Content Analysis

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Figure 1.1 Figure 1.2

Figure 1.1 shows the Boone County data from the American Community Survey. China, Korea, India, Mexico and Vietnam held the top five places.Figure 1.2 shows the split between coverage of the top five foreign-born populations in Boone County, Missouri.

Supplement 2Questionnaire of the Columbia Vietnamese Community

Figure 2.1 Figure 2.2

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Figure 2.3 Figure 2.4

Figures 2.1-2.3 Community information questionnaire responses

Figures 2.4-2.6 Media consumption questionnaire responses

Figure 2.5 Figure 2.6

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Figure 2.7 Figure 2.8

Figure 2.9

Figures 2.7 and 2.8 Vietnam in the news questionnaire responsesFigure 2.9 shows the words that appeared most often in responses to the question “What kind of stories would you like to see covered in your community?”

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Supplement 3What’s Vietnam to a Missourian?

Figure 3.1 shows an overview of the social media infographic “What’s Vietnam to a Missourian?” The full graphic can be viewed by clicking here (Or by visiting http://bit.ly/T70upa).

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Supplement 4Text Piece with Photo Essay

Hed: Vietnamese family adjusts to American life in time to go homeHed: American education holds value for Vietnamese family

Byline: Ally McEntire

deck: Cuong Nguyen and his wife, Thi Ho, came to the United States 4 years ago to study plant science at the University of Missouri, but now their research is finished and they must choose the best option for their two daughters.

Nine-year-old Thao Nguyen was born in Vietnam, but since kindergarten, she has attended Grant Elementary in Columbia, Missouri. Now in third grade, Thao is more fluent in English than Vietnamese, but come next August, that will need to change when her family returns home.

Her sister is the opposite. Dzung Nguyen, 15, went through elementary school in Vietnam. When she came to the United States in July 2010, she jumped right into sixth grade. Compared with Thao, it was much more difficult for Dzung to adapt without the friends and language she knew.

Now Dzung has adjusted to American culture and will soon be on her own to navigate it. Now it is Thao’s turn to learn what it means to be a student in unfamiliar territory.

More than 14,000 people from Vietnam currently reside in Missouri. In the fall of 2013, 66 of those individuals were enrolled either as undergraduate or graduate students at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Two of those are Dzung and Thao’s parents.

Thi Ho, 39, is an American Association of University Women postdoctoral fellow, and her husband, Cuong Nguyen, 41, is a plant sciences Ph. D. student.

Nguyen, Ho and Thao plan to return to Vietnam in the summer of 2015, in time for Thao to enroll in fifth grade. Dzung, however, will not be going with them.

Dzung’s difficult adjustment made it difficult to foresee her continued study in the U.S. but now things have improved and she has gotten more involved at Rock Bridge.

“My first two years weren’t very great and I wanted to go back so badly,” Dzung said. “I have a lot more friends now, I’m a lot more fluent in English, my grades are much better. I have a lot of teachers who definitely would help me if I decide to stay here.”

Dzung competes in Science Olympiad, Math League and Future Problem Solving for Rock Bridge High School. She also is on swim team during the fall season.

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In Vietnam, extra-curricular activities are more difficult to arrange, and due to expense and a lack of teachers, fewer opportunities are present. This is one reason Dzung and her parents made the decision for her to remain here.

Thao currently is in drum ensemble, ballet and cheerleading. To continue these in Vietnam, Thao’s parents would have to travel long distances to get her to lessons and practices that would cost around 50 U.S. dollars each.

“Private lessons would be even more,” Ho said.

With many Vietnamese parents furthering their education abroad, re-acclimation of students is becoming more common. The differences between American and Vietnamese education systems can make this transition challenging.

“Many similar cases have been happening in our country, especially in my institute where the researchers need to go abroad for their knowledge improvement whenever they have a chance,” Ho said.

Good schools in Vietnam cost money. Parents are generally responsible for transportation to and from the building, unless they pay even more money for a school with a bus.

The country’s educational roots are in strict Confucianism where lessons are lecturer-centric and students are expected to listen only and take notes. Vietnam employs a national curriculum; students across the nation learn the exact same things. Unlike the Common Core, which is a state-specific adopted set of standards, everything in Vietnam is federally mandated and controlled.

According to Ho, some teachers add to or update the set curriculum with other material they may find on the Internet or elsewhere.

In third grade at Grant, Thao has access to an iPad and watches her teacher operate a smartboard for her math lesson after a rotating station-to-station reading exercise. In fifth grade at An Thoi II Primary School, where Thao will likely attend, lessons and classrooms will simply have chalkboards, paper and pencils.

“[Vietnam] is so much stricter in terms of freedom and where you can go, what you can do at school, even what you can say at school and what subjects you can take,” Dzung said.

Teaching in the classroom focuses more on memorizing material than it does critical problem solving or creativity. Interactive learning is uncommon if it exists at all. Dzung said even math class reflects that.

“The math that they give us in Vietnam as competitive math is very different,” she said. “It’s a lot of proofs, memorization and formula-based. Here it’s a lot more problem solving, and it’s very practical.”

Dzung said there are pros and cons to each. She prefers the value her Vietnamese peers place on learning but she likes the diversity of the learning environments in America.

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There are other reasons Dzung said staying makes the most sense: Her grades have improved, she has gotten more connected to peers and her school, and has teachers who will encourage her success. She plans to go to college in the United States after she graduates from Rock Bridge.

For Dzung to continue her studies at Rock Bridge, she will have to be enrolled as an exchange student and stay with a host family. Christy and Howard Hutton hosted a student from Japan during the 2013-2014 school year and have opened their home to Dzung when her family leaves.

Last year, 10,983 students from Vietnam applied for F-1 visas to study at various U.S. universities, high schools, private elementaries, seminaries, conservatories and other academic learning institutions, not including vocational schools. In 2011 the U.S. had 1,727 high school students from Vietnam.

The Japanese student, Akari Kudo, has enjoyed becoming a part of the Hutton family, and the Huttons will have a difficult time letting her go. But, the space that opens up in their home can then be filled by Dzung.

For the Columbia Public School District, this is an unusual occurrence. Community Relations Director Michelle Baumstark said a handful of situations like this happen every year, but each instance is unique.

“You tend to see this happen more often in towns with military personnel,” Baumstark said.

Getting Dzung enrolled at school will be a little different than just applying as an international student. The process requires the Columbia school district to sign and notarize forms and become a sponsor school in order for Dzung to obtain a visa and return. Her parents would also turn over “educational custody” to the Huttons.

If acquiring the visa all goes according to plan, the Huttons said they would welcome Dzung in.

“Dzung had been telling Akari about [looking for a host family] and the challenge of her wanting to stay,” Christy Hutton said. “If Akari tells her we’re nice people, [Dzung] can stay. We’d be happy to have her.”

Hutton said the experience will be a little bit different than hosting Akari. The Nguyens and the Huttons have gotten to know one another in person, and Dzung has already adapted to American culture, unlike when Akari arrived.

One thing she said won’t be different is the discipline level.

“Akari and Dzung are very similar in the fact that they both sort of self-govern,” Hutton said. “[Dzung]’s rules for herself are stricter than any we would make.”

The biggest adjustment, Hutton said, will be not having her little sister Thao around.

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“Dzung is crazy about her sister, and her sister makes her crazy,” she said. “Thao is always with her, whether Dzung likes it or not…We may have to find her a few babysitting jobs around town.”

Ho said her daughter is independent and she isn’t too worried about Dzung staying. Though Dzung said she is likely to miss her family, she isn’t worried either.

Thao, on the other hand, has a couple of anxieties. Because of her American schooling, she has become proficient in English, but not Vietnamese. When she returns to Vietnam, she will not be at the same level without a great deal of extra work.

“My mom is teaching me Vietnamese at home, almost every day,” she said. “When I get home from school my mom teaches me how to speak in Vietnamese and how to spell Vietnamese things.”

She will have a strong support system, though. In addition to her mother’s at home study sessions, Thao’s aunt works at another elementary school in Vietnam and can provide extra attention as needed. The main thing she will need is time.

“We are just afraid that she will need lots of time to adjust herself to adapt with the new study environment,” Ho said.

Though the two sisters will be a world apart in terms of culture and distance, they will keep in touch as much as possible using technologies available to them, such as Skype and FaceTime. Both will have adjustments to make but neither will be without support from those around them.

Photos can be found here: (https://www.flickr.com/photos/62477414@N02/sets/72157644230049918/)

Captions:1. Thao Nguyen, 9, works independently on math questions assigned by her third grade teacher Maggie Eastman at Grant Elementary in Columbia, Mo. Monday, April 14, 2014.

2. Thao Nguyen, 9, reads “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!” during the read-to-a-partner section of reading stations in Ms. Eastman’s third grade class on Monday, April 14, 2014.

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3. Dzung Nguyen, 15, accepts a letter on Tuesday, April 8, 2014 for her role on the Rock Bridge High School swim team. Her coach Laura Wacker said Nguyen had improved significantly during the season.

4. Adjusting to American school life has been difficult for Dzung Nguyen, 15, but in the last year at Rock Bridge High School, Nguyen has joined more extra-curricular activities and made friends. Photo taken Tuesday, April 8, 2014.

5. Rock Bridge High School held its annual swim team banquet dinner Tuesday, April 8, 2014. Dzung Nguyen, 15, was awarded a varsity letter and a pin for her efforts on the team.

6. Dzung Nguyen and her partner work on their Science Olympiad event “Mission Possible” on Tuesday, April 8, 2014. Together they must design and create a working Rube Goldberg machine that switches on a light bulb for the state competition held at the University of Missouri on Saturday.

7. Dzung Nguyen presents her completed “Mission Possible” machine to her parents the morning before the competition Saturday, April 13, 2014. The team placed sixth out of 33 in the event.

8. Third grade teacher Maggie Eastman grades Thao Nguyen’s math problems in class on Monday, April 14, 2014. The class identified congruent shapes and their movements on the smartboard before working independently.

9. Thao Nguyen, 9, raises her hand in class to ask for help on a particular question during independent work time Monday, April 14, 2014. In Vietnam, students are not often encouraged to ask questions.

10. Maggie Eastman helps explain the answer to a question about congruent shapes to Thao Nguyen in her third grade class on Monday, April 14, 2014. One-on-one help in Vietnam costs families extra money in addition to regular schooling.

11. Thao Nguyen, 9, works on one routine during drum ensemble practice Wednesday, April 9, 2014. The group uses different rhythms, repetition and replies to create one piece they will perform in Peace Park.

12. Students must keep their hands in the right position to strike the drum at the right time as Thao Nguyen shows on Wednesday, April 9, 2014. Hand placement on the drum is essential to producing the right sound.

13. Thao Nguyen focuses on her teacher during ballet class on Monday, April 7, 2014. Classes are taught through the University of Missouri-Columbia in Strickland Hall.

14. Small jumps from first position in ballet are called sautes, demonstrated by Thao Nguyen, 9, in her ballet class Monday, April 7, 2014.

15. Thao Nguyen’s ballet class works on the grand battement en promenade, a walking kick, on Monday, April 7, 2014.

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16. Thao Nguyen, 9, and a classmate read one page at a time from “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs!” on Monday, April 14, 2014. During reading time, Nguyen’s classmates rotate stations between reading with a partner, reading in a group, reading with third grade teacher Maggie Eastman and reading alone.

17. Hooks in the classroom are also marked with names for students’ backpacks and coats. Students in public schools in the United States do not adhere to a specific dress code, but most in Vietnam do.

18. Each student has his or her own book box in Maggie Eastman’s third grade classroom.

19. In Maggie Eastman’s third grade classroom, each student has a birthday cupcake on a month cake poster as pictured here on Monday, April 14, 2014. Cork boards around the classroom are filled with colorful displays.

22. Maggie Eastman’s third grade class was selected for a pilot study of iPad use in elementary classrooms as demonstrated by Thao Nguyen, 9, on Monday, April 14, 2014. Students use the iPads for various things, including to make presentations of “chick journals” each wrote following the incubation and hatching of chicken eggs in the classroom.

23. Thao Nguyen, 9, uses her iPad during reading stations on Monday, April 14, 2014. The third grade pilot program provides iPads to students at no cost, but students who misbehave can have their privileges revoked.

24. Old photographs of Thao and Dzung show their closeness in the Nguyen family home Wednesday, May 7, 2014. Thao said she loves hanging out with her sister and enjoys watching movies with her.

25. Dzung helps Thao with her Vietnamese writing Wednesday, May 7, 2014. To adjust smoothly into life back in Vietnam, Thao must understand and speak Vietnamese at a fifth grade level.

26. Thao works from a Vietnamese lesson book to improve her reading and writing skills on Wednesday, May 7, 2014. Thao said she can read many of the words but does not understand them yet.

Supplement 5“Raising a Tiger” script

05/13/14 MIZZOU0513 Evan Townsend

MIZZOU0513 TRT: 3:10

DOAN 1 TRT: 0:00

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“Studying is a little bit easier than before, so that’s why we chose to have a baby. His real name, his Vietnamese name, was given to him by my father in law, but we gave him another name. 2010 is the year of the tigers and we were here at Mizzou and the tiger is very popular for Mizzou students so that’s why we call him Mizzou.”

NAT SOUND train in tunnel (:30) DOAN 2 TRT: 0:36“My name is Nguyen Doan and I am a PhD student here in economics. This is my last year and I am graduating this May.”

NAT SOUND Mizzou and Doan cooking (:47)

DOAN 3 TRT: 0:51“This was really hard. Like everyday when I came home from school I just feel so tired, you know? Just didn’t want to do anything else, just want to go to bed. But I have to cook and take care of Mizzou.”

DOAN 4 TRT: 1:05“I would like to spend more time with him, you know? Teaching him vietnamese and talking with him more so he can get more languages from me because he’s almost America.”

NAT SOUND Barney theme song (1:17)

DOAN 5 TRT: 1:23“He eats American food. He prefers pizza, not, you know, rice or Asian foods.”

THAI 1 TRT: 1:30“We really let him have a chance to learn Vietnamese, and our culture. It’s very important for him.”

NAT SOUND Mizzou singing (1:42)

DOAN 6 TRT: 1:49“He struggles with languages, you know, how to speak fluently in Vietnamese and English as well.”

NAT SOUND Mizzou and teacher talking (1:59)

DOAN 7 TRT: 2:04“Compared to other kids at the same age, he’s a little bit behind them.”

NAT SOUND Mizzou and student talking (2:10)

THAI 2 TRT: 2:13

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“We’ve lived here for six years. When I compare to the time we spend in Saigon it’s kind of the same. that’s because I think the time we live in columbia is the most beautiful time of our life.”

NAT SOUND Mizzou says his name (2:31)

DOAN 8 TRT: 2:36“So when Mizzou, he will be 18 yo and go to college. If he chooses to come to mizzou he has a good reason to write a statement of purpose why.”

THAI 2 TRT: 2:50“He will tell his story, about his parents life at MU, by the way, maybe he will get a scholar to go to the school at MU.”

Supplement 6 : https://vimeo.com/95454708 password: capstone

“Vietnam veterans in a new context” script

05/05/14 VIETVETS0505 Ally McEntire

ANCHOR INTRO: It’s been 41 years since America’s involvement in Vietnam and many veterans remember it like it was yesterday. But KOMU’s Ally McEntire (MAC-entire) shows us that not all veterans of Vietnam are soldiers.

VIETVETS0505 TRT: 3:30 SOC

NAT SOUND Breeze downtown (:06)It’s a calm and quiet afternoon at the Vietnam memorial on the Boone County Courthouse lawn in

Columbia, Missouri.

One name you won’t see inscribed is Thu Tran. He didn’t die, but even if he had, his name wouldn’t be

there.

Tran was on the receiving end of the conflict.

TRAN1 TRT: 7:16 OC: “...for my dad.”

“Everyone worried together, as family. My dad worried for my life, I worried for my dad.”

Tran’s father was a soldier for the South. He escaped the lack of freedom imposed by the North in 1989.

He was around 15 during the conflict.

Tran is now a factory worker here in Columbia, where he has lived since leaving his home country.

TRAN2 TRT: 13:04 OC: “...free country.”

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“I can’t go to school since my dad had joined the U.S. Army. That was the law, things going on, that is why I left my country to find another more free country.”

John Betz served in the war Tran escaped from and is a member of Veterans for Peace. Going over, Betz

says he was just a kid himself and understood very little about the conflict.

BETZ1 TRT: 14:05 SOC: “...out to be BS”

“Here’s what I knew, and by the way, I’m not talking just about me: America good, Communist bad. We had to stop them, there was no choice. Of course it all turns out to be BS.”

Long Le taught at a university in Vietnam before he came to the U.S. to study American Literature. He

says some people there today look at the war with a wider perspective to understand all sides. Growing

up, it was different.

LE1 TRT: 16:03 OC: “...resistance war.”

“When I was a child I was taught this was a war we resisted from the US. The formal name of the war in Vietnam, we call it Anti-American resistance war.”President Barack Obama declared March 29th Vietnam veterans day just two years ago, but still no

apology has ever been given to the people of Vietnam.

According to Le, the Vietnamese people need more than “I’m sorry.”

LE2 TRT: 38:08 OC: “...bad life.”“Of course I think if there is a formal apology from the US, that’s better than nothing, but I don’t think that the Vietnamese now really needs that apology. What we really need is some kind of activities from the US in practice to help us recover from the war, especially the victims of the war, and more especially the victims of Agent Orange.”

Betz says he isn’t proud of his service. According to him, even though many Americans proudly wear

their patriotism, the country must atone for its actions.

BETZ3 TRT: 26:10 OC: “...and it’s criminal.”

“These people present no threat to us at all, these people do not want us there. That’s all they want, they just want their country back. Something’s wrong. I don’t care if it is America, something is wrong and it’s criminal.”TRAN3 TRT: 11:19 OC: “...some fields bad.”

“I’m really thankful for the United States and France, even though they did some things wrong and made some fields bad.”

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Being a veteran of the Vietnam war means more than serving in the military. For many Vietnamese

people living in the United States, a day like Memorial Day can be a tragic reminder but for some like

Tran, it reminds them of the cooperation and attempt to keep freedom alive in Vietnam.

OUT CUE

Ally McEntire, Columbia, Missouri.ANCHOROUTRO

To learn more about the conflict and Veterans for Peace, please visit our website KOMU8.com.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/history/euro-hist/cold-war/v/vietnam-war

Stock Footage by The Vietnam Center and Archive under educational use copyright:1017VI0761, 15th Engineer Battalion (Combat) Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University1048VI0987, Bryan Grigsby Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University1189VI1372, John Hlavacek Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University252VI0250, Ranch Hand Association Vietnam Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University076VI0112, Richard Duckworth Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University725VI3346, Ted Acheson Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University1040VI0783, William Foulke Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University1040VI1524, William Foulke Collection, The Vietnam Center and Archive, Texas Tech University

Annotated Bibliography

Aalberg, Toril, David Rowe, Rodney Tiffen, Hernando Rojas, Gianpietro Mazzoleni, Paul K. Jones, Shanto Iyengar, Kaori Hayashi, James Curran, Stuart Soroka, and Stylianos Papathanassopoulos. "International Tv News, Foreign Affairs Interest And Public Knowledge." Journalism Studies 14.3 (2013): 387-406. Print.In this analysis of TV broadcast newsrooms, research find that the economics of international reporting are often its downfall. The paper reports that the high cost of international news reporting and the relatively low audience response deters many newsrooms from pursuing international stories.

Allen, Cleo Joffrion, and John Maxwell Hamilton. "Normalcy And Foreign News." Journalism Studies 11.5 (2010): 634-649. Print.This longitudinal analysis of three newspapers over the course of the 20th Century found that the frequency of international news increased during times of war and lessened in times of peace. It also found that overall frequency decreased while frontpage frequency of international news was on the rise.

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Beaudoin, Christopher E., and Esther Thorson. "Exploring Reader Interest In International News." Newspaper Research Journal 23.4 (2002): 46. Academic Search Elite. Web. 12 May 2014.Researcher surveyed more than 1,000 Americans by telephone and found that overall readers are more interested in good news. They also preferenced the category of “ordinary people” over politics and government, economics, and disaster in terms of interest in international news.

Dalen, A. Van. "Structural Bias in Cross-National Perspective: How Political Systems and Journalism Cultures Influence Government Dominance in the News." The International Journal of Press/Politics 17.1 (2011): 32-55. Print.This study analyzed the frequency of political and governmental stories in international news. They found that it outweighed other international content, which was reflective of the overall power balance in the countries that were being reported on.

Galtung, Johan & Mari Holmboe Ruge. “The Structure of Foreign News.” Journal of Peace Research 2.1 (1965):64-91. Web.This study looked at the main factors that influence whether or not an international event or topic receives coverage. They found that, among other things, unexpected and shocking events receive spot coverage.

Jones, T. M., P. Van Aelst, and R. Vliegenthart. "Foreign Nation Visibility in U.S. News Coverage: A Longitudinal Analysis (1950-2006)." Communication Research 40.3 (2013): 417-436. Print.This longitudinal analysis of two major news outlets (The New York Times and NBC Nightly News) finds, like other studies, that the amount of international news correlates directly with international conflicts. The mention of other countries in these two outlets decreased significantly during peacetime.

Shaw, David. "Foreign News Shrinks in Era of Globalization." Los Angeles Times 27 Sept. 2001. Web. 12 May 2014.This piece, written for the the Los Angeles Times, talks about several journalists’ feelings about international news coverage and its frequency, or rather infrequency. Quoting many journalists from prominent publications, Shaw asserts that the focus of international news is framed in a standpoint that would be problematic even if it were national news. He finds that crime, sex, and scandal are the most frequent topics.

Shoemaker, P. J., L. H. Danielian, and N. Brendlinger. "Deviant Acts, Risky Business and U.S. Interests: The Newsworthiness of World Events." Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly 68.4 (1991): 781-795. Print.This paper analyzes international content from The New York Times, NBC, CBS, and ABC. It found that, while timeliness played a factor, nations were more likely to appear in international news if their values were perceived as deviant from traditional US values. It also found that the more politically, culturally, and economically significant a nation was to the US the more likely it was to receive coverage, while the more constraints there are on a journalist covering the less likely it was to receive coverage.

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Tai, Zixue, and T.-K. Chang. "The Global News and the Pictures in Their Heads: A Comparative Analysis of Audience Interest, Editor Perceptions and Newspaper Coverage." International Communication Gazette 64.3 (2002): 251-265. Print.This study looks at the trifecta of what editors regard as important news, what the audience prefers and what the US and foreign media actually cover. They found that out of 76 international stories, the audience and editors agreed on the importance of less than a third (24).

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