Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By: Nathan Strauss
When Patricia Richie-Folks first saw an ad for an office manager in the Manassas Observer, she had no idea what she was going to be in for.
As it would turn out, Asian Fortune, a free, English-language publication that serves the Asian-American populations in D.C., Virginia and Maryland, had placed the ad.
Richie-Folks was hired shortly afterwards, and has been with the company for the past two years as a business developer.
Despite not having any previous experience working at a newspaper, Richie-Folks says that the publication’s ate owner, Jay Chen, worked patiently to make her comfortable in her position.
Chen, Richie-Folks says, would tell her, “In the mornings, from nine to five, you’re Asian. When you leave, then you’re African-American.”
Following Chen’s sudden death last year, Richie-Folks enjoys the unique opportunity of observing the paper as it transitions its ownership from father to daughter. Richie-Folks says “with her background in Information Technology, [Lily Chen] puts a different spin on the publication.” That spin, Richie-Folks notes, is rooted in Lily Chen’s ability to gear the publication to all readers, including the younger, more tech-savvy generation.
“She’s able to reach out to the younger readers of the 1.5 generation,” Richie-Folks says, in addition to the paper’s original readership. The 1.5 generation is an important source of readership for many immigrant publications, as it comprises the often more Americanized consumers who arrived in the United States during their youth, but have grown up in a sort of dual culture. This makes the paper more appealing to advertisers, who Richie-Folks acknowledges can be wary of buying into ethnic media publications. “We have a special niche,” Riche-Folks says, “when a company wants to reach out to Asian-Americans, they go through Asian Fortune.”
Apparently, Lily Chen’s efforts are paying off. Richie-Folks notes that her distributors regularly report back that all papers are taken from their delivery stands. This, Richie-Folks says, “should be attributed to the evolution of the company.”
With access to a younger audience, the paper has now garnered a significantly larger readership, with about 100,000 readers between print and online publications.
For Richie-Folks, though, working for Asian Fortune has been more than simply a business opportunity. She’s also been able to learn a lot about the Asian American community, and of the parallels that it has with her own, African American culture.
Asian Americans, she says, “are very blunt…they aren’t afraid to call you out.” African-Americans, however, she notes “are much more forgiving.”
Asian Fortune is an English language newspaper for Asian American professionals in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Visit fb.com/asianfortune to stay up to date with our news and what’s going on in the Asian American community.
