2003 Missouri Media Award Winner

The History of St. Louis Chinese American News

The first Chinese immigrants came to St. Louis in 1857. Gradually, more and more Chinese and Asian immigrants, including a lot of students, arrived to this city. In the 1900's, there were about 10,000 Chinese in the metropolitan St. Louis area. A lot of Chinese immigrants were used to reading the Chinese newspaper to know local news, United States news, world news and home town news (China and Taiwan). Also, this big Chinese community needed a communication tool and bridge to the American community. Seeing the needs of a Chinese newspaper, in September 1990, George and Sandy Tsai decided to start a Chinese language newspaper entitled the St. Louis Chinese American News (SCANews), in St. Louis.

To better serve the community, the St. Louis Chinese American News is free, published weekly, and distributed to more than 50 distribution points in the metro St. Louis area. The mission statement declares that it will "promote the Chinese culture, create a bridge between the Chinese community and the larger society, and be the voice of the community." The newspaper operates as an independent local newspaper to maintain its freedom and community orientation. The front page always features headlining Chinese news while the other sections focus on other community events, economic news, special columns, and interviews.

Currently, there are more than 50,000 Asian Americans in the St. Louis community. The volume of the newspaper has increased from 1,000 copies to 6,000. Every Thursday, the newspapers are delivered to about fifty distributing points including Chinese grocery stores, Chinese restaurants, Chinese churches, and Chinese language schools. The staff members also grew from two to eight in 2003 including Director/Marketing May Wu, Community Outreach Olivia Pieknik, Editor Maria Zhang, Advertising Designer Tracy Wong, and other staff. 

In 1997, St. Louis Chinese American News launched their website at http://www.scanews.com. It is the first and only St. Louis local Chinese newspaper on the web which brings the St. Louis Chinese American community to the world's attention. In 1998, St. Louis Chinese American News signed a contract with Sinanet.com, the largest Chinese website in North America. In 1999, St. Louis Chinese American News began the partnership with Hunchnet.com, which brings local Chinese newspapers throughout the US together into one web hub. These web events and strategic partnerships indicate a significant transition. 

In 2000, SCANews started to publish a yearly St. Louis Chinese American Yellow Pages. This 256 page publication serves the community in every field, including Chinese schools, Chinese churches, Buddhist temples, business listing, and immigration law. The circulation is 8,000 copies per year. 

SCANews also established the Chinese Culture and Education Foundation (http://www.CCEFoundation.org) in order to promote understanding and cooperation between the Chinese and English-speaking communities in the St. Louis region. The CCEF Board of Directors includes distinguished members of both communities who are dedicated to increasing interest in and understanding of the Chinese and Chinese-American culture. The CCEF supports publications, lectures, workshops, and other programs that showcase the Chinese culture. 

In November 2001, St. Louis Chinese American News broke the language barrier and published a special English section - "St. Louis Chinese American" - inside the regular weekly Chinese newspaper. This English section is appreciated by all non-Chinese readers, including second generation Chinese Americans, Asian Americans and the mainstream American community. 

In August of 2003, SCAnews gratefully accepted a Media Award presented by the Missouri Community Service Commission for providing excellent news coverage and community service to the St. Louis Chinese American community. This award acclaims SCAnew's perseverance to breaking the language barrier through publishing a sub-section English newspaper that stems from the oldest Chinese newspaper in St. Louis. 

The award also acknowledges the Chinese Culture and Education Foundation, which promotes Chinese cultural awareness, and the St. Louis Chinese American Yellow Pages, which cultivates strong ties to the Chinese community in St. Louis. In addition, it focuses on community outreach programs like the U. City East free health screenings and the Olive Business Association.