TV Personality Yul Kwon Hosts "LinkAsia," Link TV's New
TV & Digital News Magazine Program

"LinkAsia" combines official state news with social media and contributors
from China, Japan, Korea, India, Vietnam and more

San Francisco, Calif. -- Independent national satellite network Link TV has launched "LinkAsia," a new television and digital news magazine hosted by Yul Kwon (winner of "Survivor: Cook Islands"). The show airs Fridays at 6:30 pm PT, 9:30 pm ET (with weekend repeats) and streams on www.LinkAsia.org. "LinkAsia," a weekly half-hour roundup of culture, political and technology news from Asia, provides US audiences with official news from Asian nations' commercial and state-run TV networks, along with translated social media chatter and on-the-ground correspondent reporting from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Thailand, and Malaysia.  

As a transmedia project, the LinkAsia blog curates Asian news from around the world and includes news and analysis from expert contributors located in Asia and the U.S., such as award-winning investigative journalist David Bandurski from the China Media Project. Combining social media channels with stories from across the Asian region, LinkAsia's Twitter channel -- @LinkAsiaNews -- can also be found on Storify (storify.com/LinkAsiaNews), monitoring both US and Asian social media sites, including China's Sina Weibo, to publish stories generated by social media trends across the globe.  

"There's nothing else like this in US media," said Yul Kwon, LinkAsia host. "We're giving viewers a direct pulse into this incredibly dynamic area of the world by providing them with unfiltered news and perspectives."

The program's list of news providers includes CCTV (China), NHK (Japan), MBC and MBN (Korea), NDTV (India), VTV4 (Vietnam) and citizen journalism organization Global Voices Online. In addition to David Bandurski, correspondents include Charlie Custer of noted blog China Geeks; Ajoy Bose, veteran political reporter based in New Delhi; and Nguyen Qui Duc, Vietnamese author and reporter. George Lewinski, former senior editor at PRI's "The World" and foreign editor at NPR's "Marketplace," is the series producer; and Wendy Hanamura, former Tokyo-based correspondent and CBS news reporter, is executive producer.  

"This is a digital and broadcast news program that sits at the intersection of culture and journalism in Asia -- featuring news and stories directly from Asia," said Paul S. Mason, Link TV president and CEO.  "Our team is monitoring what's being reported and how it's being reported in China and Japan and beyond, not only in official news, but in social media across the region, to cultivate understanding about what's really happening over there -- and why it's deeply relevant to US audiences."

Funding for "LinkAsia" is provided by the John T. and Catherine D. MacArthur Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, and the Fund for Commonweal. The advisory team includes Maureen Fan (award-winning former Washington Post Beijing bureau chief), Clayton Dube (director of the USC U.S.-China Institute), Daniel Okimoto (Stanford University professor emeritus and co-founder of the Shorenstein-Asia/Pacific Research Center) and others.

Within the past several months, "LinkAsia" has covered ongoing reporting and analysis about stories including Kim Jung Il's death and the future of North Korea under new leadership, free speech and censorship in China, democracy across Asia, the ongoing investigation into the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, and Taiwan's enthusiasm about NBA phenomenon Jeremy Lin.  

For more information, visit www.LinkAsia.org, follow @LinkAsiaNews, and like Facebook.com/LinkAsia.

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ABOUT LINK MEDIA & LINK TV

Link Media uses media and the power of stories to engage, inform and inspire its audiences to participate in transformational, sustainable change on issues of global importance. Founded in 1999, Link Media operates the Link TV national network and the websites LinkTV.org and ViewChange.org. An independent and non-commercial media company, Link Media acquires, produces and delivers global news, documentaries and cultural programming over three distribution channels: broadcast, web, and mobile devices. 

A pioneer in news and current affairs programming, Link TV has been recognized for its original news programs including the Peabody Award-winning daily broadcast Mosaic: World News from the Middle East, which monitors and airs unedited selections of news reports from more than 43 Middle Eastern broadcasters. Link TV also offers original, innovative participatory programs promoting national and global citizen action.

Link TV is available as basic service on DIRECTV channel 375 and DISH Network channel 9410, reaching more than 35 million US households. Select Link TV programming also airs on 220 cable outlets, including in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, reaching an additional 22 million homes. For complete background information, program schedule and Internet streaming of many programs, go to LinkTV.org.

Follow on Twitter @linktv, and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LinkTV.