Vietnamese American Media Expo 2007

2nd Annual
Vietnamese American Media Expo
May 18, 2007
HCCS Conference & Training Center
Houston, Texas

SPEAKERS

Vu Thanh Thuy, CEO Radio Saigon Houston and Editor-in-Chief Saigon Weekly News
Panelist: Discussion 4 (Don't do it alone - partner up!)

Vu Thanh Thuy helped co-founded Radio Saigon Houston 900 AM in 1999, hoping to create a source of strength in the community that would engage and unite the voices of Houston’s Vietnamese community. It also provided a channel for the outside community to reach the Vietnamese. She and Mr. Duong Phuc envisioned a medium that would provide this fast-growing community with a reliable and cohesive source of community information.

Their determination and vision turned an operation of five employees into a corporation that now employs 35 staff members and 70 contributing programmers, making Radio Saigon Houston 900 AM one of the leading Asian stations in Houston. Many local professionals and well-established personalities of Houston have become contributing program producers who volunteer their time. The Radio’s popular programs are simulcast to Dallas-Fort Worth and Arlington in Texas, Orange County and San Jose/Bay Area in California.

Thuy, who worked as a newspaper and radio journalist covering the Vietnam War, was awarded the Silver Star for Valor in War in 1970 and the Best War Report by the Vietnam Press Corps in 1972.

In 1980, she wrote an open letter to the international press about the story of the “boat people,” which was read at a United Nations News Conference in Thailand in 1980. She and her husband became internationally known for their lead role in the Boat People SOS Committee, whose missions at sea rescued more than three thousand freedom-seeking refugees in the 80s and 90s.

Thuy has been recognized in national media such as Time magazine and New York Times for her humanitarian contributions. She has received numerous awards, including, 21st Century Woman Award; Roger Joseph Prize, International Human Rights Award; Woman of Achievement; Entrepreneur of the Year 2002 and 2004; Asian Woman in the Media; Asian Business Leadership Award 2006 and AAJA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.