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Image from "Ivy Dreams" courtesy of AZN

News: Healthcare Woes; AZN Over, Out

Healthcare in L.A. Still Limited by Language, Comcast Pulls the Plug on AZN Television

Language Health Hazard for 2.5 Million

The Los Angeles County healthcare system may be falling short of a federal requirement to provide language assistance where needed to patients, in spite of steps in that direction, according to a report released in March 2008 by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. More than 2.5 million county residents face language barriers that could limit their access to healthcare, according to the "L.A. Speaks" report, which is based on U.S. Census data. The report calls for support for community opportunities to learn English and for additional interpretation services. Last year the county approved the hiring of nine full-time interpreters and the use of videoconferencing technology to give hospitals access to additional off-site interpreters. —Analee Pepper

Asian Voices Go Silent on Basic Cable

Today, on April 9, 2008, AZN Television, the primary outlet on basic cable for Asian-language programming, aired its last broadcast. In Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, as well as English, AZN's shows targeted young Americans of Asian descent and also reached immigrants. Cable television giant Comcast Corp. cited financial concerns and a lack of growth in AZN's audience of 13.9 million last January in announcing its decision to shut down the network, four years after acquiring it from Liberty Media. Through its International Networks subsidiary, Comcast operates subscription channels in many of the same Asian languages. AZN offered soap operas, movies, anime, music, sitcoms, cooking shows, and news. —Ani Mazmanian

Date Posted: 4/9/2008