‘토킹 트랜지션’ 드블라지오 텐트치고 민의수렴

 
 


빌 드블라지오 뉴욕시장 당선자가 맨해튼 한복판에 텐트를 치고 민의를 수렴해 화제가 되고 있다.


‘토킹 트랜지션(Talking Transition)’으로 이름지어진 텐트는 유리지붕 형태로 맨해튼 캐널 스트릿과 6애버뉴사이에 지난 9일 설치돼 오는 23일까지 보름간 운영될 예정이다. 이번 이벤트는 내년 1월 시장 취임식을 앞둔 드블라지오 당선자의 정책 마련을 위해 뉴욕 시민들의 이야기를 반영하겠다는 적극적인 행보다.

 
 
 

 
특히 12일에는 한인 언론을 포함한 소수계 미디어를 위한 패널 토론회가 열려 관심을 모았다. 뉴욕은 인구의 60%가 이민자들로 이뤄졌고 200여 민족이 어울려 사는 ‘다인종 도시’인만큼 많은 소수계 미디어가 활동하고 있다.


다양한 소수민족들의 필요와 관심을 끌어내기 위해선 무엇보다 이들에게 큰 영향을 미치는 소수계 미디어의 목소리를 들을 필요가 있다는 것이 이날 토론회의 취지였다. 패널진엔 히스패닉 ‘라틴 트렌즈’의 후안 줄리엔 대표, 중국계 월드저널의 조우 웨이 편집장, 이번 행사를 주관한 소수계미디어센터(CCEM)의 새라 발렛 등이 참여했다.

 
  

 
현재 뉴욕의 대표적인 주류매체들의 독자에 대한 영향력은 상당히 낮은 편이다. 미국의 간판언론인 뉴욕타임스조차 대표적인 매체들조차 독자 비율이 인구대비 7%에 그칠만큼 낮은 편이다. 가판 판매율이 상당히 높은 양대 대중지 데일리뉴스와 뉴욕포스트도 각각 8%와 7%에 그치고 있다.


라디오의 경우 총 38개의 방송이 진행되고 있지만 역시 주류 방송들은 제한적인 청취자들에게만 다가갈 뿐이다. 거대 도시 뉴욕을 커버하는 것은 수많은 소수계 미디어들이다. 이민자뉴요커들은 언어문제와 문화관습, 맞춤형 정보의 필요에 의해 그 민족의 언어로 발행되는 신문에 의존하고 있다.

 
   

 
소수계 민족의 관심과 참여를 끌어내기 위해선 소수계 미디어들이 주류 매체 못지않게 많은 정보와 이야기들을 전달할 수 있도록 지원되야 한다는 목소리는 그래서 설득력이 있다.


후안 줄리엔 대표는 “사람들이 받아들이기 쉽도록 긍정적인 뉴스를 가능한 많이 커버해야 한다. 또한 독자들이 흥미로워할 주제를 파악하고 그것들을 각자의 언어로 번역해서 알리는 것도 소수미디어로서 중요한 일”이라고 말했다.

 
  

 
중국계 매체로 영향력을 확대하고 있는 월드 저널의 조우 웨이 편집장은 “소수계 매체들이 각자의 커뮤니티를 대신해서 그들의 목소리를 제대로 전달할 때 그 파급력은 어마어마할 것”이라며 “중국 이민자들이 새로운 시장에 대한 기대와 걱정을 기사를 통해 해석하고 그에 대한 반응을 전달되도록 하고 있다”고 말했다.

 
  

 
소수계미디어센터의 새라 발렛은 “드블라지오 시정부가 약속한 공공서비스 예산이 소수계에 제대로 전달될지 우려된다. 뉴욕시엔 28%의 히스패닉이 거주하는데 고작 4%만이 드블라지오의 공약 기사들을 접하고 있다”고 지적했다.


이와 관련, 새로운 시정부가 소수민족을 타겟으로 한 시정홍보광고 비중을 늘리고 해당민족의 언어로 정보가 서비스되는 기회를 늘려줄 것을 요청했다.

 
 
 

 
‘토킹 트랜지션’ 캠프에 참여한 한 기자는 “소외되기 쉬운 소수계를 포함해 다양한 시민들의 이슈들을 제시하고 문제점과 해결책을 고민하는 기회가 되고 있다”고 긍정적으로 평가했다.


‘토킹 트랜지션’엔 시민들의 참여는 물론, 시 공무원들과 각종 단체관계자들을 초청되며 행사기간중 취합된 시민의 목소리가 드블라지오 당선자에게 전달될 예정이다.


뉴욕=노정훈특파원 newsroh@gmail.com


 
 

 
<꼬리뉴스>


Bill De Blasio born in Manhattan


De Blasio was born Warren Wilhelm, Jr. in Manhattan, New York, the son of Maria (née De Blasio) and Warren Wilhelm. His father had German ancestry, and his maternal grandparents, Giovanni and Anna, were Italian immigrants from the city of Sant'Agata de' Goti in the province of Benevento (where his mother's surname is spelled with a capital "D" — De Blasio). He was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. De Blasio has stated that he was 7 years old when his father first left home and 8 years old when his parents divorced.


In an April 2012 interview, de Blasio described his upbringing: "[My dad] was an officer in the Pacific in the army, [and] in an extraordinary number of very, very difficult, horrible battles, including Okinawa…And I think honestly, as we now know about veterans who return, [he] was going through physically and mentally a lot… He was an alcoholic, and my mother and father broke up very early on in the time I came along, and I was brought up by my mother’s family — that’s the bottom line — the de Blasio family." In September 2013, de Blasio revealed that his father committed suicide in 1979 while suffering from incurable lung cancer.


In 1983 he legally changed his name to Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm, which he described in April 2012: "I started by putting the name into my diploma, and then I hyphenated it legally when I finished NYU, and then, more and more, I realized that was the right identity." By the time he appeared on the public stage in 1990, he was using the name Bill de Blasio as he explained he had been called "Bill" or "Billy" in his personal life. He did not legally change over to this new name until 2002, when the discrepancy was noted during an election.


De Blasio received a B.A. from New York University majoring in metropolitan studies, a program in urban studies with courses such as Politics of Minority Groups and The Working Class Experience, and a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He is a 1981 Harry S. Truman Scholar.

 
 
De Blasio Family www.en.wikipedia.org

Early career


De Blasio's first job was part of the Urban Fellows Program for the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice in 1984.] In 1987, shortly after completing graduate school at Columbia University, de Blasio was hired to work as a political organizer by the Quixote Center in Maryland. In 1988 de Blasio traveled with the Quixote Center to Nicaragua for 10 days to help distribute food and medicine during the Nicaraguan Revolution. De Blasio was an ardent supporter of the ruling Sandinista government, which was at that time opposed by the Reagan administration.


After returning from Nicaragua, de Blasio moved to New York City where he worked for a nonprofit organization focused on improving health care in Central America. De Blasio continued to support the Sandinistas in his spare time, joining a group called the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, which held meetings and fundraisers for the Sandinista political party. De Blasio's introduction to City politics came during David Dinkins' 1989 mayoral campaign, for which he was a volunteer coordinator. Following the campaign, de Blasio served as an aide in City Hall.


In 1997, he was appointed to serve as the Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for New York and New Jersey under the administration of President Bill Clinton. As the tri-state region’s highest-ranking HUD official, de Blasio led a small executive staff and took part in outreach to residents of substandard housing. In 1999, he was elected a member of Community School Board 15. He was tapped to serve as campaign manager for Hillary Rodham Clinton's successful United States Senate bid in 2000.[20]


New York City Council (2001–2009)


In 2001, de Blasio decided to run for the New York City Council's 39th district, which includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of: Borough Park, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Kensington, Park Slope, and Windsor Terrace. He won the crowded primary election with 32% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Republican Robert A. Bell by 71%–17%. In 2003, he won re-election to a second term with 72% of the vote. In 2005, he won re-election to a third term with 83% of the vote.


On the City Council, de Blasio passed legislation to prevent landlord discrimination against tenants who hold federal housing subsidy vouchers, and helped pass the HIV/AIDS Housing Services law, improving housing services for low income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. As head of the City Council’s General Welfare Committee, de Blasio helped pass the Gender-Based Discrimination Protection law to protect transgender New Yorkers, and passed the Domestic Partnership Recognition Law to ensure that same sex couples in a legal partnership could enjoy the same legal benefits as heterosexual couples in New York City. During his tenure, the General Welfare Committee also passed the Benefits Translation for Immigrants Law, which helped non-English speakers access free language assistance services when accessing government programs.


www.en.wikipedia.org