Caroline Aoyagi-Stom, executive editor of The Pacific Citizen, has announced her resignation.
In a June 13 email to her associates, she wrote, “I have made the difficult decision to resign from my position as Pacific Citizen executive editor effective June 22. I have enjoyed my many years here at the PC but I will be moving on to a new career opportunity. I will miss all the friendships that I have made here and hope that you will all keep in touch.”
Judith Aono, chair of the Pacific Citizen Editorial Board, told The Rafu Shimpo, “Caroline’s strong editorial skills, combined with her business acumen and ability to see and understand the changing trends in news gathering, have allowed PC to thrive under her leadership. JACL has been extremely fortunate to have had her as the PC’s executive editor and we wish her good luck in her new career.”
Aoyagi-Stom worked at The New Canadian before joining Pacific Citizen 15 years ago. In 2005, she and Assistant Editor Lydia Lin won New America Media awards recognizing excellence in writing.
The Pacific Citizen, the national newspaper of the Japanese American Citizens League, was established in 1929 as The Nikkei Shimin in San Francisco. The name was changed in 1931. During World War II, the newspaper continued to operate in Salt Lake City with Larry Tajiri as editor. In the early 1950s, it moved to Los Angeles and Harry Honda became the editor. Since the 1980s, the publication has gone through several staff changes and moved from Little Tokyo to Monterey Park and back again. Originally a weekly, it is now published semi-monthly, but has also established an online presence.