ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the 2012 Present/Future Summit and how participants implicitly and explicitly make sense of an "Asian American media" within the often unspoken historical background of Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) and its mission. While "Asian American media" can be defined by its content (movies, television shows, YouTube videos, and film festivals), the chapter focuses on the discussions and debates about its past, current, and future possibilities. The chapter suggests analyzing organized events that address Asian American media makers and organizations through public sphere theory, which emphasizes attending to the circulation of ideas via debate and discussion. It briefly draws upon public sphere, particularly public modality, and rhetorical theory to situate the Summit as a persuasive event about the direction and mission of Asian American media. The chapter asserts the value of conceptualizing Asian American media organizations and their events as sites of Asian American public vernacular discourses.
