February 6, 2025
Newsletter

Community and Journalism Excellence awardees are honored at #AAJA24's gala in Austin, Texas (L-R) Rachel Ramirez, Lam Thuy Vo and Mai Như Bùi, Cynthia Liu, Jeong Park, Cindy Chang, Anh Do, and AAJA Board President Nicole Dungca, Pramod Acharya, and Sisi Wei. Submit your work for a Journalism Excellence Award by Wednesday, Feb. 12.
(Photos by: Darrell Miho)

Last chance to submit to AAJA's 2025 Awards

Want to know what makes a strong AAJA Journalism Excellence Award submission? Take a look at our recent Q&A with Awards judges. It covers everything from how to explain your work to best practices for highlighting its impact. Read the Q&A on awards.aaja.org and submit your work to our Journalism Excellence Awards by Wednesday, Feb. 12.

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS

 

From AAJA-HQ: Awards deadline approaching, register today for our ELP AMA session

ELP There’s less than a week left to register for our AMA session on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. ET! Join us to learn more about the program, the application process, and our new funding opportunities.

#AAJA25 Join us in Seattle! Check out our prospectus to learn about sponsorship and partnership opportunities, and contact sponsorship@aaja.org to get involved.

Resources AAJA provides resources to journalists affected by recent layoffs. Some of our resources include consideration for waived membership fees and our career center that allows journalists to find job postings and connect with recruiters. Read the full statement here.

 

🗓 AAJA Events

Visit our events calendar on AAJA's website for more chapter events.

February 8 | AAJA-D.C.’s Lunar New Year Potluck | Join AAJA-D.C. for their annual Lunar New Year potluck at 6:30 p.m. ET.

February 22 | AAJA-Sacramento’s Dim Sum Mixer | Join AAJA-Sacramento for their Lunar New Year dim sum mixer at Ming Dynasty at 11 a.m. PT.

February 22 | AAJA-Los Angeles’ Lunar New Year Event | Join AAJA-Los Angeles for their Lunar New Year celebration at East Garden Restaurant from 6-9 p.m. PT. 

February 22 | AAJA-Atlanta’s Student + Early Career Journalism Workshop | Join AAJA-Atlanta for their workshop at CNN from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET.

March 1 | AAJA-Seattle’s Lunar New Year Banquet | Join AAJA-Seattle for their 2025 Lunar New Year banquet at Washington Hall from 6-9 p.m. PT.

March 1 | AAJA-New England’s UNIFY Career Summit | Join AAJA-New England for their UNIFY career summit at Emerson College from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET. 

March 8 | AAJA-D.C.’s Virtual Crash Course | Join AAJA-D.C. for their 8-week virtual crash course on political journalism.

 

📓 News & Resources

perspective Kathy Im, the MacArthur Foundation’s Director of Journalism and Media, is sounding the alarm on the growing need to protect a free and independent press amid a global surge in threats against journalists.

statement Ja’Ronn Alex, TV reporter for KKCO 11 in Colorado, shares details from when he was physically assaulted in a racist attack. In December 2024, AAJA strongly condemned the harassment and physical assault in a statement, and called on newsrooms to protect journalists, especially those from marginalized communities.

study Following the recent LA wildfires, UCLA researchers and AAPI Equity Alliance found that Asian American communities faced significant language barriers. Researchers urge policymakers to expand language assistance to ensure equitable emergency response and safety for non-English speaking residents.

mental health palabra, NAHJ’s multimedia platform, explores how journalists of color are often assigned traumatic stories without proper support, forcing many out of the industry. The article examines journalist Laura Gómez Rodríguez's experience and reflects on shifting newsroom culture around mental health.

resource The latest AAJA/AAPI Data/AP-NORC survey examines Asian American views on the direction of the economy, immigration, and Trump’s favorability. Read the full report here and watch the webinar here.

 

On Our List 🌟📺📸📰🎧

Recovery crews working at the crash site on the Potomac River (Photo: Kent Nishimura / The New York Times)

  • 📺 “Corky Lee's quest for ‘photographic justice’” by John Lee, CBS News
  • “They lost everything in the Palisades fire. Then, someone stole their identities” by Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times
  • “A Boy, His Parents and a Sudden Void in Fairfax” by Amy Qin and Juliet Macur, The New York Times
  • “Bay Area Japanese Americans Draw on WWII Trauma to Resist Deportation Threats” by Cecilia Lei, KQED
  • “Maps, videos show area of D.C. plane crash, massive recovery effort” by Hannah Dormido, N. Kirkpatrick, Álvaro Valiño, Amaya Verde, Jenny Gathright and William Neff, with contributions from Andrew Ba Tran, The Washington Post
  • 📺 “'Catastrophic' education cuts could hit Trump's base” by Kyung Lah, CNN
  • “Lunar New Year greetings can be fun but stressful. Here’s a guide.” by Marian Chia-Ming Liu and Helier Cheung, The Washington Post
  • “Fireworks and Family Feasts Kick Off Year of the Snake” by Yan Zhuang and Amy Chang Chien, The New York Times
 

👏 AAJA Kudos to...

 

Opportunities  
Visit AAJA Careers or follow @AAJACareers on X to post jobs or internships and stay up-to-date on available positions. Check in with your AAJA chapters for more opportunities. 

AAJA Opportunities:

  • *Deadline approaching* Mentor Match | Apply to AAJA’s year-long mentoring program as a mentor or a mentee by Friday, Feb. 7.
  • *Deadline approaching* AAJA’s Awards | Submit your 2024 work for AAJA’s Awards by Wednesday, Feb. 12. 
  • *Deadline approaching* AAJA’s Scholarships | Apply to our 2025 scholarship, internship, and fellowship opportunities. Most of the scholarships in this round have a Friday, Feb. 14 deadline, but please check each individual opportunity for its deadline.
  • ELP | Apply to AAJA’s Executive Leadership Program for journalism and media professionals by Friday, Feb. 28. Don’t forget to check out our funding opportunities.
  • VOICES | Apply to AAJA’s multimedia journalism training fellowship for college and graduate students by Friday, March 7. 
  • AAJA-Sacramento Internship with The Sacramento Bee | Apply to AAJA-Sacramento’s internship program with The Sacramento Bee by Saturday, March 15. 
  • Futures Fund | Donate to AAJA’s Futures Fund, an endowment campaign that will ensure that AAJA can pursue its mission as long as necessary.
  • AAJA-Asia N3Con | Take AAJA-Asia’s feedback survey to help them plan programs for N3Con 2025.

External and Partner Opportunities:

 

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