May 29, 2025
Newsletter

Congratulations to all of AAJA's 2025 Journalism Excellence Awards recipients! There were over 40 awardees across our 26 categories. Explore their pieces and the full list of recipients and honorable mentions at awards.aaja.org.

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS

• Congratulations to all of our 2025 Journalism Excellence Award recipients! 
• Learn more about our 2025 fall/winter scholarship, internship, and fellowship recipients
• Don't miss the Wednesday, June 4 deadline for #AAJA25 early bird registration!
• 🌟 How Chenue Her became the country's first Hmong male anchor

From AAJA-HQ: Congratulations to our fall/winter scholarship recipients, snag your early bird registration today

Journalism Excellence Awards Thank you for celebrating our 2025 Journalism Excellence Award recipients with us! This year’s honorees embody AAJA’s mission through impactful, community-centered reporting. Explore their work and view the full list of awardees and honorable mentions at awards.aaja.org.

2025 Fall/winter scholarship recipients Congratulations to our 2025 fall/winter scholarship, internship, and fellowship recipients! Learn more about these students and emerging journalists here.

2025 Summer scholarship recipients Congratulations to our NBCU summer internship recipients – Colette Holcomb, Arpita Dasika, Emily Kim, Blair Bao, Iris Araki, An Ngo, Julie Huynh, Shreya Srinivasan, and Sabrina Lam – and our Jimmie & Suey Fong Yee Grant recipients Heather Chen and Ira Gorawara.

#AAJA25 Early bird registration ends Wednesday, June 4! Register today.

• Sponsorship Join us in Seattle! Check out our prospectus to learn about sponsorship and partnership opportunities. Email sponsorship@aaja.org to get involved.
• Room block AAJA’s room block at the Sheraton Grand Seattle is currently sold out, but rooms often open up closer to convention. In the meantime, please check our FAQ for a list of nearby hotels.
• Funding opportunities AAJA members can get discounted #AAJA25 registration by either signing up to volunteer or applying for our $230 opportunity rate. Log into your account and click the “#AAJA25” tab, or join AAJA to become eligible.
• Career center
  • Attendees: Make the most of #AAJA25 and upload your resume to the Career Center! Even if you're not actively job hunting, it's a great way to stay visible and connected.
  • Employers: Interested in having your opportunity filled by the talented AAJA community? Make sure to list it on the AAJA Career Center.

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.

AAJA-Texas held an AAPI heritage month happy hour on Tuesday, May 20 at Loro Smokehouse & Bar.

May 31 | AAJA-D.C.’s Spring Picnic | Join AAJA- D.C. for their spring picnic at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. at 2 p.m. ET.

June 7 | AAJA-New York’s Little Manila Tour | Join AAJA-New York for a guided walking tour of New York City’s Little Manila in Queens from 1-3 p.m. ET.

June 20 | AAJA+'s Talk with Lori Matsukawa | Join AAJA+ for a conversation with Lori Matsukawa about her new book “The Brave Mrs. Sato" at 6 p.m. PT. More details will be coming soon.

👏 AAJA Kudos to...

• Kimi Yoshino, who joins The Washington Post as Managing Editor after serving as the founding Baltimore Banner editor-in-chief since 2022.
• Amna Nawaz, who was awarded a 2025 Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
• Sudeep Reddy, who was named MSNBC’s first Washington Bureau Chief.
• Rosie Nguyen, who joins Rice University as the Director of Communications and Projects in Free Expression.
• Juhi Doshi, AAJA/White House Correspondents’ Association Scholarship recipient '23, who was promoted to associate producer for NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” 
• Diamy Wang, VOICES 2025 fellow, Ira Gorawara, Jimmie & Suey Fong Yee Grant recipient ‘25, who joined the Los Angeles Times’ 2025 summer intern class.
• Tanka Dhakal, ELP Asia ‘22 and Jordan Pettiford, JCamp ‘21, who joined NLGJA’s 2025 CONNECT Student Journalism Training Project cohort.
• Lily Speredelozzi, VOICES ‘24, who will join the Tampa Bay Times as a summer photojournalism intern. 
• AAJA members, and supporters who are finalists in the LA Press Club SoCal Journalism Awards, including Mallory Carra, Renee Eng, Ringo Chiu, David Ono, Jireh Deng, Soobin Kim, Deepa Bharath, Terry Tang, Lisa Fung, Tadashi Nakamura, Nic Cha Kim, Robert J. Lopez, Elaine Low, Aarne Heikkila, Jessica Prois, Ricardo Nagaoka, Julie Patel Liss, and Kimmy Yam. 
• AAJA student members and program alumni who are finalists in the LA Press Club SoCal Journalism Awards, including Anne To, Kevin Lee, Jenny Marquez, Runyu Li, Delilah Brumer, Ethan Huang, Katelyn Do, and Jamie Chun. 
• Matthew Ho, Jimmie & Suey Fong Yee Grant recipient ‘24, who received second place in the sports feature category and fifth place in labor reporting from the California News Publishers Association.
• Mo Damtew, JCamp ‘24 and Riya Sharma, VOICES 2025 fellow, who were winners in AAJA-Portland’s 2025 diversity and inclusion awards.
• Vincent Edward Hsiao, a JCamp 2025 student, who was selected to join the 2025 Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference cohort.

On Our List 🌟📺📸📰🎧

• “Cambodia’s ‘Day of Remembrance’ marks the 50th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge genocide” by Sopheng Cheang, Associated Press
• “His great-grandfather enshrined birthright citizenship. Norman Wong is trying to save it.” by David Nakamura, ELP ‘98 and "Intersections: A Journalistic History of Asian Pacific America" contributor, The Washington Post
• “An AAPI dance company celebrating the ‘melting pot that the United States is’” by Magee Hickey, PIX11
• “Paper, Passion, and Pride: The Rise of The Asian American Zine” by Aorui Pi, AAJA HQ National Summer intern ‘23, Radii
• “A queer rent boy and a Filipina immigrant keep their California dreams alive in ‘Califas Trilogy’” by Amanda L. Andrei, Los Angeles Times
• “‘I Was Having a Good Time’: How Did a Small Town in South Texas Get Hit With Two Oil Spills?” by Alex Ip, The Xylom
• "WNBA coach Natalie Nakase making history with Valkyries" by Xuan Thai, Journalism Excellence Award recipient '24, ESPN 
• “AMAZN sports showcase highlights Asian Americans” by James Chung, AsAmNews

AAJA Opportunities:

• *Deadline approaching* AsAmNews-AAJA Broadcast Task Force Internship | Apply to this paid, 15-week internship by Friday, May 30.
• *Deadline approaching* IJA / AAJA Pacific Islander Scholarship | Apply to our joint scholarship with the Indigenous Journalists Association by Saturday, May 31.
• *Deadline approaching* Corky Lee/Dith Pran Asian American Photo Contest | Submit images taken during this year’s Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) month by Saturday, June 7.
• Futures Fund | Donate to AAJA’s Futures Fund, an endowment campaign that will ensure that AAJA can pursue its mission as long as necessary.

External and Partner Opportunities:

Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser

You are receiving this email because you are an AAJA member or supporter. We recently moved to a different email server. If you previously unsubscribed, you can update your subscription preferences below.