Just as newsrooms across the country are adjusting to operate with smaller staffing and new technology, the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) has redesigned its convention project to simulate the convergence newsroom of today. This innovative program will provide multimedia training opportunities to students and professionals at the 2009 AAJA National Convention.
AAJA’s National Convention will be held Aug. 12-15, 2009 at the Seaport Hotel and Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. The Convention News Project team arrives Aug. 10 and departs Aug. 16.
Applications will be made available in January, as AAJA conducts national outreach to identify 12 students and 12 professionals. They will work as a team over seven days on-site to cover the convention this summer as “mojo” (mobile journalism) reporters in audio and video, web/print designers, photographers, multimedia producers, and copy editors.
From the applications, 20 of the most promising students will be selected as finalists and given the opportunity for building skills and developing their portfolios. They will participate in pre-convention training that will include interactive online courses in interviewing, multimedia, ethics, and an option of visual and audio techniques. They will also be given pre-convention assignments covering issues related to the journalism industry today and/or the Asian American/Pacific Islander community. Of those students, 12 will be selected to cover convention, with travel and hotel accommodations provided.
Professionals are being selected based on their ability to mentor and teach, as well as their experience in news editing, production and design. For some, this will also be an opportunity for direct experience with mojo reporting.
AAJA’s Convention News Project team will cover the latest news about journalists, the state and future of the industry, and how the newsroom changes affect the community. Their works will be featured and updated around the clock on the convention website and in magazine-style publications to be distributed to convention attendees.
The 2009 Convention News Project director is Marian Liu, a Seattle Times reporter who practices mobile journalism.
For more information about sponsoring AAJA’s Convention News Project, contact Janice Lee, AAJA deputy executive director, atJaniceL@aaja.org. For more information about national opportunities for students, contact Nao Vang, AAJA student programs coordinator, at programs@aaja.org.
Please download and complete application. Click here. (http://www.aaja.org/programs/for_students/journalism_trainings/)
Thank you for your time and commitment to diversity in our newsrooms and in news coverage.
Regards,
Nao Vang
Student Programs Coordinator
Asian American Journalists Association
415-346-2051 x102