Deadline: March 25, 2018
Applications are open for the 2018 AAJA Voices Journalism Training Fellowship Program. The 2018 Voices program will take place August 5-12, 2018 at the Marriott Marquis Houston in Houston, Texas during the week of the 2018 AAJA National Convention.
AAJA Voices is a summer-long journalism training fellowship for undergraduate and graduate students. Now in its 28th year, Voices provides aspiring journalists with career-ready skills to succeed in the continually-evolving media landscape and mid-career journalists management opportunities. By nurturing relationships between students and professional volunteers, Voices also gives students the opportunity to tap into mentors’ networks and begin their own long-lasting relationships.
Voices is a rare opportunity for college students to develop multimedia and reporting skills in the company of industry professionals from all over the world. Just as newsrooms across the country are adjusting to smaller staffing and new technology, the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) has redesigned its student convention program to simulate the convergence newsroom of tomorrow. This innovative opportunity trains students and professionals before and during AAJA’s annual convention.
Students this year can expect to:
- Work in groups to complete a long-form news project or product that demonstrates their ability to do meaningful and in-depth work beyond what they would normally work on at a school paper or internship.
- Attend 10 remote trainings throughout the summer focusing on technical skills, reporting, design and development, networking, industry engagement, and more.
- Give a presentation of the student project to the AAJA membership at the AAJA National Convention in Houston.
- Write short-form blog posts and manage the digital distribution of their projects.
- Develop their collaboration skills in order to thrive in a modern newsroom.
- Develop a deep and lasting relationship with their editors, their mentors, and their class.
- Attend recruiting events and have the opportunity to meet with professional journalists during intimate lunches and conversations.
Eligibility
- Applicants must have a strong commitment to AAJA’s mission.
- Applicants must be enrolled as a full-time college or graduate student or recent graduate (within one year) with a serious interest in pursuing journalism as a career.
- Applicants must be available during AAJA’s 2018 National Convention in Houston the week of August 5-11, 2018. There will be additional preparations during the summer.
- Applicants must be 18 years of age or older.
- Applicants must not be a former participant in any AAJA Voices or college student projects with similar journalism organizations.
- AAJA membership is not required to apply; however, accepted students will have to sign up for student membership.
All selected participants must be available for travel (from within the U.S.) during those dates.
Selection Criteria
They are are looking for students who are interested in spending the summer producing a long-form, in-depth news project over the course of the summer. They want students who are excellent storytellers and who are interested in new technologies and story forms. Reporters, social media strategists, designers, developers, data engineers, podcasters, broadcasters, bloggers are all welcome to apply.
They are also looking for professionals who are interested in mentoring our students in their news project over the course of the summer. They are looking for professionals who are interested in growing as managers, training students, editing, and helping students network.
Application
Before you begin, please make sure you gather all of the information you will need. You will not be able to submit your application without:
- Your most recent college transcript (PDF or JPG only).
- A letter of recommendation from a supervisor at a journalism internship, a journalism publication advisor or college professor (PDF or JPG only).
- Four short essays answering the questions below (each no more than 300 words in length)
- What do you see your job title being in 5 years and why?
- Given your answer above, as a [job title], what are you exceptionally good at today? What specific skills are you looking to develop in your time with us?
- When you think about the journalism industry, what do you love most and want to preserve?
- When you think about the journalism industry, what do you think needs to be fixed?
- Your best work samples (see work sample guidelines on the application).
- Your resume
Questions? Contact Daniel Garcia at [email protected].
Complete the online application.
For more information, visit AAJA Voices.
