SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Jul 1, 2011) - The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) today announced the 20 college students selected from across the country for Voices, a program held at AAJA's annual national convention. Voices pairs student and professional journalists to cover the convention. The program will be held August 7-August 13 at the Detroit COBO center in Detroit, MI. Voices will be celebrating its 20-year anniversary in Detroit.
"Employers are demanding journalists who can do it all, so Voices prepares its student staff to enter your newsrooms with a strong grounding in journalistic principles and the ability to use the latest technology," said Doris Truong, AAJA National President. "The working journalists who coach and mentor the young Voices staff are innovative leaders. Our students aren't afraid to ask probing questions and push for the full story. I'm eager for the steady stream of Voices updates that will come out of AAJA's 22nd-annual convention in Detroit."
College students are selected based on their academics, experience with new technology and vision for what they want to do in journalism. They range from seniors in high school to graduate students, hailing from such schools as the University of California: Berkeley, Northwestern and Arizona State. The students selected are listed at: http://tinyurl.com/voicesstudents
Since 1990, Voices has given aspiring college students the opportunity to be mentored by professionals in covering the convention and AAPI community. As technology has evolved so has the way people consume news. Voices has adapted to these changes by reformatting the program into a convergence newsroom. For the last several years, Voices provides a "mojo" (mobile journalism) training program for students. They participate in pre-convention training with interactive online courses in interviewing, multimedia, and visual and audio techniques.
"Voices is the answer for the evolving industry," said Marian Liu, Voices volunteer director. "Every student and editor is now required to produce and edit in each media. And we have a proven record, with alumni writing for The Wall Street Journal, working for the governor of Hawaii and marketing for Yahoo. Voices is now on its third generation of staff."
Voices 2011 is made possible through support from the Detroit Media Partnership, Marketwire, Southwest Airlines, Toyota, ABC 7 WXYZ Detroit, The Plain Dealer, Hyundai, the Associated Press, alumni and individual AAJA members.
The Asian American Journalists Association is a non-profit professional and educational organization with more than 1,400 members across the United States and in Asia. Founded in 1981, AAJA has been at the forefront of change in the journalism industry. AAJA's mission is to encourage Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to enter the ranks of journalism, to work for fair and accurate coverage of AAPIs, and to increase the number of AAPI journalists and news managers in the industry. AAJA is an alliance partner in UNITY Journalists of Color, along with the Native American Journalists Association, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and National Association of Black Journalists. For more information, visit www.aaja.org.
AAJA is an alliance partner in UNITY: Journalists of Color, along with the Native American Journalists Association and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.