AAJA: Asian American Journalists Association


25th Anniversary

AAJA Co-Founder's Message: "We Can Make the Next 25 Years Even Better." For the 25th anniversary of AAJA, co-founder Bill Sing wrote a message for the AAJA event in Los Angeles October 20, 2006.

In June, AAJA produced a 25th anniversary commemorative publication, which was first available at the 2006 national convention.

AAJA 25th anniversary commemorative publication

If you did not receive a copy at convention, it is free for members who request it by email to national@aaja.org. Non-members in the U.S. are asked to send a $5-10 donation per copy to:

AAJA National
Commemorative Publication
1182 Market St., Suite 320
San Francisco, CA 94102

Some highlights of the full-color publication:

  • Historical overview and list of AAJA presidents and EDs
  • Map of AAJA chapters
  • Convention book covers
  • "The Faces of AAJA" photo scrapbook
  • "We must evolve or risk dying" by Lisa Chung
  • "The future of AAJA? 'You're looking at it'" by Aldrich M. Tan
  • "Here's to a bright future" by Esther Wu
  • "AAJA is like a second family to me" by Kimberly A. Moy
  • "Working together for a common cause" by Mae Cheng
  • and much more!

2006 marks AAJA's 25th year. We'll post tidbits of historical information, testimony and photos, so please visit again. If you have any interesting relevant stories, anecdotes or photographs, please send email.

Quotes from members

"I got my first paid job in TV news after meeting the news director at an AAJA convention. I've also met several good friends through AAJA -- people I intend to keep in touch with for life." Julie Tam, News Reporter, WDRB-TV Fox 41, Louisville, KY

"AAJA members have proffered a helping hand when I was deep in despair over job loss. AAJA members have helped me celebrate the good times. Through my 20-plus years in the news business, I have lived in many cities, and an AAJA Chapter has always been within reach, so I have never felt alone or lonely. Through AAJA's next 25 years, I hope we can continue to succor and sustain members through what promises to be extremely difficult times in our profession." Carolyn Ayon Lee, AAJA L.A. member; founding vice president of the New York Chapter, former National Board member (1987 - 1990), former Washington, D.C., Chapter treasurer.

"AAJA is the sole reason that I am pursuing my dreams today. The dream to be a television personality has always been buried in me, deep beneath layers of insecurities and lack of direction as I succumbed to logic. It's only because of AAJA's conventions, people and living example that I am able to acknowledge my dream. In all honesty, if AAJA was not in my life, I wouldn't be anywhere near the television industry right now. Thank you." Jeanette M. Eng

"AAJA has been there for me throughout my career. AAJA scholarships in college provided much needed encouragement to pursue a career that my father had difficulty accepting. Serving on the national board and in leadership roles in local chapters was my way to give back to an organization that gave me so much. The friendships and memories that I have reaped from being involved in AAJA for the past 18 years were priceless. Every time I moved to a new job, I knew there was a support network for me to tap into." Sandy Louey, Reporter for The Sacramento Bee, AAJA Sacramento co-chapter president (former national scholarship winner, former national board member, 1998 ELP graduate, former Texas chapter vice-president, member of reporting staff of first AAJA convention newspaper, The Daily AAJenda.

"Back in AAJA's first several years, I had the honor of receiving a couple of scholarships from AAJA. And that was a huge blessing. Of course, it was a financial help, but it was a tremendous encouragement. As a college student, you carry all of these dreams, hoping and wondering if you will really make it in the highly competitive news business. And to receive the support from an organization full of people you admire means the world. I remember that at one of the scholarship awards receptions at KPIX TV in San Francisco, then-KPIX TV anchor Wendy Tokuda made us promise to one day return the favor by mentoring the next generation of aspiring Asian American journalists. I am keeping my promise. It all started with AAJA. And now, I'm reporting at the very station where I made that promise many years ago." Sharon Chin, general assignment reporter, KPIX TV.

"I loved being part of the convention new media project. I've always wanted to learn more about multimedia, and there couldn't have been a better way to do it than through AAJALink. In one place, I had access to plenty of toys (e.g., audio recorders & fancy digital cameras), multimedia programs, and such knowledgeable and dedicated project mentors who stayed up until odd hours of the night to help with any questions we had. The experience showed me how user-friendly and inexpensive some very effective multimedia pieces can be--and at the same time, how complicated and time-consuming others can be (but the end products are so amazing!). I was primarily interested in print journalism before convention, but now when I look into internships and jobs, I always research the publication's online multimedia and ask them about how open they are to using more of it. AAJALink got me addicted to this new media stuff. "
-- Cathy Tran, participant in the online student project at the 2005 AAJA National Convention

"The student project was a genuine experience that not only shaped my vision of what I was doing... but also where I needed to go. The experiences I had and people I met in Minnesota will resonate with me for the rest of my career and subsequently my life. Opportunities like the AAJA student project gave me a first-hand knowledge of what the news business is, what it can be, and where it needs to go. "
-- Cameron Kim, participant in the TV student project at the 2005 AAJA National Convention

"The convention project last year helped me narrow my focus within the TV news business. At the same time, I gained valuable experience which I carried over to my internship the following month and was quite successful. I can't thank AAJA more for giving me this priceless opportunity! "
-- Amer Nabil, participant in the TV student project at the 2005 AAJA National Convention. After the convention, Nabil served as an intern at WCBS-TV Weather in New York and interned the following semester as a general assignment reporter for Cablevision News, New York.