High School Students Selected for 'J Camp'

Revised June 22, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media contact:

Rene Astudillo
AAJA Executive Director
(415) 346-2051
ReneA@aaja.org

SAN FRANCISCO (June 11, 2007) -- The Asian American Journalists Association today announced the 42 high school students selected for "J Camp," a free six-day training camp that brings together a multicultural group of high school students from across the nation to sharpen their journalism skills and work together in a unique learning environment. This one-of-a-kind program will consist of interactive workshops, hands-on training, and field trips. This year's J Camp will be held July 27-August 1, 2007, at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida.

"On the surface, this may seem like an odd time to encourage young people to get into journalism with professionals scratching their heads over the future of our business. But that's exactly why programs like J Camp are so important right now," said Neal Justin, co-director of J Camp and TV critic with the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "It's highly likely that the leaders for the next generation will be among our graduates and they will pave the way for a new generation of journalists, just as William Randolph Hearst did for newspapers and Edward R. Murrow did for television. The difference this time around is that it's vital that diversity be a part of the next chapter of journalism and I'm proud that J Camp is playing a role in assuring that."

Since the first J Camp in 2001, 251 talented young people have graduated from J Camp. J Camp program strives to help assure excellence in the profession for decades to come by encouraging students from diverse backgrounds to choose journalism as a career. With a diverse team, readers and viewers get different views on city governments, human interest stories, entertainment and recreation, science and medicine, and national and international news.

J Camp 2007 is co-directed by Clea Benson, senior writer at CQ Weekly, Congressional Quarterly's weekly magazine in Washington, D.C. Faculty are professional journalists: Mark Angeles of the Newark Star-Ledger, Josh Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post, Kyndell Harkness of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Cary Hernandez of NBC 6/WTVJ, Angie Lau of WEWS in Ohio; and Chris Macias of The Sacramento Bee.

J Camp participants will also hear from speakers such as: CBS News correspondent Joie Chen, Sports Illustrated photo editor James Colton, Poynter Institute's Roy Peter Clark, ABC-TV's Robin Roberts of "Good Morning America," CNN's Richard Liu, NPR's Alison Stewart, Wall Street Journal's Teri Agins, Knight Foundation's Alberto Ibarguen, Victoria Lim of WFLA-TV in Tampa, Paul Cheung of The Miami Herald, and The Oregonian's Peter Bhatia.

The 42 students selected are:

Carlo Acenas, Burlingame High School, Burlingame, CA
Mercedes Akinseye, Apple Valley High School, Apple Valley, MN
Jana Andrews, Crossroads, Scottsdale, AZ
Branden Asemah, Middle College High School, Memphis, TN
Tyler Brandon, Lincoln International School Buenos Aires, Washington D.C.
Alexa Bryant, H.W. Blake High School, Tampa, FL
Monica DeSantiago, R.L. Paschal High School, Fort Worth, TX
Nelly Desmarattes, Rockville High School, Rockville, MD
Jiakun Ding, Hunter College High School, Rego Park, NY
Christy Duan, Novi High School, Novi, MI
Caroline Flores, Foster High School, Richmond, TX
Huan He, North Platte High School, North Platte, NE
Ruolin Hou, Central High School, Springfield, MO
Shivani Khanna, University Laboratory High School, Champaign, IL
Natalie King, Moanalua High School, Honolulu, HI
Ayeeshik Kole, Atholton High School, Columbia, MD
Aakash Kumar, Plano Senior High School, Plano, TX
Jeffrey Lee, Whitney High School, Cerritos, CA
Matt Leung, Woodbridge High School, Irvine, CA
Raven Maragh, Metro Christian Academy, Tulsa, OK
Yvonne Marquez, Mission High School, Mission, TX
Taylor Mirfendereski, Olentangy Liberty High School, Powell, OH
Kathy Modesto, School for the Physical City, New York, NY
Nicolette Muniz, Edgewood Academy, San Antonio, TX
Tujuan Netters, Dr. David Meyer High School, Tempe, AZ
Sarah Nguyen, Mansfield High School, Mansfield, TX
Brian Ochuko, St. Pius X, Lilburn, GA
Nina Onsager, Fairview High School, Louisville, CO
Jesus Quinones, Thoreau High School, Thoreau, NM
Catherine Roberts, Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences, Tulsa, OK
Hannah Ryu, Jericho High School, Westbury, NY
Alyssa Sakurai, Arcadia High School, Scottsdale, AZ
Riva Shah, Portage Northern, Portage, MI
Nihal Srinath, Noble and Grenaugh, Westborough, MA
Jake Sutera, Benjamin N. Cardoza, Briarwood, NY
Krista Tate, St. Pius Catholic High, Atlanta, GA
Vincent Thai, Academy of the Pacific Rim, Malden, MA
Grace West, Lake Braddock Secondary, Burke, VA
Connor Williams, George Washington High School, Denver, CO
Queenie Yeung, John A. Ferguson Senior High School, Miami, FL
Amber Danielle Zackery, Shiloh High School, Snelville, GA
Charles Zhang, Phillips Exeter Academy, Lexington, MA

"It's incredible to see how J Camp has grown in such a short period of time from a rough experiment into one of the finest journalism programs in the country," said Justin. "It's due solely to some of the finest professionals in the country rolling up their sleeves and investing their time and passion. The rewards, of course, are worth it. When you spend time with the very smartest teenagers in the country, you can't help but walk away feeling inspired."

J Camp 2007 is made possible through a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation with major support from The McClatchy Company. Additional media sponsors are Bloomberg, ESPN, the Radio-Television News Directors Association & Foundation and The Wall Street Journal . Additional support is provided by the AAJA Arizona Chapter, AAJA Chicago Chapter, AAJA Los Angeles Chapter, AAJA Minnesota Chapter, AAJA New York Chapter, AAJA San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, AAJA Texas Chapter, AAJA Washington D.C. Chapter, contributions to AAJA's 25th Anniversary Endowment, and the parents of J Camp alumni.

"J Camp gives students the confidence to make a difference with a future career in journalism," said Douglas W. Nelson, president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children. "I can't think of a better program that allows teens to learn about this rapidly changing field from the top writers, editors, and producers in the country. The Casey Foundation believes strongly in giving young people a voice and increasing their opportunities for future leadership and making a strong connection to the community -- our sponsorship of the 2007 program is a great fit with our mission."

Howard Weaver, McClatchy's Vice President of News, said, "J Camp annually assembles an All Star lineup of impressive young people and top professionals who share a rigorous, boot camp experience in journalism. It's one of the industry events I always know will focus on real world issues and yield real world results. It's as close as we come to a money-back guarantee for success."

Students surveyed from the first two years of J Camp showed interest in continuing their education in media. Of the respondents who were in college, 75 percent actively pursued journalism as a career, including majoring in journalism or communications fields and/or working for their school paper or other media.

J Camp is a program of the Asian American Journalists Association and will be held prior to AAJA's 19th annual national convention Aug. 1-4 in Miami, where more than 1,000 journalists, media professionals and community leaders from across the country will gather. At this year's convention, speakers and panelists will address the future of journalism and the new landscape of media changes fueled by technology and budget challenges, as well as issues of diversity in the newsroom and in media coverage. Registration for the convention is available at www.aaja.org.

About AAJA
The Asian American Journalists Association is a non-profit professional and educational organization with approximately 2,000 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.