2007 AAJA National Elections

The positions of National Vice President for Print and National Secretary are up for election at the 19th Annual National Convention in Miami, August 1-4, 2007. Candidates elected to these positions begin their two-year terms on January 1, 2008. These officers will be incumbents during the 2008 UNITY Convention in Chicago. Click on names for candidate statements.

Candidate for National Vice President for Print	Candidate for National Secretary
Janet H. Cho	Doris Troung

VOTING INSTRUCTIONS

National elections take place this year at the 19th Annual National Convention in Miami. Ballots may be obtained and cast at the AAJA registration area during registration hours at the Hyatt Regency Miami, starting Wednesday, August 1. Polls close Saturday, August 4 at 2 p.m. Only full members, whose dues are paid for the current year, are eligible to vote. Cast ballots must be signed. Elected officers will be announced at the gala on Saturday night.

ABSENTEE VOTING

Absentee ballots cast by mail must be RECEIVED by the AAJA National Office on or before July 6, 2007 at the following address:

AAJA ELECTIONS
1182 Market Street, Suite 320
San Francisco, CA 94102

View/Download (140kb): BALLOT and CANDIDATE STATEMENTS

For more information, contact Antonio Salas at (415) 346-2051 or AntonioS@aaja.org.

CANDIDATE STATEMENTS:

Candidate for National Vice President for Print
Janet H. Cho

One score and six years ago, our founders created the Asian American Journalism Association to ensure fair and accurate media coverage, encourage students to pursue careers in journalism, and expand the ranks of Asian American newsroom leaders.

Now we are engaged in a great national debate, testing whether traditional media can fulfill its obligations to inform, educate and illuminate while also attracting readers, advertisers and subscribers.

We are still dissecting the uneven coverage of the terrible Virginia Tech massacre.

But we are neither discouraged nor dismayed. AAJA issued media advisories cautioning against linking the killer's birthplace to his behavior. We wrote stories and editorials, we interviewed and photographed mourners of all races, we helped provide context in our newsrooms.

Our nearly 2,000 members collectively and conclusively demonstrated how having a diversity of ethnicity, experiences and ideas can create richer, more meaningful, more balanced stories.

And in the process, we rededicated ourselves to the goals set 26 years ago and gained a new appreciation for why AAJA exists: To ensure that one day, our media executives, our newspaper pages and our radio, television and online reports more accurately and responsibly reflect the communities we cover.

Janet Cho is currently National Vice President for Print. She previously served as National Secretary and also represented at-large members on the National Advisory Board. Janet is an at-large member and is business reporter with The Plain Dealer in Ohio.

Candidate for National Secretary
Doris Truong

As our industry moves toward convergence, AAJA needs to help our members stay ahead of the curve. We need to empower people to work in a multimedia environment - regardless of their experience - ensuring continued diversity in newsrooms and in reporting. AAJA can build skills on a national level during the annual convention and locally throughout the year. As this year's programming co-chair, I have helped bring that kind of training to Miami with an eye to giving people knowledge they can immediately apply.

Besides offering practical tools for journalists, AAJA needs to continue to be a voice for fair coverage. In speaking for our members, AAJA needs to know members' thoughts. I welcome new ideas and will be sure they are heard on the decision-making level.

I have grown up in AAJA, as a student member 10 years ago, then as secretary of the Texas chapter and now as a member of the governing board. I know the challenges for the range of our membership and will help keep lines of communication open throughout the organization.

Vote for Doris as your next secretary: Less talk, more action.

Doris Troung is a member of the AAJA Governing Board and serves as one of the two representatives of the Washington, D.C. Chapter on the National Advisory Board. Doris is Deputy Metro Copy Chief, Extras, with The Washington Post in Washington, D.C.