Announcements

Lia Chang was invited by the Harvard College Association for U.S.-China Relations (HAUSCR) for the fifth annual HAUSCR Summit for Young Leaders in China (HSYLC), to be a speaker at conferences held at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University in Beijing and Jinshan High School in Shanghai in August. Chang spoke about her experiences as an actress, photographer, and multimedia journalist. Additionally, selections of her archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space will become part of the newly created Lia Chang APA Theater and Other Works Porfolio in the Asian Pacific American Performing Arts Collection housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division's Asian Pacific Islander Collection. (Posted 9/1/10)

Richard Lui has been named MSNBC anchor, based in New York City. Lui will anchor MSNBC dayside and started with the network on August 30. The announcement was made by MSNBC President Phil Griffin. "I've been watching Richard for years and he's a strong reporter and a passionate storyteller," said Griffin. "He'll be a great addition to our talented team." Richard Lui joins MSNBC from CNN Headline News, where he anchored the 10 a.m. hour of "Morning Express." He also led the network's morning political coverage, reporting daily on "Morning Express with Robin Meade." Lui is the Vice President of the AAJA Atlanta Chapter. (Posted 9/1/10)

AAJA announced at its annual membership meeting on August 6 that the winner of its first annual Broadcast Mentor of the Year award is Vicky Nguyen, reporter at KNTV in San Jose, CA. "Never before has one person provided me with so much professional guidance," wrote Candice Nguyen, Vicky's mentee who nominated her mentor for this award. "Vicky alone has taught me more about reporting than a bachelor's degree and five broadcast internships combined." In choosing the winner, the judge's noted that Vicky's mentoring went beyond simply helping Candice to get a job; Vicky helped to shape two lives in the process. When Vicky heard Candice' boyfriend was sleeping in his car so he could pay for college, Vicky arranged for a story to be done on him, which the boyfriend credits for getting him a full scholarship from Microsoft.

Vicky and Candice were paired up through AAJA's Broadcast Mentor Program. The program was founded in 2003 after an aspiring journalist expressed frustration about the difficulty in finding a good mentor. Since then several hundred students and journalists have received mentors through the program. Prior to working at KNTV, Vicky worked as a reporter at KOLO in Reno and KSAZ in Phoenix. She is a graduate of the University of San Francisco and successfully completed AAJA's Broadcast Student TV Project in 1999.

In accepting the award, Vicky's voice began to crack as she acknowledged those who have mentored her and thanked AAJA for playing a part in her career. "I am happy to pay it forward," said Vicky. Randall Yip, Senior Producer at KGO-TV and volunteer coordinator of AAJA's Broadcast Mentor Program expressed gratitude that Vicky continues to give back to AAJA. Lloyd Lacuesta, South Bay Bureau Chief at KTVU; Traci Tong, producer at WPRI and Stanton Tang, News Director at WZZM helped judge this year's competition. Those interesting in applying for AAJA's Broadcast mentor program as either a mentor or mentee can sign up at AAJA.org. (Posted 9/1/10)