AAJA’s VOICES program is a rare opportunity for college students to develop reporting and leadership skills under the tutelage of industry professionals.

A cohort of 15-17 students participate in pre-convention training that will include interactive online courses, and are assigned stories covering the journalism industry and AAPI community. Finished works are then published on the VOICES site at voices.aaja.org. This innovative opportunity, which celebrated its 30th year in 2020, trains students and professionals before and during AAJA’s annual convention. 

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Purpose

VOICES serves as a multimedia journalism training fellowship for college and graduate students, as well as a leadership program for young journalists.

Program

VOICES is a student fellowship program that equips student journalists with career-ready skills to succeed in the continually evolving media landscape. The program aims to help journalists understand how audiences engage with them, how communities view the work they produce, and how they can understand the impact their work has. By nurturing relationships between students and professional volunteers, VOICES gives fellows the opportunity to tap into mentors’ networks and grow their own.

We are looking for undergraduate and graduate students who are excellent storytellers and who are interested in new technologies and story forms. Reporters, social media strategists, designers, developers, data engineers, podcasters, broadcasters and bloggers are all welcome to apply. Students will learn the soft skills needed to succeed in school and the workplace and work in teams to produce a news project.

We are also looking for editors: professional journalists who serve as mentors and coaches to the students during their time in VOICES. Editors work as supervisors on the team reporting projects, facilitate training sessions and prepare the students for their time at the AAJA Convention and for graduating from the classroom to the workplace. Being a VOICES editor is an opportunity to hone leadership skills, build lasting relationships and attend the AAJA National Convention.

The program this year will consist of months-long training and project work that begins in late spring and culminates at #AAJA25 Convention in Seattle, WA on Wednesday, July 30 to Sunday, Aug. 3.

Impact

Students from the program’s 30-year history have gone on to work for news outlets like Bloomberg and the New York Times. Many VOICES alumni return to the program as faculty and mentors; in 2013, VOICES entered the third generation of students who came back as staff. Alumni also provide key networking opportunities and donate to the program. Find out what alumni from past programs are doing now!

VOICES gave me my first professional experience of working on a long-form story. It was extra special as I was able to cover my own community. The program helped me foster meaningful connections, meet mentors and create genuine friendships in the journalism space. Being able to attend the conference helped me truly understand the importance of the AAPI community in the media field.
Katelyn Do
Katelyn DoVOICES Class of 2024
The things I learned as an AAJA VOICES fellow made my reporting better (my kind patient mentors were pillars in a storm) but more importantly it was an opportunity to interact and learn from great human beings. The humanity with which so many of these fellows, mentors, leaders and administrators met the challenges of reporting news increased my own drive to be a better journalist, but most of all a better person.
Solomon O. Smith
Solomon O. SmithVOICES Class of 2024
AAJA VOICES was a phenomenal experience. I had never considered broadcast as a career, and the VOICES faculty were instrumental in opening broadcast journalism to me as a potential option. The friendships and connections you make at VOICES stay with you long after the convention is finished.
Michelle Pham
Michelle PhamVOICES Class of 2013
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Application Information

The VOICES 2025 cycle is open!

Applicants must be enrolled as a full-time college student or recent graduate (within one year) with a serious interest in pursuing journalism as a career.

Applicants must be 18 years of age or older.

Applicants must not be a former participant in any AAJA VOICES or college student projects with similar journalism organizations.

apply for voices 2025 by march 7

Support VOICES

AAJA welcomes donations to its student and professional programs throughout the year. Your donation to the VOICES program will go a long way toward helping the students produce quality work and gain valuable newsroom experience!

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Frequently Asked Questions About VOICES

FELLOWS

Yes! Most of our students intern for another organization over the summer. The workload is meant to complement your internship, not supersede it. However, every student must be able to attend the national convention. If you are accepted into the program, we are happy to reach out to your internship supervisor if needed.

Minimal experience. We expect all participants to have certain baseline reporting abilities and experience in order to be accepted into the program. However, students do not need to have prior experience in audio to do an audio project; one of our goals is to push students outside their comfort zone and learn new things.

AAJA will pay for fellows’ travel, accommodations, meals and registration fees to attend the in-person portion of VOICES at #AAJA25.

Yes, if you graduated from an undergraduate or graduate program no earlier than Spring 2024, you are eligible to apply. If you will be graduating from high school in Spring 2024, you are eligible to apply.

As an AAJA program, VOICES follows the AAJA convention Covid-19 policy. If you have any questions or need an exemption, please reach out to support@aaja.org. 

EDITORS

Editors will receive complimentary convention registration. In addition, AAJA will provide a stipend to editors to cover program and convention expenses such as flights, meals, and hotel accommodations.

Yes. Many of our former editors have been programming committee members, speakers and more. We love that our AAJA membership is involved in so many things. We just ask that you keep us in the loop on any obligations you have so we can plan accordingly.

As an AAJA program, VOICES follows the AAJA convention Covid-19 policy. If you have any questions or need an exemption, please reach out to support@aaja.org.

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