March 5, 2021
Washington, D.C. — The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) have partnered to create a new student opportunity for Asian American student journalists.
“We are honored and excited to launch this partnership alongside the WHCA,” said Michelle Ye Hee Lee, AAJA President. “Providing Asian American and Pacific Islander student journalists an opportunity to be mentored by an experienced AAJA member is core to our mission of building a pipeline of AAPI journalists and supporting students with scholarship assistance, guidance and a professional network.”
“We’re thrilled to be joining with the AAJA in this new partnership and excited about the chance to help not only a promising student, but to encourage and assist a whole new generation of a young journalists who represent the diversity of the country and increasingly the newsrooms of America,” says Zeke Miller, WHCA President.
The AAJA-WHCA Scholarship will be awarded each year to a student with a demonstrated interest in a career in journalism and proven academic performance. The student must also be aware of issues facing the Asian Americans and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities and have a commitment to accuracy and fairness in the coverage of these issues. The scholarship will be for $2,000 each year, with AAJA contributing half and the WHCA contributing half.
AAJA offers annually up to $20,000 in scholarships and grants to journalism students to help offset the costs of education, internships, and living expenses. AAJA is pleased to add the WHCA-AAJA Scholarship to its list of partner opportunities including the ABC News / AAJA Alexa Valiente Summer Internship, Facebook Journalism Project, the Getty Images Inclusion Scholarship, and the AAJA Sacramento Internships with The Sacramento Bee. Other AAJA opportunities include grants and internships that honor current and past AAJA members and coverage of Asian Americans, including Council of International Cooperation / Anna Chennault, Jimmie & Suey Fong Yee, Sam Chu Lin, Lloyd LaCuesta, Michael Kim, Dinah Eng, Mary Quon Moy Ing, Stanford Chen, Vincent Chin, William Woo, and Al Young.
To learn more about AAJA’s Scholarship and Internship opportunities, visit https://aaja.org/news-and-resources/scholarships-internships/.
About AAJA
The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a membership nonprofit advancing diversity in newsrooms and ensuring fair and accurate coverage of communities of color. AAJA has more than 1,500 members across the United States and Asia. AAJA’s four-fold mission is to increase AAPI perspectives and representation in newsrooms, media, and storytelling. We do so by the following:
- To provide a means of association and support among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) journalists, and to advance AAPI journalists as news managers and media executives.
- To provide encouragement, information, advice and scholarship assistance to AAPI students who aspire to professional journalism careers.
- To provide to the AAPI community an awareness of news media and an understanding of how to gain fair access.
- To research and point out when news media organizations stray from accuracy and fairness in the coverage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and AAPI issues.
www.aaja.org
Twitter: @aaja
About the WHCA
Founded in 1914, the White House Correspondents’ Association exists to promote excellence in journalism as well as journalism education, and to ensure robust news coverage of the president and the presidency. We support awards for some of the best political reporting of the past year, and scholarships for young reporters who carry our hopes for vibrant journalism in the years to come. Each day, we work to ensure that the men and women who cover the White House have the ability to seek answers from powerful officials, up to and including the President. Our association comprises hundreds of members from the worlds of print, television, radio and online journalism. Their work, for outlets based in the United States and overseas, reaches a global audience.
WHCA.press
Twitter: @whca