The Asian American Journalists Association is thrilled to announce internship and fellowship recipients with several organizations that we are proud to partner with on opportunities for young professionals. Our NBC News Summer Fellow is Daniel Lam, our ABC News/Alexa Valiente Memorial Intern is Myra Wu and our ESPN/AAJA Sports Task Force Intern is Justin Estuart.
“We’re proud to continue to have these opportunities with NBC News, ABC News and ESPN. These partnerships help us uplift promising young AAPI journalists,” said AAJA director of programs and partnerships Waliya Lari. “AAJA’s internship and fellowship programs allow students like Daniel, Myra and Justin to grow and learn on the job, and continue to build the pipeline for more AAPIs in newsrooms.”
Read on to learn more about them and AAJA’s scholarships program.
NBC NEWS SUMMER FELLOWSHIP
Daniel Lam, who is also our 2022 recipient of the White House Correspondents’ Association Scholarship, will be working with the Andrea Mitchell Reports Team at NBC News as our NBC News Summer Fellow.
“It will be a great opportunity to augment my experience covering national affairs and learn about television journalism. My background is in radio and digital journalism, so I look forward to learning how to effectively tell stories in a new medium,” Lam said. “My internship will be mostly remote but I hope to spend some days working at 30 Rock this summer getting real hands-on producing experience.”
He looks forward to joining NBCUniversal News Group as a whole because of the company’s 50% Challenge, citing MSNBC President Rashida Jones’ panel at last year’s #AAJA21 convention, where she spoke about the company’s initiative to reach a point where half of employees are people of color and half are women. “I strongly believe newsrooms should reflect the communities they cover, and I am proud to join an organization that is actively working to make that ideal a reality,” Lam said.
Daniel Lam of Whitestone, N.Y. is a senior at Dartmouth College, where he studies Government and Policy Rhetoric, conducts political science research and competitively chops wood on the timber team. At Dartmouth College Radio, he serves as the news director, hosts a variety show and has worked as a commercial rock D.J. He has also worked as an independent podcast producer for a political consulting firm and a creative production company. Daniel reported and produced national news stories as an intern and later a freelancer for NPR’s National Desk. One of his stories was recognized by AAJA as one of the Top 10 Works Essential to 2021. From his experience covering the 2020 New Hampshire primary election, he aspires to a career covering national politics as a broadcast journalist.
Learn more about Daniel here: Twitter | LinkedIn
ABC NEWS/ALEXA VALIENTE MEMORIAL INTERNSHIP
Myra Wu is our ABC News/Alexa Valiente Memorial Internship recipient for this summer. She will be interning with ABC News Digital as a member of the digital video team, through a partnership with AAJA in honor of Alexa Valiente.
“With this internship, I hope to explore my interest in digital journalism while working on my writing and editing skills with an award-winning team,” Wu said. “It’s a great honor to receive this scholarship and joining ABC News is like a dream come true. I’m thrilled to be part of this amazing team learning from best practices of the industry before embarking on my career.”
This scholarship was created in memory of Alexa Valiente, who passed away in 2019. Valiente was a producer at ABC News who began her time at ABC News as a digital intern.
“As part of the AAPI community, I’ve always found inspiration and strength from fellow journalists like Alexa Valiente, and I will take it upon myself to advance diversity in newsrooms by producing the best work I could.”
Wu is a graduate student majoring in Digital Social Media at University of Southern California, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Journalism. From a small town called Changzhou in China, Wu previously worked as an executive producer and reporter for Annenberg Media, and interned with ABC7 Los Angeles and Fox News. This internship will help her further pursue digital journalism with a focus on creative storytelling.
Learn more about Myra here: Twitter | LinkedIn
ESPN/AAJA SPORTS TASK FORCE INTERNSHIP
The Asian American Journalists Association’s Sports Task Force is proud to announce Justin Estuart as the sixth recipient of its ESPN internship. Learn more on the Sports Task Force’s website.
“Justin’s passion for journalism and social media is evident through his work and accomplishments,” said STF chairman Josh Tolentino. “There were many deserving candidates, and following a thorough judging process, Justin emerged as an ideal fit for this opportunity. We are extremely thankful for Disney and ESPN for helping to make this internship possible through AAJA’s Sports Task Force.
Through his internship with ESPN, Estuart hopes to continue covering sports with an emphasis from the social media lens. As part of the group’s partnership, Estuart plans on attending his first AAJA national convention this summer in Los Angeles, and increasing his involvement with AAJA’s Sports Task Force.
“My dream was always to make it to ESPN,” Estuart said. “I am very humbled and ecstatic. Social media is such an integral part of telling stories in today’s evolving world of journalism. I aspire to amplify all these stories through social media. Winning this internship has been surreal, but it’s also reminded me how important these opportunities are. I look forward to my future and staying active with AAJA. The support I’ve received will set me on the right foot as I begin my career after college.”
Justin Estuart is a recent graduate of the University of Houston in Houston, Texas, where he majored in journalism. At UH, he served as a sports writer and sports analyst through student organizations on campus. In his free time, Justin enjoys watching movies/shows, listening to music, and exercising.
Learn more about Justin here: Twitter
About AAJA’s Scholarships
AAJA annually offers up to $20,000 in scholarships and grants to journalism students to help offset the costs of education, internships, living expenses and other opportunities. These scholarships are made possible by supporters such as AAJA members, allies and generous donors. To learn more about AAJA scholarships or donate, visit https://www.aaja.org/news-and-resources/scholarships-internships/.
