The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is excited to announce its 2024 JCamp cohort.
JCamp 2024 is taking place from Aug. 3-9 in Austin, Texas. Students will be able to attend the camp at no cost to their families, thanks in large part to the support of generous donors such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and other dedicated sponsors.
More than 850 students have graduated from JCamp since the inaugural program in 2001. Professional journalists serve as faculty mentors throughout the week and provide students with hands-on training in writing, reporting, photography, broadcast and online media. JCamp instruction prioritizes the program’s core values: The importance of diversity in the newsroom and in media coverage; the value of cross-cultural communication skills, networking and media ethics; and the fundamentals of leadership, inclusion and collaboration.
“Each new generation of JCampers has raised the bar on the caliber and character of the emerging journalists we hope to see take over the news industry,” Arelis Hernández said. “This year’s cohort is no exception. They hail from across the country, from Hawaii to Connecticut, and are among the most diverse we’ve ever had. That said, we have high expectations for them to meet and maintain JCamp’s legacy of excellence.”
Hernández, a Texas border correspondent at The Washington Post and 2004 JCamp graduate, returns as the program’s co-director alongside Ben Bartenstein, London-based correspondent at Bloomberg News and 2011 JCamp graduate; Timmy Huynh, operations director and photo editor at The Wall Street Journal and 2005 JCamp graduate; Julia M. Chan, special projects producer at CNN and 2003 JCamp graduate; Terrell Brown, ABC 7 Eyewitness anchor and 2002 JCamp graduate; and Will Schick, AAJA director of programs and partnerships.
This year’s volunteer faculty also includes: Aimee Cho, general assignment reporter at NBC Washington and 2011 JCamp graduate; Neal Justin, TV critic at the Star Tribune and JCamp co-founder; Taylor Turner, senior editor at The Examination and 2010 JCamp graduate; and Aaron Priest, senior producer of special events programming at CNN.
JCamp 2024 will coincide with AAJA’s National Convention, held in Austin, Texas from Aug. 7-11.
AAJA is proud to accept the following students to JCamp 2024:
Aarushi Dedhiya – Enola, Pennsylvania (Cumberland Valley High School)
Addis Belay – Kapolei, Hawaii (Kamehameha Schools Kapālama)
Alana Shadow – Houston, Texas (Incarnate Word Academy)
Anna Song – Coralville, Iowa (Iowa City West High School)
Annie Jiang – Arcadia, California (Arcadia High School)
Ari Hickman – South Lyon, Michigan (Brighton High School)
Asher Joseph – North Haven, Connecticut (Hopkins School)
Ayaan Shah – Macungie, Pennsylvania (Emmaus High School)
Campbell West – Mount Airy, Maryland (Glenelg High School)
Daniel Guo – Princeton, New Jersey (Princeton High School)
David Moon – Leander, Texas (Rouse High School)
Dorothy Quanteh – Upper Marlboro, Maryland (Charles Herbert Flowers High School)
Emily Liu – St. Louis, Missouri (Ladue Horton Watkins High School)
Ethan Ravi – Evanston, Illinois (Evanston Township High School)
Gillian Ho – Pelham, New York (Horace Mann School)
Huda Siraj – Mountain House, California (Mountain House High School)
Jenny Marquez – Sherman Oaks, California (Daniel Pearl Magnet High School)
Julian Hong – Palo Alto, California (Palo Alto High School)
Kiran Bhatia – Brookline, Massachusetts (Brookline High School)
Manar Hadi – Cherry Hill, New Jersey (Cherry Hill High School East)
Marium Zahra – El Paso, Texas (Young Womens STEAM Research and Preparatory Academy)
Minsong Ha – Falls Church, Virginia (McLean High School)
Mo Damtew – Portland, Oregon (Lincoln High School)
Nico Fischer – San Jose, California (Santa Clara High School)
Riya Minglani – San Jose, California (Prospect High School)
Rowan Arthur – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia HS for Girls)
Saanvi Ram – Dubuque, Iowa (Hempstead High School)
Sandeep Brijesh Pillai – Beaverton, Oregon (Beaverton Academy of Science and Engineering)
Satvika Ramanathan – Ann Arbor, Michigan (Huron High School)
Sierra Sun – Sandy, Utah (The Waterford School)
