Voices is a student program that provides aspiring journalists with career-ready skills to succeed in the continually-evolving media landscape. By nurturing relationships between students and professional volunteers, Voices also gives students the opportunity to tap into mentors’ networks and begin their own while also providing AAJA journalists leadership and management opportunities.
Voices 2022
We’ve selected 22 student journalists nationally and internationally. These students spent this summer receiving training and mentorship from 12 professional mentors, who represent several news organizations from The Associated Press to the Los Angeles Times to ESPN. Past work by Voices students is published below and this year’s projects will be published ahead of presentations at the AAJA 2022 Convention on July 27th.
- Voices Directors Maya Srikrishnan and Farnoush Amiri
INVESTIGATIVE
Few Black, Latinx students are editors of top college newspapers
By JANICE KAI CHEN, ILENA PENG, JASEN LO, TRISHA AHMED, SIMON J. LEVIEN and DEVAN KARP
Of the 73 editors-in-chief at award-winning college newsrooms in the Spring 2021 semester, less than 6 percent were Black, and approximately 10 percent were Latinx — significantly less than their share of the college population.
FEATURES & POLITICS
For Asian American activists, police brutality, anti-Asian hate are two sides of the same coin
BY TIFFANY BUI, HA-KYUNG KIM, MEGAN MUNCE and PRAVEENA SOMASUNDARAM
Standing at the crossroads of anti-Asian attacks and the protests following the police killing of George Floyd and have been several Asian Americans who began to see racial injustice in policing as an issue for all people of color, not just Black Americans, and started to question: What role should policing play in Asian American communities?
FEATURES & CULTURE
‘We need to tell our whole story’: A struggle to redefine the Asian American curriculum
BY BRITTANY CRUZ-FEJERAN, LUCIA GENG, CASSIE ORDONIO and SYDNEY WALSH
Despite the challenges with implementing Asian American studies across the country, many educators, residents, legislators and activists are still pushing for more initiatives to get this curriculum because they believe it’s essential in stemming the spread of anti-Asian sentiment in the country.
AUDIO
Asian-Americans demand: ‘Call me by my name'
BY SHEHREEN KARIM and TERESA XIE
The story will be told through three people’s experiences— two who altered their name to appear “more English” early on, but eventually reclaimed it and another who kept their original name, but eventually went by a nickname that was “more English.”
AUDIO
The Great Resignation: Why journalists of color left the industry
BY KARENA TSE and IRIS KWOK
Four journalists of color — two who have left the industry, and two who have come close to leaving — tell their stories and to help us better understand the forces behind the “Great Resignation.”
SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Awakening: Asian American adoptees reflect on identity
BY RHIANNON CLEMENTS and NASH CONSING
This documentary highlights the voices of an underrepresented Asian American community — AAPI Adoptees — who grapple with their own racial and cultural visibility within the AAPI community itself.
SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Leaving Hong Kong: A city in flux
This documentary centrally focuses on Hong Kong people who have immigrated to the United States. it analyses the choices they make when it comes to determining how to express their identity from abroad, be it by protesting, through art, or in a far more private and personal manner.
Archive: Houston 2018
Voices selected 17 student journalists nationally out of more than 100 applicants for our 2018 class. Our students received hands-on training and mentorship from 13 professional Voices editors. This summer, Voices students collaborated to produce four long-form multimedia pieces. Our 2018 class presented their pieces during the AAJA National Convention in Houston on August 10.
Mind the gap: Uncovering pay disparity in the newsroom
BY ELAINE CHEN, CECILIA LEI, ANNIE MA AND JONATHAN NG
Journalists call out companies that pay women and minorities less than white men. It's a problem they say they face at work, too.
Living In The U.S. When You Don’t ‘Sound White’
BY SUHAUNA HUSSAIN, EMMA STIEFEL, AND VIOLET JINQI WANG
When someone doesn't have what many consider the default American accent, how does that affect their life? In this podcast, we explore the experiences of three people and how their accents have shaped their lives.
End the stigma: The impact of mental illness in AAPI communities
BY TSERING BISTA, MICHELLE HANKS AND SALGU WISSMATH
Mental illness is generally stigmatized, but even more so among Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
“It gets better,” but for Asian Americans, coming out can also get complicated
BY IRENA FISCHER-HWANG, LINA TAKAHASHI AND GWENDOLYN WU
“You do what’s best for everyone, right?” That’s a question that many Asian American LGBTQ individuals need to confront when they decide whether to come out to their families.
Refugees’ stories: Confronting financial and emotional burdens in their moves to the U.S.
BY CASSANDRA HSIAO, AMBER LY, DAVE SEBASTIAN, AND CLAIRE TRAN
How past memories and mental trauma manifest in refugee families.
Live from Houston
BY MAYA SUGARMAN AND JESSIE TSENG
Students and faculty are hard at work finishing five collaborative editorial projects they've been working on since May. The Voices newsroom is based on the campus of the University of Houston at the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication. This year, we continue to focus on encouraging collaboration and providing skill-specific training.
Archive: Philadelphia 2017
Voices selected 15 student journalists nationally out of more than 100 applicants for our 2017 class. Our students received hands-on training and mentorship from 12 professional Voices editors. This summer, Voices students collaborated to produce four long-form multimedia pieces. Our 2017 class presented their pieces during the AAJA National Convention in Philadelphia on July 28. Watch here.
For Asian Americans, what does it take to confront autism?
BY KRISTINE TUZON, APARNA VERMA, LAWRENCE WU AND ALEXANDRA YOON-HENDRICKS
Advocates and families say many Asian communities still struggle to overcome cultural shame, language barriers and limited community resources surrounding autism.
Missed deadline: The delayed promise of newsroom diversity
BY PEREGRINE FRISSELL, ALA'A IBRAHIM, SHEILA RAGHAVENDRAN AND AVERY YANG
In 1978, the American Society of News Editors challenged newsrooms to reach parity with the nation's racial demographics—but its 17 years passed the deadline and that goal is far from complete.
'The immigrant and the stranger'
BY JANAKI CHADHA, AYAH GALAL, NISA KHAN AND AUSTIN MA
South Philadelphia’s Little Saigon has become the heart of a growing, increasingly diverse Asian population that has made the city feel more like home for immigrants—but has also raised challenges.
Refugee Stories: Navigating Hardship and Resilience in Portland, Detroit and San Francisco
BY JASMINE ESPY, RACHEL RAMIREZ AND NOUR COUDSI
Refugees survived violent regimes and the front lines of war, but their long journeys continue in the United States. With the support of local nonprofits, they begin building new lives.
Live from Philadelphia
BY MAYA SUGARMAN AND JESSIE TSENG
We've arrived in Philly, and the students are working on their projects! This year, we've made significant changes to the Voices program in an effort to better prepare students for the ever-expanding news media universe. We aimed to encourage collaboration, provide skill-specific training and enable students to better participate in the AAJA National Convention. Check out what we're up to!