Now open: Registration for UNITY 2008

Early bird registration for the UNITY ’08 Convention in Chicago is now available by clicking www.2008unity.org/registration.cfm.

Unity will feature professional development workshops, plenary sessions and the largest Media Showcase and Career Expo in the industry — including more than 400 recruiting and exhibiting booths, as well as a variety of networking events. Unity will be held this year at McCormic Place West in Chicago, July 23-27, 2008. For more information:  http://www.2008unity.org/

Renew your 2008 membership or Join Today

If you haven’t done so, please renew your AAJA membership. So far about 40 New England chapter members have renewed this year, but we know there are more than 40 Asian American journalists in New England. Your dues help fund AAJA’s numerous programs and services — and sign up for two years before dues go up.

To renew your membership: https://www.aaja.org/membership/register/

With the membership, you’ll get those benefits:

  • Member savings on registration fee for AAJA National Conventions and Unity: Journalists of Color, Inc. conventions
  • Eligibility to apply for AAJA and Unity: Journalists of Color, Inc. scholarship, fellowship, internship and mentor programs
  • Free subscription to AAJA publication and newsletters
  • Free subscription to DateLine AAJA newsletter
  • Free subscription to AAJA Online, the email listserv which brings you job postings, media alerts and membership news. Available to members only. To join AAJAOnline, email national@aaja.org.
  • Regular mailing of news media-related surveys, publications and information on professional development opportunities
  • Free 30-minute consultation with AAJA’s legal counsel.

Renew your membership online at www.aaja.org/membership/join.

Summer interns report

Bina Venkataraman (print) and Nayna Sasidharan (broadcast) received AAJA-NE scholarship/internships last summer.
Here are their thoughts:
Bina Venkataraman (Christian Science Monitor)

The AAJA scholarship position at The Christian Science Monitor allowed me to spend the summer between graduate school years working on the national news desk of a major publication – an experience that helped me improve my writing, editing, and pitching skills. It was also an important career opportunity. It allowed me to further my journalistic experience, even though my master’s degree will be in public policy. The relationships I formed at the Monitor have proven invaluable, and the reporting experience I gained propelled me to a much higher level in terms of the quality of my work.

Nayna Sasidharan (WCVB-TV)

The AAJA New England/WCVB-TV scholarship provided me with the opportunity to experience a hands-on, real-world internship at a large-market television station. It also helped me assess the possibilities that are out there for a broadcast journalism graduate student. The internship experience included producing my own 30-minute show on the news program CityLine. This process taught me the finite details that go into producing a show and it has left me with the expertise needed to go anywhere. Now, with firm goals and quality material on my reel, I am ready to apply for those jobs that go beyond entry-level.

Hartford Courant 2008 summer internships

The Hartford Courant is offering three to four summer reporting internships that pay $12.50 an hour for 40 hours a week over 10 weeks. Interns are also reimbursed for expenses and mileage.

In addition, there are up to 10 additional reporting internships that come with a stipend plus reimbursement for expenses and mileage. These are part-time internships; the hours and weeks worked are negotiable.

Interns get hands-on experience writing stories from The Courant’s regional news bureaus, the City Desk in Hartford, the Business News Desk and the Features Department.

TRAINING: All interns work closely with editors to learn how to cover a beat. They also attend weekly seminars on such topics as covering a town, writing for Courant.com, conducting investigations and spotting and writing great feature stories.
Successful interns leave at the end of the summer with numerous clips for their portfolio.

WHO SHOULD APPLY: Applicants should have internship and/or college newspaper experience. Preference for the full-time internships will be given to the most experienced candidates. Candidates must also pass a pre-employment drug-screening exam.

HOW TO APPLY:
Send cover letter, resume and a few good clips to Manchester Bureau Chief Kate Farrish, The Courant, 285 Broad St., Hartford, CT 06115. Deadline: Jan. 1, 2008

OTHER INTERNSHIPS: For more information on a sports internship at The Courant, contact Sports Editor Jeff Otterbein at jotterbein@courant.com or Deputy Sports Editor Jeff Smith at jsmith@courant.com.

Prospective photography interns should contact Director of Photography John Scanlan at jscanlan@courant.com.

For more information about a graphic artist internship, contact Director of Graphics Melanie Shaffer at mshaffer@courant.com.

Boston Selected as 2009 AAJA Convention Site

The AAJA Governing Board at its Dec. 1-2 meeting in San Francisco voted to accept the AAJA New England Chapter’s bid to host the 2009 AAJA National Convention. The convention will take place at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston on August 12-15, 2009. In their proposal, the New England chapter described Boston as one of America’s oldest cities “in the midst of reinventing itself as diversity’s new hub … today Boston is a city in which minorities are the majority — and Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group.”
>> READ MORE

The last time the New England chapter hosted a convention was in 1997. It was fabulous and well attended. If your media company would be interested in making a financial contribution, please email me, sleung@globe.com.