It was almost as if the clock had been turned back a decade.

Asian American Journalist Association board member Subha Ravindhran, a fill-in anchor and general assignment reporter for KABC 7, would have been a USC college student in that scenario.

The community college students in attendance for the 55^th annual Journalism Association of Community College convention at the Renaissance Hotel on April 9 were not receiving their news from sleek hardwire devices with internet capacity; there wasn’t an Apple iPad or Amazon Kindle in sight. Newspapers, gawky broadsheets, were in high fashion, visible from every corner of the convention room.  Stack upon stack of newspaper rested on a table near the far corner edges of the room.  Student representatives from 45 community colleges across California roamed the hotel facilities; a conspicuous herd of students were visible in a convention room, where breakfast catered by the hotel was being offered, where they sipped coffee, picked at their plates, and peered over a competing university’s newspaper.

Ravindhran, Trang Ho, a reporter for Investor’s Business Daily and also an AAJA board member, and another representative from AAJA, were in attendance to meet 620 students and faculty from California and Rhode Island, informing students about the opportunities that AAJA membership had to offer at one of largest community college journalism events hosted in the state.

Hours earlier, Ravindhran was in the KABC newsroom past midnight, after covering a fundraiser for two Orange County military personal who had died overseas.  One of the youngest reporters at KABC 7, Ravindhran attended USC before receiving her first television job in Amarillo, Texas, a city six hours west of Dallas.

“It was a great place to start,” Ravindhran said.  “I hit the ground running as soon as I got the job.  I was doing live shots, putting stories together, basically getting everything I needed for the tape I used to get my next job.  It was a very lucrative experience for me.”

Ravindhran answered questions posed by students, and also let them know about the bountiful opportunities that the upcoming August AAJA national convention, the first in 17 years to come to LA, offered.

“Most people do not know, but AAJA is one of the leading journalism organizations in the nation,” Ravindhran said.  “You do not have to be Asian to join.  Our mission is to promote diversity in the newsroom.  People who join get access to job posting, to network, to attend our national convention…  AAJA is just a great platform for people who want to be part of this industry, to network, to get their foot in the door, and to build a camaraderie with other people in the same field.  It’s a great community to join. “

The convention included an opening day presentation from California Watch, a recently launched investigative news website, and offered 70 workshops and 13 on-the-spot competitions for community college students.

GLENDALE, Calif. – Students from around Southern California gathered at KABC Studios on March 27 to get advice from top professionals in journalism at the AAJA Career Workshop for Students, as the panel of experts explained how to get a job in journalism and go on to success.

KABC-TV evening news anchor David Ono joined the panel as the moderator. Four panelists represented major media outlets, and each spoke about their journalism experience and gave students career advice.

Millie Martinez, executive producer at KABC-TV, stressed the importance of a well-written cover letter by reading examples, which ranged from simple to sublime. Martinez was touched by a prospective intern’s passion for the field. “I need to know something that makes me say, ‘I want to meet this person,’” she said.

In addition, she said to apply to many internships and to learn as much as possible about every department by asking questions.

Another panelist who emphasized cover letters and internships was Randy Hagihara, senior editor for recruitment at the Los Angeles Times. Like Martinez, he wants to read letters that convey a student’s enthusiasm rather than information summarized from their resume.

Hagihara said that he is always happy to talk to students. He advised aspiring journalists to have the following trait: “It’s important to have people who come into the business to be immensely curious. Curiosity is a requisite for good reporting.”

Ken Lee, a reporter who focuses on courts and crimes for People magazine, said the hardest part of his job is being on call to quickly report stories. Never refuse an assignment no matter how large or small the story, he said, and “treat every story like it could win a Pulitzer.”

He also said to not be afraid to freelance since a person could meet new contacts and collect a diverse range of clips.

Lawrence Yee, senior content producer at Yahoo!, also encouraged freelance writing through blogging. Consider your interests when writing and write constantly, he said.

As a freelance blogger, a person could easily post their work though it “has to be right and has to be accurate,” Yee said. He cautioned students to be careful with posting unwanted information on the Internet, because everything is searchable and permanent.

At the end of the presentation, students were invited to ask the panelists questions they had about the field. Marlene Perez, a senior majoring in broadcast journalism at California State University, Fullerton, learned about the event from an e-mail her college counselor sent. She said, “They answered a lot of the questions that I had in my head. They were very genuine and very real.”

“I think Ken was very real and he held nothing back,” Perez continued. “I think that’s what gets them [the journalists] out there. They have to find the real stories, the truth. That’s what reporting is about.”

After the panel discussion, the students were led on a studio tour, which included Studio A and the news and control rooms, by Diane Medina, manager of diversity programs and community relations for KABC-TV. For some students, entering the set was a surreal moment. Kelly Stringham, a print journalism major at Cal State Long Beach, said, “It was a little bit more magical to see it behind the scenes.”

Maricela Lopez, a broadcast journalism major at Cal State Long Beach, said she appreciated that she could be there. “Everyone was so nice and open,” Lopez said. “I was excited to meet David Ono because I watch him every day.”

Long-time AAJA member Anh Do is no stranger at venturing into new arenas.

Do has tried her hand at reporting abroad, her byline has been published in seven countries; taught at renown journalism institutions like USC and the Poynter Institute and served several roles from sales to editor in chief at the Nguoi Viet, a Vietnamese newspaper founded by her father.

Do has accomplished much in the course of her career, but she’ll be experimenting with something radically different from anything she has ever done before—or for that matter, anybody has ever done before.

Her latest project, LA.Spot.Us, which is funded by the Knight Foundation and partnered with various organizations like the USC Annenberg School of Communications, is what Geneva Overholser, director of Annenberg, describes as “ a piece of what a future model to support journalism might look like.”

Do, a veteran in the print journalism industry with an established record on the business side, said she came onboard because she was interested in learning an arena she was not familiar with, continuing a pattern of choices evident throughout her career.

“When we sit down to eat we don’t want to eat from one food group, one dish,” Do said. “We want to sample a bunch of different things.”

Do was named managing editor of LA.Spot.US in November 2009.

LA.Spot.Us is not a news organization but a non-profit organization that supports a platform, which assists in the creation of news. At a time when advertising dollars and subscription revenue is disappearing for news institutions, reducing the amount of funds to develop fresh news content for the public, Spot.Us introduces a new way to generate revenue and allows the public to participate through tax-deductable donations.

“I believe journalism is a process and the public should be involved in this process…,” said David Cohn, founder of Spot.Us. “Sometimes this means donating $20, other times it means pitching a story. We are creating a tool to keep the public engaged in their work. Also, we are focusing on revenue. We are trying to come up with a new stream of revenue by having people contribute money. “

When Cohn, a former writer on Wired magazine who covered the emergence of social networking sites in 2004, first conceived the idea for Spot.Us, colleagues in the journalism business accused him of opening “Pandora’s Box” – opening up a line of communication with the public that could be consequential. After their first year, Cohn and his staff at Spot.Us have proven that the concept can provide benefits for the news industry.

Do will be traveling to promote the non-profit news platform that will act as an “open source project to pioneer ‘community powered reporting,’ “ according to the Spot.Us website. So far, Spot.Us, which has sub-domains in San Francisco and Los Angeles, has provided coverage on a broad range of stories that could have otherwise gone unfunded. The stories include an investigation published in the SF Public Press on a San Francisco-Oakland bridge project, the biggest infrastructure project in California history at a projected $12 billion, which was funded by 164 contributions, and a Prison and Public Health blog article on California’s prisons and parolee health, which was funded by 55 people.

One investigative story on the individuals who control the University of California’s $53 billion investment on Wall Street has already raised over $4,000 from 55 individual contributors; the reporter has requested $10,000 to look into the story.

Do’s role at LA.Spot.Us will also include traveling across Los Angeles to raise awareness of the news platform to community leaders, and to build a relationship with local Los Angeles media institutions that could end up partnering with Spot.Us to publish content produced by the website. She will promote story ideas in the community, and will be asked to take on multiple duties on a news platform with no established business model that it can follow.

“Do not only has a undying passion for journalism, but that is coupled with a intimate knowledge of what it’s like being on the ground as someone running a company,” Teri Sforza, Do’s former colleague at the OC Register. “She brings all of that together. When you’re running a start-up, you want somebody who knows what it’s like being a reporter, an editor, and a publisher. She has all that.”

Spot.Us will encounter no shortage of challenges in its attempt to mobilize the web audience on a broad scale into active participants in the creation of news, something that was unnecessary back when advertisers would bankroll news projects. The platform will test whether people and institutions on a broad scale are willing to donate money for the news they read, especially at a time when many in the United States are suffering from economic hardship.

Overholser, a former editorial board member at the New York Times and the ombudsman at the Washington Post before she came to USC, believes the “economic model (for journalism) is broken,” and models like Spot.Us could foster a more vibrant, inclusive form of journalism than what had existed in the early 90s, when news institutions ran a monopoly on how the news was distributed.

“We will have a richer relationship with the public,” Overholser said. “It’s going to be more democratic. It’s going to be a better era for journalism than the supposed golden age when a lot of folks in communities were left out. I am very optimistic about the future of journalism, but those who describe the challenges are correct in doing so.”

Since coming onboard, Do, who will retain her vice president role with the Nguoi Viet, has recommended the creation of an LA advisory board to helped promote and generate funding for new project ideas, Overholser said. She will also be responsible for building a relationship and interest in projects in the Los Angeles area. Her task won’t be easy: Her job will be to bridge the disconnect and foster participation for stories, something news organization have never had to do in the past, Overholser said.

“I think one of the most important things going on in journalism is not just new technology, but rather a very different relationship with the people,” Overholser said. “Anh has had a lot of very good experience at that. I also can tell from reading the student evaluations that she was a very personable, helpful, warm , and approachable person.”

Overholser is confident that Do will be able to bridge this divide because of what she has already accomplished in the past with the Vietnamese community. Do, a former OC Register columnists who speaks three languages—Vietnamese, English, and Spanish—and has reported from 18 states in Mexico, has developed a strong relationship with influential Vietnamese leaders and the Vietnamese community in Orange County.

“You can’t be cowed by the size (of Los Angeles when building a relationship with the city),” Overholser said. “You just have to start somewhere; do effective journalism and hope that builds.”

From her office at the Nguoi Viet, Do talked optimistically about the chances of LA.Spot.Us to thrive, despite the current economy. She emphasized that Spot.Us was about building participation and teamwork, not just inside the newsroom but with the greater community, to get the story out.

“It’s the idea that in times of cutbacks, not just in funding but in the number of local news stories generated, that we can pitch together to write about an issue that the community or the public cares about,” said Do. “You involve not only the writer, not only the community member who may donate to fund the story, but also what I’ll call the news publisher, and that can be any type of news media or non-profit; all three work together to get the story out there.”

Now in 2010, Cohn, Do and the staff at Spot.Us will see if they can spread some support for journalism on a broader scale.

“So far, Do is such a delight and pleasure. I am learning a lot from her. I don’t see myself as a boss, but as a colleague. It’s great having somebody I can learn from. We can go in this territory together and share what we are thinking. She’s a great partner in crime.”

AAJA’s National Convention will be held Aug. 4-7, 2010 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa in Los Angeles, CA. The Convention News Project team arrives Aug. 2 and departs Aug. 8.

professional application (deadline March 15, 2010)
student applicatiion (deadline March 15, 2010)

Download both here: http://www.aaja.org/programs/for_students/journalism_trainings/newsproject/

From the applications, 20 of the most promising students will be selected as finalists and given the opportunity for building skills and developing their portfolios. They will participate in pre-convention training that will include interactive online courses in interviewing, multimedia, ethics, and an option of visual and audio techniques. They will also be given pre-convention assignments covering issues related to the journalism industry today and/or the Asian American/Pacific Islander community. Of those students, 12 will be selected to cover convention, with travel and hotel accommodations provided.

Professionals are being selected based on their ability to mentor and teach, as well as their experience in news editing, production and design. For some, this will also be an opportunity for direct experience with mojo reporting.

AAJA’s Convention News Project team will cover the latest news about journalists, the state and future of the industry, and how the newsroom changes affect the community. Their works will be featured and updated around the clock on the convention website and in a magazine-style publication to be distributed to convention attendees on the final day of convention.

The 2010 Convention News Project director is Marian Liu, a Seattle Times reporter who practices mobile journalism. For more information about sponsoring AAJA’s Convention News Project, contact Nao Vang, Student Program Coordinator, at programs@aaja.org.

The applicants were asked to submit a resume, an official school transcript, two letters of recommendation, a short essay and work samples. Students were selected on the basis of their commitment to the field of journalism, sensitivity to Asian American and Pacific Islander issues, journalistic ability, scholastic ability and financial need.

This year’s judges were Bob Bayer, a retired longtime editor at the Los Angeles Times; Frank Buckley, co-anchor of KTLA’s “Morning News” and a former AAJA scholarship winner; Henry Fuhrmann, assistant managing editor at the Times and a former AAJA-LA chapter president; and Traci Tamura, a senior producer with CNN. Frank and Henry co-chaired the selection committee.

$2500 AAJA Sam Chu Lin Scholarship

Stephen Nelson, Chapman University

Stephen is the first recipient of the Sam Chu Lin Memorial Scholarship, funded by Southern California Edison, and a most worthy candidate to carry on Sam’s legacy in Los Angeles broadcasting. Stephen, a third-year student, is working toward bachelor’s degrees in television/broadcast journalism and public relations/advertising. At Chapman, he has created, hosted, written and acted in radio and TV shows. His instructors extol his writing and leadership skills; his colleagues with the Los Angeles Angels, for whom he works as a camera operator, cite his professionalism and eagerness to learn. In the judges’ view, Stephen has what it takes to become an accomplished sports broadcast journalist.

$2500 AAJA Los Angeles Scholarship

Stephanie Lau, USC

Stephanie, a third-year major in public relations and East Asian languages and cultures, stood out among the applicants for her sensitive take on issues of culture and ethnicity. As diversity beat reporter for USC’s Daily Trojan, she wrote an impressive news feature in response to media claims that the election of Barack Obama had toppled racial barriers in politics; the comments she elicited from fellow students told a more nuanced story. Stephanie so impressed her bosses during an internship last year at AsianWeek that they appointed her one of two managing editors of their 2008 Beijing Olympics special insert. Her philosophy: “With words, I can reveal truths, battle ignorance and inspire change.”

$1500 AAJA Peter Imamura Scholarship

Tercius Bufete, LACC/CSUN

Tercius is “the future,” as one of our judges put it: a multi-platform journalist who has demonstrated his talents as a cartoonist, writer, Web designer and video producer. In his writing, an English professor notes, Tercius offers “sophisticated insight which doesn’t go out of its way to announce its complexity.” In his scholarship essay, Tercius offers examples of such insight: “It is not wealth, property or fame that is essential but family, respect and spirituality, the foundation of the Asian community, which we should cherish.” He plans to enroll at Cal State Northridge after graduating from LACC.

$1500 AAJA Los Angeles Scholarship

Saba Mohtasham, UCLA

Saba is a third-year student at UCLA, majoring in international development studies. She impressed her editor during an internship at Entertainment Weekly as a “terrific writer, enterprising reporter and skilled surveyor of the cultural landscape.” There, he said, Saba delivered work that rivaled that of professionals with decades of experience, including a well-received blog covering “Flight of the Conchords.” Saba is trilingual, with aspirations to learn more languages. She writes: “I’ve always believed that the best way to make this world a better place is to understand it to the best of our abilities.”

$500 AAJA Los Angeles Scholarship

Jane Suh, UCI

Jane is a fourth-year student at Irvine, pursuing bachelor’s degrees in literary journalism and French. She is a dean’s honor list student and Golden Key Scholar. Jane impressed the judges with her literary journalism project on North Korean refugees and the difficulties they encounter in the free world. One of her instructors cited her “antenna for the telling nuance.” Jane, who has traveled widely in Asia through missions and youth outreach programs, aspires “to write about the people that are transforming the world … the ordinary, average people who are making a difference on a daily basis.”

$500 AAJA Los Angeles Scholarship

Joseph Prado, CSUN

Joseph won over the judges as an energetic, talented broadcast journalist. He has done every job imaginable – field reporter, writer, camera operator, teleprompter operator, audio technician, editor and anchor – for the campus news program “Valley View News.” Joseph is a sports intern at KABC and is set to graduate from Northridge this semester. One of his professors describes Joseph as “the kind of person we want in our industry.” He not only covers sports but plays them – football and rugby – and impressed his instructors by overcoming a serious jaw injury to complete his studies.

Scholarship recipients will be honored October 9 at the chapter’s Trivia Bowl fundraiser.