In abstract
The awards honor considerate reporting, thorough protection and robust storytelling and rejoice tales that may have gone untold with out the cultural competence that AAJA journalists carry to the occupation.
CalMatters/The Markup lately received two prestigious awards on the Asian American Journalists Affiliation 2024 conference, this 12 months in Austin, Texas. Chief Affect Officer Sisi Wei received the management in variety and solidarity awardand investigative reporter Lam Thuy Vo received the inaugural AAJA-Medill innovator award.
Judges mentioned, “Sisi Wei is a transformative leader who has turned The Markup into a diverse organization dedicated to having a real-world impact on people’s lives.”
Wei was editor-in-chief of The Markup from 2022-24, and this 12 months, The Markup joined with CalMatters, to construct a powerhouse California-rooted nonprofit, unbiased and nonpartisan information group. Her honor acknowledged her previous (and continued) trailblazing work in creating journalism with a transparent mandate to have real-world influence on individuals’s lives.
The worth of variety is obvious by means of Wei’s management at The Markup, each by means of how she approached hiring and staffing a various newsroom, and the way she guided the staff in producing considerate, award-winning journalism serving traditionally marginalized communities.
Throughout her first 12 months as editor-in-chief, she redefined The Markup’s hiring practices to be among the many most respectful and equitable within the trade. Consequently, over the course of 12 months, The Markup’s newsroom workers grew from 39% to 65% journalists of shade, and its editorial management staff grew to 60% ladies of shade.
The Markup’s journalism and mission, below Sisi’s steering, additionally remodeled from reporting on how know-how shapes our lives, to difficult know-how to serve the general public good, and for its journalism to have a real-world influence.
Along with The Markup’s main investigations highlighting how individuals have used know-how and algorithms to straight hurt college students, unhoused individualsand anybody affected by the digital dividefor the primary time, The Markup additionally revealed tales by neighborhood members themselvesamplifying their voice, their views, and the options they’ve provide you with as part of a number of investigative packages.
“Throughout her career, Wei has valued helping fellow journalists of color succeed,” judges mentioned. “She is a longtime mentor of multiple AAJA members—often those who are struggling to find a way to combine journalism, data, and technology—because she wants to pass forward the extraordinary mentorship she received from AAJA past president Paul Cheung.”
Former Markup investigative reporter Lam Thuy Vo was awarded the inaugural AAJA-Medill Innovator Group Award, for her contemporary and revolutionary method of approaching AAPI points in journalism.
Judges mentioned, “Lam Thuy Vo has pioneered what it means to truly serve the AAPI communities she reports on. Going beyond the journalism itself, Vo used what she learned during her reporting on misinformation in Vietnamese immigrant communities to create a misinformation workshop tailored to that community. After publishing, Vo returned in person to give the workshop. Her journalism not only highlights AAPI issues but also highlights how misinformation coverage has long ignored the specific issues experienced by AAPI communities.”
Vo’s sequence on the influence of misinformation on the Vietnamese immigrant neighborhood, “Languages of Misinformation,” additionally received the Asian American Journalism Affiliation’s excellence in on-line/digital journalism engagement award earlier this 12 months.
Judges mentioned the sequence “brilliantly tackled misinformation on YouTube, hitting home for the Vietnamese and wider AAPI communities. By teaming up with Mai Bui, a 67-year-old YouTuber grandma, and crafting a guide for younger Vietnamese Americans, the work didn’t just tell a story—it gave a platform to real voices and bridged generational gaps. The multi-layered approach to connecting with the audience sets the work apart, making it a standout choice for the category.”
Congratulations too, to all of this 12 months’s AAJA award winners.
CalMatters’ and AAJA proceed coaching highschool journalists
CalMatters partnered for a second 12 months with the affiliation on the JCal programa summer season coaching program for highschool journalists. The work is a part of CalMatters’ numerous applications devoted to advancing youth journalism.
“AAJA is proud to be partnering with CalMatters again for this program’s second year. Last year’s cohort produced incredible work on the impact of climate change and drought on California’s communities, many of which were published by local news outlets. We’re thankful for the AAJA members and local newsrooms who supported JCal students, and we are excited for a second year of developing and training aspiring California journalists,” mentioned AAJA Govt Director Naomi Tacuyan Underwood.
“We are excited to continue working with AAJA to help nurture the careers of these talented young journalists,” mentioned CalMatters Editor-in-Chief Kristen Go. “They help make their communities richer by the stories they tell. Watching their excitement and partnership with their mentors is inspiring and energizing.”
Over 5 days in mid-June, the 22 college students produced tales below the mentorship of 11 professionals and gained first hand expertise in reporting on tasks themed round California’s subsequent workforce.
This 12 months’s college students got here to Sacramento from throughout the state, together with Granite Bay, Fresno, San Diego, Atascadero and past. Mentors included journalists from The New York Occasions, KAZU, Berkeleyside and The Desert Solar.
“With CalMatters as a partner and fortified by key mentors, AAJA aims to provide students with the introduction to ethical journalism practices and exposure to newsroom workflow through various curated sessions and activations,” mentioned AAJA Director of Particular Initiatives Felicia Chanco “The influence of JCal goes past the week we host the cohort in Sacramento. After carefully working with the scholars, it’s inspiring to know these college students will quickly step into their potential of being the following era of media professionals which might be community-responsive and equity-minded.
