By Angela Chen
Voices
- Treasurer candidates tout financial savvy
- Kiriyama won’t take win for granted
- Executive director’s journey
This year’s candidates for AAJA national president, Doris Truong and Neal Justin, will tackle issues such as finding ways to increase the national organization’s revenue and how to partner with other journalism groups.
Truong and Justin weigh in about their plans should they win the office, what an election victory would mean to them, and the state of the continuously changing media industry.
Doris Truong
Doris Truong
AAJA can’t stand alone. We need more forward-thinking collaboration that will benefit AAJA members. My network in Washington includes leaders in many journalism groups that will want to work together to benefit all our groups going forward. I would love to meet our members through Skype and social media. It’s important to associate AAJA with a name and a face because that’s what builds long-term commitment to our shared mission.
How will you help solve AAJA’s financial problems?
We are well on our way to a balanced budget in 2010. With the help of AAJA chapters, we have already repaid – with interest – the amount borrowed from the endowment. We need to continue being fiscally conservative but find new sources of revenue in the coming years. Our new fundraising policy will make it possible for AAJA to seek large educational grants that will sustain us.
How do you think having a stronger Asian presence, relative to 15 years ago, has changed U.S. media?
Diversity on all levels is crucial to a successful U.S. news media. With more AAJA members in newsrooms, the stories of our communities are better reflected, whether we report them ourselves or pitch them to the editors. During the Virginia Tech shootings, AAJA issued a news release to help news organizations properly characterize the shooter. In the global economy, AAJA can help bring needed perspective to the coverage of Asia.
What career advice can you give journalists in light of industry changes? What else in addition to being versatile and learning different mediums?
Stay enthusiastic. The opportunities to report news are only multiplying. Who would have thought that Twitter would so quickly become a robust aggregator? What’s next? Tumblr? We can’t predict where people will go for their news, but we know that people crave well-reported information. Organizations such as AAJA are key to keeping journalists nimble and ready for the next step in serving our audience.
Why do you want to be president?
AAJA is home to me. It’s an extended family that spans the world. I want to help AAJA evolve as we head into our 30th year. We’re no longer an upstart, so we need to continue to be an industry leader. My continuous work on the national board since 2004 has been important to getting AAJA where it is now. I know the organization from the bottom up, having been a member, a chapter leader and a convention co-programmer. My work as national secretary since 2008 speaks for itself. I’ll continue to give to AAJA because it’s important for the industry at large that AAJA stay strong.
Neal Justin
Neal Justin
What will you do differently for AAJA that past presidents haven’t?
I think presidents should take full advantage of learning from past leaders and lean on them more for advice and guidance. I would love to institute a presidents’ board consisting of past
leaders that would meet annually with the goal of sharing their thoughts on major issues with the current officers. That being said, I am committed to being more open and transparent with our membership and the journalism community as a whole than we’ve seen in recent years.
How will you help solve AAJA’s financial problems?
The best way to strengthen our organization is to grow. ELP and J Camp are successful in fundraising because they are strong programs that benefit funders. We need to develop more programs with that in mind. We also need to look at ways of sharing costs with other journalism organizations without sacrificing our own independence. With that in mind, I have already reached out to several groups to work with us in Detroit.
How do you think having a stronger Asian presence, relative to 15 years ago, has changed U.S. media?
Progress has certainly been made, but I don’t know how significant it was. The importance of diversity took a step back during the troubled financial times of the past four years. We need to convince journalism leaders that diversity is not only the right thing to do, but it’s fiscally the smartest thing to do.
What career advice can you give journalists in light of industry changes? What else in addition to being versatile and learning different mediums?
I strongly believe in being honest with young journalists about the real obstacles facing working journalists today, but feel just as strongly that we are in a healthy, honorable, exciting profession and that those who truly love this field should jump in without hesitation. J Camp has dedicated itself to providing opportunities and optimism to teenagers and want to spread that message to all our members.
Why do you want to be president?
This has been a goal of mine for 15 years, one I’ve prepared myself for by being a chapter president, running a convention, going through ELP, running the Star Tribune internship program, serving on both the governing board and Unity board and, of course, co-founding J Camp. I don’t think any past candidate has ever been more fully prepared to take the office. Some have asked why I’d want to be prez during challenging times. Well, challenging times is exactly when ambitious people want to be leaders. My parents always taught me that, if you’re fortunate in life, you have the obligation and opportunity to give back. I can’t think of a better way to do that than by being (AAJA’s) next president.
