AAJA should be proud of this little website. It’s an important community resource in the online landscape of Pacific Northwest journalism sites. Don’t believe me? I too was shocked when a research study that came out at the 2010 Journalism That Matters conference put aajaseattle.org on the map – literally. Use the Zoom (+) button below and look at the center of the map.
Over the years, as the site’s founding editor, I’ve watched it grow and become a part of our chapter’s strategy for building community online and reaching out to members hungry for training, mentoring and jobs.
My vision for AAJASeattle.org was and still is a place for our members – especially students and freelancers – to post their profiles, share links to their stories and offer emerging, diverse journalists a platform to display their storytelling in new media (and maybe get constructive comments). I think it could realize that vision with a staff of three to five dedicated volunteers.
The chapter’s costs to keep the site up are minimal – a server hosting account and domain name – but the content our authors contribute is priceless.
The blog post items, which chronicle chapter news and turbulent times of our profession, come from members willing to donate their time. And sometimes we get photos and videos posted of chapter events.
With no advertising, no dedicated staff and sporadic blog posts, the site has attracted nearly 7,000 visits over the past year (yes, we track it using Google Analytics). We set up the site so that @aajaseattle sends out a tweet for every new post.
Now it’s time for a new editor with fresh ideas and energy to assume the duties and nurture the site’s evolution.
This is a great VOLUNTEER opportunity for anyone who hopes to be a web producer, blogger or site manager some day.
Skills you will develop as site editor:
Blogging about a community.
Recruiting and managing contributing writers.
Tracking and interpreting site analytics.
Managing the WordPress platform.
Skills we’d hope you have or are willing to learn if you want this gig:
Knowledge of basic HTML tags and how to tag content to improve search.
Knowledge of any blogging platform, i.e. WordPress, TypePad, Tumblr, Blogger.
Proficiency in editing copy.
Editorial judgment and basic understanding of libel, privacy and copyright.
The time commitment is minimal – an hour a week, perhaps – but you could spend more time if you want to create something cool. Definitely something to list on your resume when you apply for jobs at news websites.
If you’re interested in volunteering, please email Sanjay Bhatt, chapter president/aajaseattle.org editor, at sbhatt@seattletimes.com. Please write “AAJASeattle.org – Editor” in the subject line. Thanks!
In today’s recovering job market, I know firsthand as a recent graduate how competitive the news industry has been. So it is great to hear how fellow AAJA Seattle student members are still able to land opportunities in journalism.
Rachel Solomon is a print reporter turned radio broadcast journalist who was recently hired as a morning news producer for 97.3 KIRO FM.
Solomon received a Bachelor’s in Communication from the University of Washington in June where she spent time writing for the college’s student newspaper, The Daily. Her interest in radio led Solomon to produce a monthly This American Life-inspired radio podcat focusing on campus-life.
Her work has ended up in The Seattle Times, National Native News, KUOW, KPLU and KPBCS.
Listen to episodes of Solomon’s program “The Bark & The Bite” online.
Joanna Nolasco snagged an internship this summer at The Oregonian covering Washington County news after spending six months interning for The Seattle Times.
Nolasco was the recipient of the 2011 Northwest Journalists of Color Scholarship. The NJC scholarship program awards students in Washington state demonstrating talent and commitment in journalism.
She has also interned for The Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in the summer of 2010.
Nolasco studies Journalism and Political Science at the University of Washington and is expected to graduate in 2012.
Summer internships are a great way to practice journalism and learn the ins and outs of newsrooms today. Problem is, many internships these days don’t pay — or they don’t pay enough for interns to cover their basic living expenses.
AAJA awards Stanford Chen internship grants to help defray those expenses. The grant provides $1,750 to a college student who is an intern at small- to medium-size media.
Stanford Chen was a California-born city boy who was introduced to journalism by working on his high school newspaper at Oakland Tech. After graduating with a journalism degree from Indiana University, Stan’s professional career began at The Bellingham, Wash., Herald. From there he moved to the Daily Journal of Commerce, a business publication in Portland, Ore., as its editor before landing at The Oregonian, Oregon’s largest metropolitan daily. Stan could do anything journalistically, and he frequently was ahead of trends: At The Herald he wrote an environmental column, long before the environment became front-page news; he also was the paper’s sports editor, copy editor and photographer. At The Oregonian, he started as a part-time copy editor, soon was hired full time, doing night page makeup, then became deputy editor of the Forum editorial section before returning to his real love, reporting. He remained a reporter even after he was stricken with cancer. He died in 1999 at the age of 51. (Source: AAJA)
Want to work next summer at The Seattle Times or The Boston Globe?
Nov. 1 is the deadline!
The Seattle Times offers paid summer internships in reporting, copy editing, photojournalism, design and multimedia to outstanding students pursuing a career in journalism. For 10 weeks, interns work on varied assignments. They attend weekly training sessions given by members of a Pulitzer-Prize winning staff. Interns receive a skill-development plan and a staff mentor to support them in achieving it.
Qualifications:
Internships are open to sophomores, juniors, seniors or graduate students attending a four-year college or university. Applicants must have a demonstrated commitment to print and online journalism. At least one previous internship at a daily news organization is preferred, and multimedia experience is a plus.
The Boston Globe gives 10 interns the opportunity to work as reporters, as well as photographer, designer or copy editor.
The 12-week program places reporter-interns in our Metro, Business, Living/Arts, and Sports departments; the photo intern shoots stills and video for all sections, the design intern creates sections fronts and information graphics for print and online, and the copy editing intern works on local, national, foreign and business copy.
The Globe provides guidance and direction, as well as a writing coach dedicated to the interns. Globe interns produce every day and finely polish their journalism skills over the summer.
EDIT: In addition, the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund also has a Nov. 1 deadline for its internship program. The program offers internships in copy editing and business reporting. Along with a 10-week paid internship at media outlets around the country, Dow Jones Newspaper Fund participants also receive pre-internship training and a $1,000 scholarship.
The program is open to juniors, seniors and graduate students.
For more information and tips on applying go here.
When I was studying journalism at Western Kentucky University in the early 2000s, I was eager to soak every experience I had in college from writing for the school paper to interning at newspapers all over the nation. Though I have been out of school for several years, I still remember fondly how much I grew through all the opportunities that was open to me while I was in college.
So I find great pleasure in hearing about how AAJA Seattle’s student members have made the most of their college experience:
Sessum earned a first place award in in-depth reporting and a second place award in general news reporting for work he did at The Triton Review, the school paper at Edmonds Community College. Sessum’s story on blood donations was also selected as a finalist in the in-depth category for the national Mark of Excellence Awards.
Sessum is now a student at the University of Washington and writing for its school paper. AAJA members will also see him in action at the 2010 AAJA National Convention in Los Angeles as a member of the AAJA Voices staff.
Gerald Patriarca, a student at Seattle Pacific University, recently was profiled in the university’s paper for his internship with KOMO-TV’s problem solvers team. The article, which also mentions his previous internship at KING 5, also quotes Akiko Oda, an AAJA member who interned at KOMO-TV before graduating from University of Missouri this month. And not only is Patriarca learning from his experience, he’s inspiring other students to do the same.
Who wouldn’t be inspired by these students awesome stories? I certainly am!
Photos: AAJASeattle.org file photo, Yong Kyle Kim’s website and Danielle Knight, The Falcon newspaper at Seattle Pacific University.
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Peter Sessum, the 
Another winner in the regional Mark of Excellence Awards was 
Gerald Patriarca, a student at Seattle Pacific University, recently was profiled in the university’s paper for