HQ Notes

SAJA HQ Notes is the monthly e-newsletter of the South Asian Journalists Association, published on the first Tuesday of every month. Find a complete archive of HQ Notes below.

In between HQ Notes, SAJA will occasionally publish a short
HQ Flash to convey brief, timely information to membership.

For more information or to submit information to be published in SAJA HQ Notes, please contact SAJA Secretary Ismat Sarah Mangla at
secretary@saja.org.
  • Wednesday, March 14, 2012 12:00 PM | Ismat Sarah Mangla (Administrator)
    SAJA-NYC EVENT
    Join us at the Asia Society for a conversation with "India Becoming" author Akash Kapur (whose op-ed, "How India Became America," appeared in the New York Times last week), or watch the webcast live at asiasociety.org/live. A book sale and signing will follow. Co-sponsored by SAJA.

    Thursday, March 15
    6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

    Asia Society
    725 Park Avenue at 70th Street
    New York City
    asiasociety.org/live

    $10 for SAJA and Asia Society members (discount code asia725)
    $12 for students/seniors with ID.
    $15 for nonmembers.
    For more information and to register, visit asiasociety.org.

    SAJA SCHOLARSHIPS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: EXTENDED DEADLINE THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 16


    SAJA is  awarding scholarships worth $2,500 each to four high school students entering college to pursue a career in journalism. The deadline is this Friday, March 16. For more information and to enter, visit saja.org/scholarships.

    2012 SAJA JOURNALISM AWARDS: ENTRY DEADLINE SUNDAY, APRIL 1
    SAJA and SAJA Group Inc. invite individual journalists and news organizations in North America to submit entries for this year's SAJA Journalism Awards. Awards recognize excellence in coverage of South Asia, as well as outstanding reporting by South Asian journalists and students in the United States and Canada. For more information and to enter, visit saja.org/awards.

    SAJA-NYC EVENT
    SAJA@Work with Bloomberg News
    Thursday, March 22
    3:30 p.m. Newsroom tour for working journalists and students
    Bloomberg News, 731 Lexington Avenue, New York City

    For SAJA members only. Free. Registration required; limited to 15 registrants.

    Join SAJA-NYC for a SAJA@Work newsroom tour of Bloomberg News with editors at Bloomberg's headquarters in New York. This event is for SAJA members who are either working journalists or students.

    Click here for details and to register.

    SAJA-DC EVENT
    Book Reading and Chat // "Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi" with NPR's Steve Inskeep
    Thursday, March 22
    6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
    National Public Radio, 635 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC; 1st floor

    Free and open to the public. Registration required. A donation of $5 is suggested to cover light refreshments.

    Join SAJA-DC  for a chat with NPR's Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep (@NPRinskeep). He will discuss his new book, "Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi," based on his in-depth reporting in Pakistan. Morning Edition executive director Madhulika Sikka (@madhulikasikka) will moderate a discussion following a short reading.

    Click here for details and to register.

    SAJA-NYC EVENT
    Meet the Board Mixer
    Thursday, March 22
    6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
    Rm Fifty5 Lounge, 210 W. 55th Street, New York City

    Free for SAJA members. $5 for nonmembers. Registration required.

    Meet and mingle with your 2012 SAJA Board of Directors and other SAJA members. Have a drink, suggest ideas for SAJA and network with other journalists.  

    Click here for details and to register.
  • Tuesday, March 06, 2012 12:00 PM | Ismat Sarah Mangla (Administrator)


    MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

    March 7: SAJA-NYC reception and talk with Indian film journalist and curator Meenakshi Shedde
    March 9: SAJA-NYC book launch of "Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars" with Sonia Faleiro
    March 9: SAJA scholarships application deadline
    March 22
    : SAJA-NYC presents SAJA@Work with Bloomberg News
    March 22: SAJA-DC book chat on "Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi" with NPR's Steve Inskeep 

    March 22: SAJA-NYC Meet the Board mixer 

    April 1: 2012 SAJA Journalism Awards entry deadline

    July 14: SAJA Annual Awards Dinner and Gala in Washington, DC


    Dear SAJA members and supporters,

    We are excited to present a full slate of events in March and to announce the date of our first-ever awards dinner and gala outside of New York City, which will be held in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, July 14. Mark your calendars and watch your inbox and saja.org for details to come.

    We are now accepting entries for the 2012 SAJA Journalism Awards that will be presented at the gala; the deadline to enter is Sunday, April 1. We encourage you to enter and spread the word in your newsrooms and among your journalism colleagues.

    SAJA is also awarding a record $50,000 in student scholarships this year. The deadline to apply is this Friday, March 9. For details, visit saja.org/scholarships.

    If you are not yet a SAJA member or your membership has lapsed, please do join us at saja.org/membership. Membership costs just $40 a year ($20 for students), and is not limited to South Asians or even journalists. As a member, you'll have access to a host of benefits, including networking opportunities, timely journalism events and workshops, plus much more.

    We look forward to seeing you at SAJA events this month and beyond. 

    Warmest regards,
    Anusha Shrivastava, President
    Sovy Azhath, Vice President


    SAJA-NYC EVENT

    India Trailer: A Talk by Mumbai Film Curator and Journalist Meenakshi Shedde

    Wednesday, March 7
    6:30 p.m. Cocktail reception
    7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Lecture followed by Q/A
    CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, 219 W. 40th Street, 3rd Floor

    Free for SAJA members. $5 for nonmembers. Registration required.

    Join SAJA-NYC for a talk with film curator and journalist Meenakshi Shedde, who will deliver a lively, illustrated lecture on cutting-edge Bollywood and indie Indian films in regional languages. A Q/A session will follow.

    Click here for details and to register.


    SAJA 2012 JOURNALISM SCHOLARSHIPS DEADLINE THIS FRIDAY

    SAJA is awarding $50,000 in scholarships this year to help students pursue careers in journalism.

    If you are a high school senior about to enter college; an undergraduate; or a student starting or continuing your graduate studies, submit your application by 11:59 p.m. ET, Friday, March 9, 2012.

    For complete details and an application, visit saja.org/scholarships. Send questions to students@saja.org.


    SAJA-NYC EVENT

    Book Launch // "Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars" with Sonia Faleiro

    Friday, March 9
    6:30 p.m. Cocktail reception
    7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Reading followed by Q/A
    Aicon
    Gallery, 35 Great Jones Street, New York City

    Free and open to the public. Registration required.

    Join SAJA-NYC as we celebrate the book launch of award-winning reporter and writer Sonia Faleiro's (@soniafaleiro) "Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars."

    Click here for details and to register.


    SAJA-NYC EVENT

    SAJA@Work with Bloomberg News

    Thursday, March 22
    3:30 p.m. Newsroom tour for working journalists and students
    Bloomberg News, 731 Lexington Avenue
    , New York City

    For SAJA members only. Free. Registration required; limited to 15 registrants.

    Join SAJA-NYC for a SAJA@Work newsroom tour of Bloomberg News with editors at Bloomberg's headquarters in New York. This event is for SAJA members who are either working journalists or students.

    Click here for details and to register.


    SAJA-DC EVENT

    Book Reading and Chat // "Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi" with NPR's Steve Inskeep

    Thursday, March 22
    6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
    National Public Radio, 635 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC; 1st floor


    Free and open to the public. Registration required. A donation of $5 is suggested to cover light refreshments.


    Join SAJA-DC  for a chat with NPR's Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep (@NPRinskeep). He will discuss his new book, "Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi," based on his in-depth reporting in Pakistan. Morning Edition executive director Madhulika Sikka (@madhulikasikka) will moderate a discussion following a short reading.


    Click here for details and to register.


    SAJA-NYC EVENT

    Meet the Board Mixer

    Thursday, March 22
    6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
    Rm Fifty5 Lounge, 210 W. 55th Street, New York City


    Free for SAJA members. $5 for nonmembers. Registration required.


    Meet and mingle with your 2012 SAJA Board of Directors and other SAJA members. Have a drink, suggest ideas for SAJA and network with other journalists.  


    Click here for details and to register.


    2012 SAJA JOURNALISM AWARDS ENTRY DEADLINE SUNDAY, APRIL 1

    SAJA and SAJA Group Inc. invite individual journalists and news organizations in North America to submit entries for this year's SAJA Journalism Awards. Awards recognize excellence in coverage of South Asia, as well as outstanding reporting by South Asian journalists and students in the United States and Canada. For more information and to enter, visit saja.org/awards.



    SAJA SEEKS PAKISTANI-AMERICAN JOURNALISTS

    If you are a Pakistani-American or Pakistani-Canadian journalist working in North America, please send a note to Ismat Sarah Mangla at ismat.saja@gmail.com. We'd like to hear your thoughts about how we can engage more of you with SAJA.


    OTHER OPPORTUNITIES IN JOURNALISM

    Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award: Deadline Thursday, March 8

    This award recognizes outstanding achievement in reporting on racial or religious hatred, intolerance or discrimination in the United States. The prize honors the New York Herald Tribune's prolific reporter who passionately covered these issues. The honoree will receive $1,500 and an expense-paid trip to New York for the Journalism Day celebration. For details and to enter, click here.  

    NBC News Associates Program: Deadline Friday, March 16

    This highly competitive program identifies outstanding aspiring journalists who bring diverse backgrounds to news production and news coverage. For details and to apply, click here.


  • Monday, February 27, 2012 12:00 PM | Ismat Sarah Mangla (Administrator)
    Dear SAJA members and friends,

    Please join us in congratulating longtime SAJA-er Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on her Oscar win last night for Saving Face, her powerful documentary on the victims of acid attacks in Pakistan. This is Pakistan's first Academy Award and an important moment for women's rights on the entire subcontinent.

    You may recall Sharmeen was one of the main speakers on SAJA's live call-in webcast "After Osama," which aired less than 12 hours after President Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden.

    ===> Watch 15 seconds of her eloquent Oscars acceptance speech here.

    ===> Read the Asia Society's post, which includes a post-Oscar interview and trailer for the film, here.

    ===> Follow Sharmeen on Twitter @SharmeenOChinoy. (Tweet from last night: Thank u so much 4 all your love & support #Pakistan- v overwhelmed & v grateful to God 4 giving me this opportunity)

    ===> Listen to Sharmeen on SAJA's "After Osama" webcast here.

    We will try to host another webcast with Sharmeen in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned to SAJA on Facebook, Twitter and at SAJA.org for details.

    Warmest regards,

    Your SAJA Board


    UPCOMING NYC EVENT THIS WEEK

    View from the Top: Senior Editors Discuss Today's Journalism

    Wednesday, Feb. 29
    7 p.m. to 8:30 pm

    Stabile Student Center
    Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
    2950 Broadway (at 116th Street)

    Free and open to the public. Registration required.

    Meet the brand-new top editor of the Los Angeles Times, Davan Maharaj (@DavanMaharaj), and the first South Asian to run a daily newspaper in the United States, Peter Bhatia (@PeterBhatia) of the Oregonian. This public conversation will feature these senior journalists, in town to judge the Pulitzer Prizes, sharing the best of what they know and tips on thriving in today's journalism world. Davan and Peter were part of the SAJA Editors Challenge, which helped us raise more than $20,000 for scholarships and other SAJA programs.

    The discussion will be moderated by new SAJA president Anusha Shrivastava (@AnushaDowJones), a foreign exchange reporter DJ FX Trader at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. You'll also get a chance to meet new SAJA vice president, Sovy Azhath (@SovyProducer), a producer for CNN/HLN, and several other SAJA board members.
  • Tuesday, February 07, 2012 12:00 PM | Ismat Sarah Mangla (Administrator)
    Dear SAJA members and friends,

    We are delighted to announce that we will award a record $50,000 in student scholarships this year. We'd like to thank the sponsors of the Krishna Kumar Gaur Scholarship Fund and numerous individual and institutional donors for helping us award this unprecedented sum.

    A special thanks to the 11 editors who came together to create the SAJA challenge grant. Their donation will match, dollar-for-dollar, all donations made up to a total of $10,000. WE ARE 86% TO OUR GOAL, but the deadline is tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 8. Please donate at http://saja.org/donate so we can meet the challenge!

    As an all-volunteer, non-profit group, we rely on our donors and sponsors to fund scholarships, reporting fellowships and events like the convention, awards gala and SAJA Comes to You.

    As SAJA moves toward its 20th year, we hope to work with you in making SAJA a strong and useful resource for all members. Let’s strive to help each other, through mentoring and providing job leads, and let’s continue to improve coverage of South Asia and help promote accurate reporting about the region.

    We look forward to seeing you at SAJA events this year and welcome your feedback and suggestions.

    Warmest regards,
    Anusha Shrivastava, President
    Sovy Azhath, Vice President


    SAJA BOOK EVENT

    Love, Inshallah: A Discussion with the Creators and Writers

    Wednesday, Feb. 15
    7 p.m. to 9:30 pm

    Stabile Student Center
    Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
    Free.

    Twenty-five writers sweep aside stereotypes to share their searches for love and reveal what it means to be a Muslim woman in America today. Contributors write about love, relationships, gender, identity and sexuality and represent a broad spectrum of ethnicities, races and religious practices. Hear editors Ayesha Mattu and Nura Maznavi talk about the purpose of "Love, Inshallah" and its road to publication.

    Click here for details and to register.


    SAJA 2012 JOURNALISM SCHOLARSHIPS

    SAJA is offering a record $50,000 in scholarships this year to help students pursue careers in journalism.

    If you are a high school senior about to enter college, an undergraduate, or a student starting or continuing your graduate studies, submit your application by 11:59 p.m. ET, Friday, March 9, 2012.

    For complete details and an application, visit http://saja.org/scholarships. Send questions to students@saja.org.


    SAJA COMES TO YOU

    This year, SAJA will to continue to bring its leadership and programming to various cities around the country. Next up: Atlanta! If any members from the Atlanta area would like to coordinate and host a SAJA event, such as a networking mixer, book reading or SAJA Comes to Work at an Atlanta-based company, please contact Sovy Azhath at sovyazhath@hotmail.com.

    Interested in hosting a special SAJA event in your city? We will help you put it together! Email sovyazhath@hotmail.com to get started.

    SAJA SEEKS PAKISTANI-AMERICAN JOURNALISTS

    If you are a Pakistani-American or Pakistani-Canadian journalist working in North America, please send a note to Ismat Sarah Mangla at ismat.saja@gmail.com. We'd like to hear your thoughts about how we can engage more of you with SAJA.


    OTHER OPPORTUNITIES IN JOURNALISM

    Creative Nonfiction Fellows for Open City

    Open City: Mapping Urban Asian America, a new online magazine on Asian American news and culture in New York, is hiring creative nonfiction fellows to produce content on the vibrant immigrant communities of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Applications are due Friday, Feb. 17. For details and to apply, visit aaww.org/opencityapply.

    Summer Internships with The Nation

    The Nation is looking for college students or recent graduates interested in magazine journalism and publishing for summer internships. Applications must be postmarked by Thursday, March 1. For details, visit http://www.nationinstitute.org/internships/1000/.
 
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