NEW YORK, May 2, 2013 - The South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) and SAJA Group Inc. are proud to announce the winners of the 2013 SAJA Reporting Fellowships Program.

SAJA will support the following projects with a total of about $8,000 in funding:

1. Sarika Bansal, a freelancer, will work on a project mental health in India with a grant of $3,000.

2. Kim Wall, a freelancer, along with Anna Stevenson, will explore post-war Tamil repatriation with a grant of $4,000.

3. Anika Gupta, a freelancer, will work on a project charting India's battle over social media with a grant of $1,000.

SAJA received more than 70 entries for the 2013 program. A rigorous, two-round judging process was used to pick the winners.

"The number of high-caliber entries made the judging process extremely difficult," said Sandeep Junnarkar, the chair of the SAJA Reporting Fellowships. "The judges found that the winners' projects stood out for their timeliness and compelling  storyline, and we're eagerly looking forward to seeing the finished work."

The completed work is expected to be available to news organizations around the world at no cost in early July 2013.

This year SAJA plans to provide up to $20,000 in funding for the SAJA Reporting Fellowships in the fall. Please check SAJA.org for more information in July, 2013. 

Open to freelancers and staff journalists in any medium, the fellowships are meant to encourage in-depth reporting projects about South Asia and the South Asian Diaspora through special grants. The resulting work is available for use by news organizations at no charge. The completed work of previous year's fellows may be viewed here: http://saja.org/srf
 

The judges for the final round were: Deepti Hajela, a newswoman at the Associated Press and former SAJA president; Brent McDonald, a video journalist at the New York Times; and Steve Strasser, associate professor at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and former managing editor of Newsweek International. The judges for the first two rounds were members of the SAJA board.

ABOUT SAJA:

SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association, was founded in March 1994 as a networking group for journalists of South Asian origin in New York City. It has grown into a national group of more than 1,000 journalists working for leading publications, broadcast networks and online outlets in various cities in the US and Canada.

SAJA works closely with SAJA Group, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization.

Details of SAJA's activities and resources for journalists are available at

http://www.saja.org.

SAJA Group, Inc. is a non-profit charitable organization (EIN: 55-0844632)

and is registered with the State of New York Charities Bureau

(Registration Number 20-70-28).

The South Asian Journalists Association is thrilled to announce the winners of its 2013 student scholarships. SAJA is awarding a record $53,000 to help high school, undergraduate and graduate students fund their journalism education.

Each has shown dedication to journalism and the coverage of South Asia.
GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP - $5,000

Divya Jeswani - City University of New York

Mehboob Jeelani - Columbia University

Sarah Khuwaja - City University of New York

Muzhgan Mia Rasul - Columbia University
Mihir Zaveri - University of California-Berkeley

Angela Zonunpari - Syracuse University


UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP - $3,000

Fareeha Amir - University of Missouri

Samantha Noreyana Fernando - Ithaca College

Sabrina Ghaus - Tufts University

Sanaa Jatoi - Mount Holyoke College

Sarah Mahmood - Wellesley College

Priyanka Tilve - Northwestern University



HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP - $2,500

Astha Agarwal - Newton South High School, Newton, Mass.

Shanze Tahir - Zionsville Community High School, Zionsville, Ill.



The scholarships were judged by: Ambreen Ali, CQ Roll Call; Jigar Mehta, Matter, Board member; Meena Thiruvengadam, freelance journalist; Pallavi Reddi, CNN; Aarti Virani, freelance journalist; Raahkee Mirchandani, New York Daily News; Sudeep Reddy, Wall Street Journal; Kiran Khalid, EP Shell Oil; Shefali Kulkarni, freelance, board member.


The SAJA Scholarships are made possible through generous contributions from the Krishna Kumar Gaur Scholarship Fund, the Arun I & Asmita Bhatia Foundation, and numerous individual and institutional donations. To donate to SAJA and help future scholarship classes, visit http://www.saja.org/donate.

SAJA's Internship Fund Now Open For Applications!

Calling all students! Got an unpaid or partially paid internship lined up this summer? A little financial help from SAJA's Internship Fund, to meet basic expenses, will help you gain valuable experience and clips.

This year, SAJA will grant up to $4,500 distributed among three students who have already secured internships, but may find it difficult to accept because they are partially paid or unpaid. This is a need-based grant. Up to three students will receive between $500 and $1,500 each for the summer.

Students from all mediums (newspaper, magazine, radio, TV and new media) will be considered.

To apply, first register here: http://saja.org/events?eventId=667605&EventViewMode=EventDetails

To complete your application, email secretary@saja.org with the following supporting materials:

1. A copy of your offer letter.

2. A copy of your resume.

3. Attachments or links to 3-5 clips.

4. Answers to the following questions (300 words or less each):

a. What has driven your interest in SAJA, South Asia or the diaspora?
b. How have you been involved with SAJA thus far?
c. Detail the expenses you will incur to pursue this internship.
d. Detail your financial need for this grant.
e. Detail any other sources of funding you are receiving for this internship.

Applications are due at 11:59 P.M. Saturday, June 1st, 2013.

Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

Visit saja.org/internshipfund for complete details on the program.

Please contact SAJA Secretary Shefali Kulkarni at secretary@saja.org with questions or to send supporting application materials.

Final Day: Broadcast Challenge Ends TONIGHT- March 15th.

Today's the last day of the SAJA Broadcast Challenge and we need all the help we can get to raise funds for scholarships, reporting grants, workshops for mid-career reporters and a variety of other events for our members. Top South Asian broadcast journalists from around the country have offered to match donation SAJA receives from its members. Their special pool of money will match, dollar-for-dollar, all donations made, up to a total of $10,000.

Please chip in! No amount is too small! You can donate here via credit care or Paypal: http://saja.org/donatenow?wofg=true

Any checks made out to us should be to SAJA Group Inc. and should be mailed to:

John Laxmi, Treasurer

17 Cotswood Road

Greenwich, CT 06830

All donations must be sent to SAJA Group, Inc. (not to SAJA). Donations to SAJA are NOT tax deductible.

SAJA Group, Inc. is a tax-exempt charitable organization which supports SAJA's programs and activities. Donations to SAJA Group, Inc. are tax deductible under current laws. SAJA Group, Inc.'s Federal tax ID number is: 55-0844632 and New York State ID is 20-70-28.

Good news! This year SAJA will be having its Career fair in conjunction to the AAJA National Convention this summer. SAJA members will have a special one day rate ($150) on Friday August 23, 2013 with complete access to the job fair as well as workshops, panel discussions, and AAJA's silent auction that evening.

When: Friday, August 23, 2013
Where: Hilton New York in Midtown Manhattan, 1335 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10019

To register and for more information visit: http://www.saja.org/events?eventId=642445&EventViewMode=EventDetails

Register before April 12 for Early Bird Discounts!

SAJA Toronto: Discussion Panel on "South Asian Stories In The Newsroom"

Attention SAJA Toronto Members! SAJA is proud to co-sponsor a panel discussion on Thursday March 21 at the University of Toronto.

South Asian Stories In The Newsroom
It’s 2013. Visible minorities are 50% of the GTA population. What impact has this had in the coverage of stories that fall outside what is considered "the mainstream?" Are the shootings at the Sikh gurdwara in the U.S., Tamil protests in Toronto or the Shafia murders treated like any other story or treated as stories about a specific community? Who does the reporting and does ethnic background make a difference in reporting style?

When: Thursday, March 21, 2013
Where: 208N, North House, Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto

Register Here: http://www.munk.utoronto.ca/EventDetails.aspx?EventId=13648

Panelists:
Moderator: Rita Trichur: a telecom reporter in The Globe and Mail's Report on Business and writes about a variety of topics ranging from manufacturing to maple syrup.
Stewart Bell: an award-winning Canadian journalist and the author of three non-fiction books, Bayou of Pigs, The Martyr’s Oath and Cold Terror, a national bestseller. In 2009, Stewart won a South Asian Journalists Association Award for his writing about the civil war in Sri Lanka.
Nicholas Davis: the Manager of Program Development for CBC Radio. He is an accomplished journalist and writer who has worked in radio, television and print and has done so for the past 26 years covering everything from current affairs to the arts.
Noor Javed: an award winning reporter with the Toronto Star, and is currently a feature writer at the paper. She fulfilled a life-long dream when she joined the Star in 2007, and since then has been working to tell the stories reflective of the city’s diverse communities.


SAJA DC: UNITY Panel with LOOP21 At The National Association of Broadcasters

Loop21, along with UNITY will host a panel discussion on "Race in the Media" at the National Association of Broadcasters on Friday March 8. The event is free and open to the public and will include a lunch. Panelists include:
Joseph Torres, co-author of the New York Times bestseller, "News for All The People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media"
Gautham Nagesh, an editor for CQ Roll Call who reports on politics, race, media and technology
Jenée Desmond-Harris, White House correspondent for the Root
And Steve Holmes, executive director for the Office of Standards and Practices at CNN, will moderate the discussion.
Where: National Association of Broadcasters, 1771 N Street NW, Washington D.C. 20036
When: Friday, March 8, 2013

To register email: info@theloop21.com and for more information email: shontel@theloop21.com


SAJA Members Judge the Pulitzer Prizes

This year's Pulitzer Prizes are getting a look-over from three SAJA members! Peter Bhatia(Editor of The Oregonian), Davan Maharaj(Editor of the Los Angeles Times) and Raju Narisetti (Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal's digital network) are serving on the jury for the Pulitzers, which will be announced in April.

As SAJA board member and co-founder Sree Sreenivasin wrote on our blog SAJAForum, South Asians are making waves in the media world, "there are several other senior editors running news operations in the U.S." Many of them featured in last year's Editors Challenge and this year's Broadcast Challenge.

Take a look at SAJAForum for other interesting media insights from our members. And if you are interested in volunteering by blogging for us, please contact SAJA Secretary Shefali Kulkarni: secretary@saja.org

https://saja.submittable.com/submit

And be sure to check out and 'like' the SAJA Students Facebook page for more information on jobs, internships and fellowship opportunities.