India Currents Wins Major Award From Asian American Journalists Association

Community Impact Award to a Local Newsroom

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) honored India Currents with the Community Impact Award to a Local Newsroom at the 2024 AAJA Annual Gala Scholarship & Awards Banquet held in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, August 10th. This award honors a local or community news outlet for outstanding continuing coverage of AAPI topics, issues, and subjects. Non-English-language media and English-language outlets were all eligible for this category which acknowledges civic engagement and leadership in the AAPI community. According to AAJA, ‘Community Awards aim to celebrate the outstanding contributions of AAJA members, chapters, affinity groups and changemakers who have left a lasting impact on our community over the past year.’

AAJA notified India Currents saying, “On behalf of the AAJA National Governing Board and AAJA HQ, we are thrilled to announce you as the winner of the 2024 AAJA Community Impact Award to a Local Newsroom. Congratulations!”

India Currents publisher Vandana Kumar received the award on behalf of the team. She was joined by MD Vijay Rajvaidya, Managing Editor Meera Kymal, and Contributing Editors Snigdha Sen and Nandita Bose at the ceremony. Later, Kumar acknowledged the honor, saying, “Overwhelmed to receive the Community Impact award for India Currents at #AAJA24 ! Grateful for Vijay Rajvaidya, Meera Kymal, Snigdha Sen and Nandita Bose for being a part of this important celebration! To the IndiaCurrents team – past and present, you made this recognition possible!”

Kumar also attended the Nonprofit Leaders Summit, which focused on making meaningful connections, mapping the media landscape, and discussing the sector’s impact and disruptions. The summit also explored potential partnerships and collaborations to further empower AAPI/POC communities.

The awards ceremony followed a 5-day AAJA national convention from August 7 – 11 in the Texas state capital of Austin. The convention theme ‘Meeting the Moment’ was chosen to recognize the importance of AAPI journalists amid tough times, with a focus on the election year, and to encourage them ‘to engage with what’s happening right now — and what’s set to happen — in journalism, politics, and society.’ Attendees participated in panels featuring experts on topics ranging from covering democracy, reporting on South Asian communities, climate change, and data analytics in reporting to process automation with AI, and power tools for election coverage. The Gala celebrated iconic news anchor Connie Chung and Pulitzer winner, professor and novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen .

AAJA was founded in 1981 as a membership nonprofit to advance diversity in newsrooms and ensure fair and accurate coverage of communities of color. This professional membership association was created by a group of AAPI journalists to increase AAPI perspectives and representation in newsrooms, media, and storytelling. AAJA implements this mission through ‘trainings, opportunities, and resources for members as well as through nurturing and maintaining a network and community of AAPI journalists globally.’

Among its members are some of the top journalists in the country, including network news anchors and reporters to Pulitzer Prize-winning writers, editors and photographers, to national radio show producers and major magazine editors. AAJA focuses on bringing young people into the news business; nearly one-third of AAJA’s members are students. The organization has more than 1,500 members across the United States and Asia.

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