SAJAforum

CONV: Conversations on diversity: Strapped news budgets limit opportunities

When a tip came in about the opening of a large Hindu temple in Lilburn, Georgia, reporter Rahul Bali was the obvious choice in his radio station to cover the opening.

“They needed someone to bridge the gap,” he said. “I had to report, but also to educate.”      

His Indian background also played to his favor when he traveled through African-American neighborhoods in Atlanta.  Bali was seen as an unbiased observer since he wasn't identified as either a member of the black or white communities.

Although no longer in the South, Bali continues to be the only person of Indian origin at his current radio station, WTOP in the D.C. Metro area, where he is often assigned to topics with a multicultural element. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, he helped to inform a curious public about the Islamic society in America.   

As was the case in Bali's radio stations, much of the journalism world does not reflect the growing diversity of the population. And cuts to newsroom budgets are making the situation worse.   

How to Pitch Yourself: The Art of the Resume and Cover Letter

SAJA students and other members got the lowdown on what it takes to get noticed by recruiters at Saturday's workshop, "Resumes, cover letters and making the right connections." Mariecar Frias of ABC News, Jane Light of Reuters and Pat Thompson of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel gave attendees tips for working their way up the media ladder:

J-Student Profile: Aditya Sambamurthy

Adithya Sambamurthy is starting j-school at Berkeley next month, but until recently, he was snapping photos at the World Cup. For Sambamurthy, who’s spent more than half his life in Germany, it was an event he did not want to miss. Although he’s covered college athletics and Major League Baseball in the past, the German in him defers to soccer. In his own words, “few things compare in magnitude to the FIFA World Cup.” He originally planned to send some of his soccer shots to his former employer in the US, but when that didn’t work out, the innovative Sambamurthy was still able to freelance for some local German papers.

Seshu Badrinath of Tiffinbox says the young photographer is both “talented and enterprising.” Last September, Badrinath featured Sambamurthy’s work in India on his blog.

Sambamurthy made his way to India to work on a “self-assigned documentary project.” What did he learn while on the job in there? “…who you know is more important than what you know.” On Tiffinbox he shares the first few pictures that he took in India. He claims that in these initial photos he was “…hesitant about really getting in close…the pictures on the site lack a sense of intimacy, as I [was] still trying to find that connection with my subjects.” Yet, his pictures still effectively capture and portray the color and emotion of everyday movement in India.

Here are some more of his shots:

CONV: J-Student - Vasugi Ganeshananthan

Vasugi Ganeshananthan (she goes by Sugi) will be joining Columbia University's M.A. program in journalism program this Fall, where her focus will be Arts and Culture. Ganeshananthan's foray with journalism began during her undergraduate days, when she was a managing editor for the Harvard Crimson.

"Harvard doesn't have offer a journalism major," she quips, "so if you're interested in journalism you basically major in the Crimson." "I was an English major but I wasn't known for being in class much," she jokes.

After an internship with the Wall Street Journal, Sugi's career progressed in two directions - journalism and creative writing. She worked for the Atlantic Monthly for a year, after which she attended the University of Iowa's Writer's Workshop where she completed her M.F.A. Following that, she was the Writer in Residence at Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.

Sugi, who is of Sri Lankan origin, is currently working on two historical fiction novels, both set in Sri Lanka. Although  she has not spent more than six weeks in total in Sri Lanka, she has been able to use her friends and family as resources for her writing.

J-Student: Sonia Narang

After graduating from Amherst College, Sonia Narang returned home to Denver, and found herself unemployed and living with the parents. “I took the first job I could get, which was a reporting gig for a weekly newspaper, where I wrote rousing stories about moose sightings in suburban yards and Girl Scout cookie sales.”

Mostly, Narang enjoyed the fact that she was constantly on the move and not stuck to an 8-hour-a-day desk job. After a few years at the paper, called the “Lone Tree Voice,” circulation 6,000, it was time for a change of pace.

J-Student: Ambreen Ali

Ambreen Ali was bred to be a businesswoman, not a journalist. After graduating from college with a degree in finance, Ali took a family trip to Lahore. It was there, while standing on her uncle’s balcony, that she decided her heart lay far outside of business.

She’s worked in the non-profit sector ever since, in communications, and as an editor for a non-profit journal. She spent three months in Pakistan, where she worked for The Citizen’s Foundation and interviewed students and teachers about the effectiveness of the foundation’s education program for Pakistan’s poorest.