CUNY Journalism professor SANDEEP JUNNARKAR elected new SAJA President;
writer V.V. "Sugi" Ganeshananthan elected Vice President & Convention chair;
Group serving 1,000+ South Asian Journalists Prepares for its International Convention June 20-21
[NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: SAJA"s president, Sandeep Junnarkar available at 646-469-4334; sandeep@journalism.cuny.edu; VP V.V. "Sugi" Ganeshananthan available at: 617-256-3361; writer@vasugi.com]
Sandeep Junnarkar photo Sugi Ganeshananthan
Sandeep Junnarkar
SAJA president
(click on photo to enlarge)
PHOTO: Preston Merchant
V.V. "Sugi" Ganeshananthan
VP and convention chair
(click on photo to enlarge)
PHOTO: Preston Merchant
NEW YORK CITY, Jan. 29, 2008 -- SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association, announced its slate of officers for 2008 today. The group serves more than 1,000 journalists and others interested in South Asia and South Asians across the U.S. and Canada.
Sandeep Junnarkar, a new media professor at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism and one of the country"s leading experts on online journalism, was elected president. V.V. Ganeshananthan, known as Sugi, a writer and author, was elected vice president. Anusha Shrivastava, a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires, who is new to the Board, was named secretary (she covers corporate bonds for the news service, and has been a business journalist for wire, print and broadcast media in the U.S., Canada and India). John Laxmi, a New Jersey-based freelance writer, continues as treasurer and Sree Sreenivasan, a Columbia University journalism professor and WNBC-TV technology reporter, continues as the executive committee"s at-large officer. A full slate of Board members for the year has also been named, including Aseem Chhabra, NYC-based freelance writer; Kiran Khalid, freelance TV journalist and documentary filmmaker; Monika Mathur, researcher, the Associated Press; Gopal Ratnam, an automotive correspondent for Bloomberg News. Deepti Hajela, who served as SAJA"s president for three years, remains on the board, coordinating the group"s chapters across the U.S. and Canada.
"SAJA is in excellent hands with Sandeep and Sugi," Hajela said. "I have the highest respect for their abilities and leadership, and I can"t wait to see where they take SAJA next!"
"I am excited to serve as SAJA"s president," said Junnarkar. "SAJA has been gathering momentum over the past few years, and I look forward to working with the SAJA board members and with SAJA members to take the organization to new levels. I want to thank Deepti Hajela, our most recent president, and Vikas Bajaj, our most recent VP, for all their hard work on behalf of SAJA. I am delighted that Deepti will continue to be on our board." [He also answered five questions from SAJAforum about his new post:
http://www.sajaforum.org/2008/01/five-questions.html]
Junnarkar (pronounced "SUN-deep joo-NAR-kar"), who is an associate professor at the City University of New York"s Graduate School of Journalism, was born in Gwalior, India. He spent his childhood in New Delhi, Mumbai, London, Paris, and his teenage years in parts of California and New York. He received a master"s degree from Columbia University"s Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor"s degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He worked for the New York Times on the Web in the 1990s and later became the New York bureau chief at CNET News.com. More on him at him at http://www.saja.org/members/profiles/junnarkar.html and http://digitalnewsjournalist.com.
"I"m thrilled to be able to work with SAJA during what will be a crucial time for both journalism and South Asia," said Ganeshananthan. "Last year, SAJA ran a great convention, featuring speakers at the forefront of the profession. This year, we"re looking to repeat and add to those successes with new initiatives, including a rebuilt website and an active discussion forum incorporating a diverse array of topics and journalists." Ganeshananthan takes over the vice presidency from Vikas Bajaj, a New York Times business reporter who will continue to work closely on SAJA programs. [She also answered five questions from SAJAforum about her new post: http://www.sajaforum.org/2008/01/five-questions.html]
Ganeshananthan (pronounced "SOO-ghee [not SOO-jee] gun-ay-SHAN-an-than"), the first Sri Lankan-American member of the SAJA Board, is a journalist and fiction writer. She grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. She is a 2002 graduate of Harvard College, where she was the managing editor of The Crimson. She received an MFA in fiction from the Iowa Writers" Workshop in 2005. During 2005-2006, she was the Phillips Exeter Academy Writer-in-Residence. In 2007, she graduated from the new MA program at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she specialized in arts and culture coverage. She has written and reported for The Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal, The American Prospect, and other publications. Random House will publish her first novel, "Love Marriage," in April. The book is set partially in Sri Lanka. More on her at http://www.vasugi.com.
Led by Ganeshananthan, SAJA (along with its partner, SAJA Group, Inc.) is preparing for the annual convention, which will take place June 20-21 2008, at Columbia University and the CUNY Journalism School in New York. More than 1,000 journalists and guests from around the U.S., Canada, South Asia and Europe are expected to gather for a series of workshops, panels and networking events -- highlighted by a gala dinner and the SAJA Journalism Awards (including the Daniel Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting on South Asia). Details of the convention can be found on the SAJA Web site: http://www.saja.org.
The dramatic increase in the South Asian population in the United States and growing importance of U.S.-South Asian relations have led to a huge growth in the coverage of the community and the region. As a result, SAJA serves as a resource for journalists, community organizations and members of the public trying to understand various complex issues related to the subcontinent.
Junnarkar, Ganeshananthan and other members of the board will focus on improving the quality and reach of SAJA programs, including the SAJA Reporting Fellowships, which provide funding for journalists who wish to cover stories about South Asia or the diaspora. SAJA"s e-mail lists - http://www.saja.org/lists - and its newsy, resource-filled blog, SAJAforum.org - http://www.sajaforum.org - and its in-depth web site, SAJA.org - http://www.saja.org - offer the public a chance to learn about South Asia and South Asian America and Canada.