Winner of 2011 Wall Street Journal Asia Fellowship Announced
Posted on | June 14, 2011 | Comments Off
NEW YORK (June 13, 2011) – The Wall Street Journal announced today the winner of the 2011 Wall Street Journal Asia Fellowship is Warangkana Chomchuen, a television producer from Chiang Rai in northern Thailand.
The fellowship provides promising mid-career journalists from Asia the opportunity to participate in the three-semester master of arts program in the Business and Economic Reporting at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. In its eighth year, the fellowship is supported by the Dow Jones Foundation and NYU.
Ms. Chomchuen has worked as a production coordinator in the Bangkok bureau of NBC News since 2007. While with NBC News, Ms. Chomchuen, who aspires to be a cross-platform business journalist, has produced major news stories and a variety of features from the field for NBC’s Nightly News, the Today Show and MSNBC.com. Among other high-profile assignments, she was involved in the live broadcast of the Today Show’s ‘Where in the World is Matt Lauer’ in Laos in 2008; CNBC’s coverage of the G20 summit 2010 in Seoul; and the Today Show’s interview with Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2011.
Ms. Chomchuen graduated with honors in English from Chulalongkorn University and won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism from 2006 to 2007.
The Wall Street Journal fellowship covers tuition and fees for two of the three semesters of the program, as well as a stipend to cover travel to New York and other expenses.
Previous fellows have gone on to staff positions covering business and economics at The Wall Street Journal and other major news organizations in the U.S. and Asia.
2011 Update
Posted on | April 4, 2011 | Comments Off
NYU has identified those applicants who will move on to the next step and will be sending out notes this week.
Applications for 2011 Closed
Posted on | March 23, 2011 | Comments Off
Thanks to everyone for applying. Applications are now closed and finalists will be contacted directly. For those of you who did not manage to apply in time, I recommend subscribing to the RSS feed and applying next year. Dates vary, so I can’t give a precise date on when applications will open.
A Fellow’s FAQ
Posted on | February 23, 2011 | Comments Off
From Sui-Lee in response to some of our questions about the fellowship:
How did you hear about the fellowship?
A friend had sent me an email asking me to apply.
Why did you apply? What were your objectives?
I wanted to become more of a specialist in reporting on financial news and I thought the MBA courses would be particularly helpful in that aspect.
How long did it take you to complete your application?
I took about three days.What advice would you offer applicants about completing their application?
I think its important to really work on the essay and make sure your passion for the profession shines through, and to also provide concrete examples of how he or she would make a difference to journalism if given the fellowship.
What was the hardest part of the application process for you? What pitfalls should applicants look out for?
The most difficult part was crafting the essay and structuring my thoughts. Applicants should also make sure that they send in clips that truly involve enterprise reporting those articles would help them stand out from the crowd.
How easy was it to leave your existing job? Did you leave in place any arrangement or option to return?
It was easy because I was young then. No, there was no arrangement to return, although I was lucky that Reuters hired me again.
What preparations did you make for the fellowship after being accepted?
I spoke to all the previous fellows before me to ask for tips on the course and life in New York.
Did you have a goal for after the fellowship? Did you know what you were going to do?
I wanted to be hired with an international media organization.
What did you wish you’d prepared better, looking back?
Nothing, really.
How easy was it to get settled in New York? What advice would you offer?
Plow through housing ads on Craigslist to get a sense of rents in the city, talk to previous alumni, attend all social events.
What did you find best about the course?
The courses at NYUs Stern School of Business,the journalism professors who provided real-world experience, the talks by top editors from international media organizations.
What would you differently in the course, looking back?
Nothing.
Any advice on the course itself?
Work hard, be open-minded to suggestions and enjoy yourself!
How easy was it to find a job after the course?
I was fortunate to bump into my former editor, who told me to apply for a job in Hong Kong.
What is your present job, exactly?
I cover politics and general news in China for Reuters.
Why are you doing the job you’re doing now? How has the fellowship helped, if at all, in getting you there?
This is my dream job. The fellowship has equipped me with the financial knowledge to understand political risk and the interaction of government, the economy and businesses.
Goals Post Fellowship
Posted on | February 22, 2011 | Comments Off
Succesful applicants were asked what their plans were upon completion of their fellowship.
Serena Ng: I didn’t know what the fellowship would lead to, but I was well aware that there was no guarantee of a job at Dow Jones or the WSJ after the program. I also knew the bar to get into the WSJ (and any other major media organization in the U.S.) was extremely high, and the standards of journalism weren’t the same as the local paper I worked for. I did hope, however, that I would be able to get a job in the U.S. after graduating from NYU, either at a wire service or a newspaper here.
Saabira Chaudhuri: To hone my writing/reporting/research/interviewing skills on the one hand, and also develop a base of business/economics/finance knowledge on the other. I also thought about what sorts of internships I might want to apply for over the course of the semester and the summer in order to supplement (rather than replicate) any existing work experience I had.
Nesil Staney: Yes, to become a Journal reporter. Cover Wall Street.
Eva Woo: A financial journalist. which is what i am now.
The Wisdom of Hindsight
Posted on | February 21, 2011 | Comments Off
Applicants were asked what things they would have prepared more.
Serena Ng: There are very few things I would have done differently–because it was the first year of the fellowship, I think it helped that I didn’t have unrealistic expectations about it could lead to, and simply followed my instincts throughout the experience.
Nesil Staney: I should have prepared for the school earlier.
Eva Woo: Study harder on how to write as a non-native speaker.
Preparations Post Acceptance
Posted on | February 20, 2011 | Comments Off
Assume you’re accepted; what preparations should you make?
Serena Ng: Once I decided to go to New York, I spent a fair amount of time figuring out my finances and things like lodging and living arrangements. Friends put me in touch with their friends in New York, who gave me practical advice on how to budget and get by in the city. I also tried to read the WSJ and the FT more regularly before going to New York.
Nesil Staney: I prepared the NYU application, took the GRE test, started reading up American business journalism archives etc.
Eva Woo: I tried to read more and learn how to write in English with clarity.
How Long to Complete an Application?
Posted on | February 18, 2011 | Comments Off
It’s late–less than two weeks to go–but a poll of previous and present fellows suggest they took their time over it:
Serena Ng: About 3-4 weeks, mainly because the essay needed some thought and rewrites.
Saabira Chaudhuri: Several weeks, as I revised my personal statement 4 to 5 times.
Jason Leow: One month.
Nesil Staney: Three weeks
Eva Woo: I was applying to 2 other schools at the time. So I have recommendation letters ready at the time. The key thing which is to write a personal statement took me 3 days.
Deadline Extended
Posted on | February 17, 2011 | Comments Off
NYU has decided to extend the deadline for submissions from March 1 to March 7. This is to give more time to applicants to work on and file their proposals; if anyone needs more time please email us using the contact form on the website and your request will be considered.
How to Leave a Job for a Fellowship
Posted on | February 17, 2011 | Comments Off
Leaving a job for a fellowship is a hard decision. How did previous fellows handle it?
Saabira Chaudhuri: It wasn’t a problem since my boss knew I was applying for grad school. I did not set up any arrangements to return to the same publication.
Jason Leow: My former employer, The Straits Times, will take me back if I ever want to return to journalism. Just don’t leave your job with all the bridges burnt.
Nesil Staney: It was a bit difficult. I did not leave any such arrangements.
Eva Woo: My boss was supportive.
Serena Ng: This was one of the hardest decisions. I had been in my job for four years and largely enjoyed it, and could see myself in it for many more years. I also wasn’t sure initially if I wanted to give up everything I had in Singapore, as life was pretty comfortable. My company gave me several options, including paying all the fees and expenses that the WSJ fellowship didn’t cover–on the condition that I return to my job and be contractually bound to it for two years after graduating from NYU. Another option was for me to take unpaid leave for the duration of the NYU program, and return to my old job after it. I seriously considered both options, but in the end I simply resigned and moved to New York without any strings attached. Even though a safety net would have been nice, I decided I didn’t want to break a contract or resign later if a great job opportunity came up during or after the NYU program. I figured that if things didn’t work out in the U.S., it wouldn’t be difficult for me to reapply for a job at my former employer or other media outlets in Singapore.