For Striving Jazz Journalists: A Professional Development Series With Arts Media Stars; Applications Close November 21
The Jazz Journalists Association, the international organization of writers, photographers, broadcasters, and new media professionals covering jazz, recently announced its new program, the Arnold Jay Smith Intergenerational Professional Development Fellowships. Interested parties are encouraged to complete the application by November 21.
Complete Application
The program, launching with generous multi-year funding from the Jazz Foundation of America, honors the memory of Arnold Jay Smith (1934-2022), the Brooklyn-based jazz publicist, writer, and educator who was both a JJA cofounder and a JJA benefactor. The AJS Seminars aim to engage a small first class of emerging and aspiring writers, photographers, broadcasters, and new media producers in candid, instructive discussions regarding best journalistic practices, successful approaches to current career challenges, and appreciation for the legacy of jazz and its documentation.
The nine-session AJS Seminars will be held every other week from January 16 through May 8, 2027. Topics of sessions (subject to change) include “On Keeping Current” (Nate Chinen), “Making a Book” (Bill Milkowski, Debbie Burke), “Broadcasting Basics” (Mark Ruffin, Neil Tesser, Rick Mitchell), “Research and Public Intersections” (Ashley Kahn, Willard Jenkins), “Making a Living, with Photography” (Michael Jackson), “Working with a Publicist, from Their Perspective” (Lydia Liebman), and “Periodical Publishing, Present and Trending” (Frank Alkyer).
Successful applicants to the AJS seminars who become participants in the program will be assigned journalistic exercises to complete between class sessions, potentially leading to publication in JJANews and/or producing segments for the JJA podcast The Buzz, or the JJA’s YouTube channel.
The AJS program—which the JJA hopes to develop for general members’ access in archival form—is the result of five-year funding from the Jazz Foundation of America. Donations and sponsorships to enhance the AJS program are welcome, and being sought by JJA principals.
Complete Application
The program, launching with generous multi-year funding from the Jazz Foundation of America, honors the memory of Arnold Jay Smith (1934-2022), the Brooklyn-based jazz publicist, writer, and educator who was both a JJA cofounder and a JJA benefactor. The AJS Seminars aim to engage a small first class of emerging and aspiring writers, photographers, broadcasters, and new media producers in candid, instructive discussions regarding best journalistic practices, successful approaches to current career challenges, and appreciation for the legacy of jazz and its documentation.
The nine-session AJS Seminars will be held every other week from January 16 through May 8, 2027. Topics of sessions (subject to change) include “On Keeping Current” (Nate Chinen), “Making a Book” (Bill Milkowski, Debbie Burke), “Broadcasting Basics” (Mark Ruffin, Neil Tesser, Rick Mitchell), “Research and Public Intersections” (Ashley Kahn, Willard Jenkins), “Making a Living, with Photography” (Michael Jackson), “Working with a Publicist, from Their Perspective” (Lydia Liebman), and “Periodical Publishing, Present and Trending” (Frank Alkyer).
Successful applicants to the AJS seminars who become participants in the program will be assigned journalistic exercises to complete between class sessions, potentially leading to publication in JJANews and/or producing segments for the JJA podcast The Buzz, or the JJA’s YouTube channel.
The AJS program—which the JJA hopes to develop for general members’ access in archival form—is the result of five-year funding from the Jazz Foundation of America. Donations and sponsorships to enhance the AJS program are welcome, and being sought by JJA principals.
For more information contact Terri Hinte Publicity.
