The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in Washington, D.C., with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia.

[citation needed] AAJA's diverse membership includes broadcast anchors, print reporters, editors, producers, videographers, columnists, photojournalists, freelancers, academics, professors, students as well as those who work in film and online media.

[citation needed] The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) was founded in 1981 by several Los Angeles–based Asian American journalists: Bill Sing, Nancy Yoshihara, and David Kishiyama (from The Los Angeles Times), Frank Kwan and Tritia Toyota (from KNBC-TV News), and Dwight Chuman (from Rafu Shimpo, the Japanese-American newspaper).

[3] The AAJA also aimed to encourage high school and college students through scholarship and internships as a way of increasing Asian American representation in the journalistic profession.

Inspired by the creation of the National Association of Black Journalists in 1975 as well as the Los Angeles–based California Chicano News Media Association, Sing, a 23-year-old Los Angeles Times reporter at the time, serendipitously met KNBC-TV anchor Tritia Toyota at a student night at UCLA in 1981 and consequently mentioned the idea of forming a similar organization.

The other members of the Original Six were David Kishiyama and Nancy Yoshihara of the Los Angeles Times, TV producer Frank Kwan, and Dwight Chuman, an editor of a local Japanese American newspaper.

By July 1987, membership reached 350 and more chapters were formed, including Detroit, Chicago, New York, Portland, New England, Florida and Denver.

[11]AAJA holds an annual conference each summer in the United States where more than 800 Asian American journalists and allies attend each year for the workshops, plenaries, keynote speakers, job fair, and awards banquet.

Speakers, including keynote speakers, have included news pioneers Al Neuharth and Connie Chung, former United States President Bill Clinton, former United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, civil rights leader John Lewis and former international correspondent-anchor for NBC News Ann Curry.

Each year, a group of students are selected to work remotely part-time to report on issues related to Asian Americans.

It strives to confront the lack of diversity within the industry, in regards to race, religion, identity, geography, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status.

The curriculum consists of interactive workshops, hands-on training and field trips that emphasize cross-cultural communication, ethics, leadership and networking.

[17] Speakers have included Hoda Kotb, co-host of NBC's Today Show; Kevin Merida, editor-in-chief of The Undefeated; Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The New York Times; Jemele Hill, writer for The Atlantic; Wesley Lowery, correspondent for 60 Minutes; Seung Min Kim, White House reporter at the Washington Post; Cheryl Diaz Meyer, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer; Byron Pitts, co-anchor of Nightline; Chuck Todd, host of Meet the Press; talk show host Jimmy Kimmel; Jill Abramson, former executive editor of The New York Times; Carl Bernstein, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Watergate reporter; Tucker Carlson, anchor for Fox News; David Rhodes, former president of CBS News; Soledad O'Brien, former CNN anchor; Bob Schieffer, former moderator of Face the Nation; Gwen Ifill, former co-host of PBS NewsHour; and Dennis Swanson, creator of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

MSNBC anchor Richard Lui, former CNN anchor Joie Chen, Politico deputy editor Clea Benson, former AAJA President Paul Cheung, Minnesota Public Radio President Duchesne Drew, Associated Press reporter Bobby Calvan and Star Tribune photo editor Kyndell Harkness have all taught at the program.

The committee seeks to hold media organizations accountable to standards of accuracy and fairness in the coverage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and their issues.

In 2016, AAJA MediaWatch issued a statement demanding an apology from Fox News for a segment aired on Oct. 3rd that mocked Asian Americans in New York's Chinatown.

"[21] AAJA also met privately with an “O’Reilly Factor” executive producer, along with other national and local community leaders, at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City.

AAJA MediaWatch issued guidance in February 2020 urging news outlets to refrain from images and language that fuel xenophobia and racism amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Following that in March, MediaWatch issued a joint statement along with other media organization partners denouncing the escalating violence and anti-Asian rhetoric aimed at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, including journalists, amid the pandemic.