The New York Times Application
Photography Fellow
Photos For: News21 Story By: Maddy Keyes and Joshua Shimkus
My colleagues (writers) and I covered the Ohio ballot box battle as both sides of the abortion debate mobilized to decide whether abortion would be protected in Ohio's state constitution. I contributed as a photographer and video journalist simultaneously.
America After Roe Editor & Publisher EPPY Awards
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Best college/university investigative story or series
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Best college/university-produced community or niche website
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Best news story or series on a college/university website
College Media Association Film and Audio Festival
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Second place in the long documentary category
RESPONSIBILITIES: Photography, videography, video editing, reporting
Photos For: The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com Stories By: azcentral staff
From 2022 to 2023, I worked on multiple assignments for The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com, covering the Phoenix metro housing crisis. Unaffordable housing, ineffective housing programs, homelessness and hotter summers were themes that permeated the area. Most memorable was the intimate opportunity I had to photograph "The Zone" just days before the start of its removal.
Side Note: Katie Oswald said she was inspired to act by Eli Saslow's NYT story, "A Sandwich Shop, a Tent City and an American Crisis"!
RESPONSIBILITIES: Photography, social media post
This classroom photo assignment documenting a Phoenix shelter cat inspired an ongoing personal project explaining how cats colonized the city. Arizona's climate allows cats to breed year-round, leading to a proliferation of strays in the valley. I am developing a video explaining the urban cat ecosystem of feral, stray, and house cats and the intricate network of initiatives supporting and rescuing them.
RESPONSIBILITIES: Photography, videography, video editing, reporting
Recommendations
Recommendation letter excerpts from former supervisors
Out of an extremely talented group, Mingson again rose to the top – producing some of our best videos and photographs. He never gives up, working to talk his way behind the scenes to get the best possible story.
After spending 27 years as a writer, editor and eventually the U.S. enterprise editor at The Associated Press, and now still more years as a coach of up-and-coming journalists, I can say, without hesitation, that Mingson would be an asset to your team.
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Executive Editor/Carnegie-Knight News21
Mingson’s skills in taking photos, videos and editing videos far surpassed those of all 14 interns who have worked for AZEdNews. His work is that of a professional colleague, not an intern.
Mingson is professional, calm, helpful, and adapts his approach to any situation as needed. He shared best practices to help us improve. He worked well with the entire Communications Team and other ASBA employees. When a member of our Communications Team left for another position, I recommended Mingson for the position, but he remained focused on completing his graduate studies.
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Lisa Irish
AZEdNews Education Reporter
At each stage of the project, Mingson took initiative, provided valuable feedback and met deadlines. He worked well with the group and his enthusiasm for the project was evident in his contribution.
Beyond this project, Mingson has been active in journalism internships and the Asian American Journalists Association. He is a hard-working and talented multimedia reporter who will be a great addition to any media organization.
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Kristy Roschke, Ph.D.
Managing Director, News Co/Lab, Voices Listening Project
additional work
The Voices Listening Project (VLP) researched community news needs and deficiencies in new communications. Our data and interviews showed the importance of UI/UX for information delivery and how our communication weaknesses have affected public perception of journalistic news media. After our community surveys and interviews, we prototyped and evaluated product solutions.
I brainstormed several ideas, including story hubs, AI-focused search responses/news assistants and explanatory tooltips. We decided to move forward with a tooltip function as one of our products because of its more straightforward design. That function was the most well-received product solution among testers.
RESPONSIBILITIES: Interviews, data analysis, product development, research, community surveys
I recall on one late-night drive, my friend spoke about the dichotomy of gay, international Chinese students.
When my friend told me this, I felt strange. I am half-Chinese and grew up in a Chinese environment in Las Vegas, NV. But I am disconnected from traditional Chinese culture. I have many LGTQ friends and family, but I do not experience the daily struggles of the LGBTQ community.
The foreign familiarity was strange, and I wanted to know more. I ended up pitching this story to a local publication after months of long-distance reporting.
RESPONSIBILITIES: Reporting, feature writing
This piece was part of a series involving text, photos and video on how makers use "making" as a form of occupational therapy to help with the likes of stress, depression, alcoholism, and TBI. Written story here.
Brad and Wendy Evans talk about their online didgeridoo-making business Endless Breath Didges.
RESPONSIBILITIES: Photography, videography, video editing, reporting, feature writing
ABout me
Mingson Lau is a multimedia reporter and graduate student at Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Through visuals and writing, Lau aims to tell impactful stories that can inform, elucidate, and engage. Lau found his passion for storytelling in his high school’s award-winning broadcast journalism program, where he contributed to the morning news show and projects for Vegas PBS’ Inside Education.
At Arizona State University, Lau continued to develop his skills by working/interning at The State Press, Arizona PBS, Arizona Schools Board Association, and Cronkite News. Lau also has worked as a research aide for the Voices Listening Project, studying media needs of local communities and developing product solutions to improve news communication.
Currently, Lau is a visual intern with The Arizona Republic and a fellow in the Carnegie-Knight News21 program. When Lau is not working on a story or preparing for classes, you can find him making sushi at Japanese restaurants across Tempe.
About Me
Vegas native Mingson Lau is a visual journalist and recent graduate of Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where he completed his bachelor's and master's degrees. Passionate about storytelling, Lau aims to tell impactful stories through visuals and writing, focusing on communicating informative, elucidating, and engaging news. In his high school’s award-winning broadcast journalism program, Lau found his passion for storytelling, where he contributed to the morning news show and projects for Vegas PBS’ Inside Education.
At Arizona State University, Lau continued to develop his skills by working at The State Press, Arizona PBS, Arizona Schools Board Association, and Cronkite News. Lau has also worked as a research aide for the Voices Listening Project, studying the media needs of local communities and developing product solutions to improve news communication.
Lau recently worked as a visual intern with The Arizona Republic and as a visuals fellow in the Carnegie-Knight News21 program.
Email: mingson.photo@gmail.com
Las Vegas, Nevada