Medill, AAJA honor journalist with Medill Innovator Award

Lam Thuy Vo’s series highlighted misinformation directed to Vietnamese immigrants

EVANSTON, ILL. -- Medill and the Asian American Journalists Association have selected journalist Lam Thuy Vo to receive the inaugural AAJA-Medill Innovator Award.

Vo is a journalist who marries data analysis with reporting to examine how systems and policies affect individuals. She is currently an investigative reporter and an associate professor of data journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. Previously, she was a journalist at The Markup, BuzzFeed News, The Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera America and NPR's Planet Money. 

The AAJA-Medill Innovator Award recognizes journalists who approach Asian American Pacific Islander issues in a fresh and innovative way. The award includes an opportunity to speak to Northwestern Medill students to encourage and inspire the next generation of journalists.

Vo recently authored a series called Languages of Misinformation, published in The Markup, which examined incorrect information delivered by an influencer and aimed at immigrants from Vietnam. Throughout her career, she has brought attention to issues faced by members of AAPI communities.

"I'm really honored to be selected for this award because it recognizes the importance of what can feel like a relatively invisible and small community in the U.S. — the Vietnamese,” said Vo. “The lion's share of my project has been about working with other community members to bring tech literacy to our elders. Whether it's writing Vietnamese video scripts for a grandmother-turned-YouTuber so she can teach her audience how to understand online misinformation or whether it's working with volunteers of the nonprofit Viet Fact Check to develop in-person workshops for Vietnamese folks across the country — it means a lot to me that this very unglamorous and grass-roots-level team work is being recognized. Big Tech has created so many problems for micro-communities like the Vietnamese in the U.S. and has done so little to remedy the information disorder it has created in those communities. I'm glad that this award highlights the collective and creative effort it takes to bring solutions-driven journalism to audiences that have often not been neglected."

“Lam Thuy Vo is a very worthy recipient of this inaugural award and Medill is delighted to recognize her accomplishments in data journalism, investigative reporting and solutions journalism – all core tenets of our curriculum,” said Medill Dean Charles Whitaker.