Civil Beat Staff

Jia Jung

Jia Jung was the 2022 Li Center for Global Journalism Fellow at 天美视频, a position supported by聽the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Institute for Nonprofit News. She reports on Philippine affairs for Filipino communities and interested readers in Hawaii and beyond.

Born and raised in Massachusetts to Korean parents, Jia鈥檚 journey to reporting on the Asia-Pacific region began at the University of California, Berkeley. She has lived and worked in the Marshall Islands, South Korea and India in addition to the mainland. Her portfolio includes stories for a variety of news outlets, including VICE Creators, PRI, The Korea Times, Atlas (Gastro) Obscura and Saveur.

Passionate about storytelling, characters and multimedia content, Jia has won story slams of The Moth organization and created podcasts about uncommon careers and life-changing songs. Prior to arriving in Honolulu, Jia produced a short documentary for Eastern Standard Times Media about Filipino-Korean farming families in the southernmost part of South Korea. The work was funded in part by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Jia鈥檚 most personal journalistic undertaking is a work-in-progress biography of her late father, who was a street child during the Korean War era.

An avid open-water swimmer who circumnavigated Manhattan Island to close out a 12-year-long chapter in New York City, Jia looks forward to working toward waterwoman status while exploring the islands. She also hopes to build upon seven years of Tahitian dance study and performance with the Lei Pasifika Company back in NYC.

Please feel welcome to reach out to Jia at jjung@civilbeat.org.

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How Philippine Gardening Culture Inspired Efforts To Promote Food Security In Hawaii Council For Native Hawaiian Advancement/2022

How Philippine Gardening Culture Inspired Efforts To Promote Food Security In Hawaii

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A new partnership enabling the planting of food gardens aims to bring sustainable, healthy, free produce and seedlings to 1,000 backyards throughout Hawaii.

Advocates Hope The New Philippine President Takes A More Humane Approach To The War On Drugs Courtesy: Veejay Villafranca/Pulitzer Center

Advocates Hope The New Philippine President Takes A More Humane Approach To The War On Drugs

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Community and health workers from multiple sectors are pushing for policies that will improve rather than threaten the lives of people who use drugs.

The Talaandig Tribe Of The Southern Philippines Shows That Reforestation Takes A Village Courtesy: Georgia Perrine/2022

The Talaandig Tribe Of The Southern Philippines Shows That Reforestation Takes A Village

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Indigenous stewardship of rainforest ecosystems in Mindanao is a potential template for successful agroforestry in other upland terrains.

‘A Trusted Voice’: Honolulu Radio Station KNDI Entertains And Informs Non-English Speakers David Croxford/Civil Beat/2022

‘A Trusted Voice’: Honolulu Radio Station KNDI Entertains And Informs Non-English Speakers

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The Filipino-owned station broadcasts in 13 languages. But after 60 years of programming, it faces the challenge of attracting a new generation of listeners.

Consulate Worker Killed In Honolulu Was The ‘Institutional Memory’ Of The Filipino Community Philippine Consulate General in Hawaii

Consulate Worker Killed In Honolulu Was The ‘Institutional Memory’ Of The Filipino Community

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Friends and family of Teresita Canilao say they prefer to remember how the longtime secretary at the Philippine Consulate lived, not how she died.

Freedom Of The Press Is An Old Issue In The Philippines. What Will Marcos Jr. Do Now? AP Photo/Aaron Favila/2022

Freedom Of The Press Is An Old Issue In The Philippines. What Will Marcos Jr. Do Now?

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Local and international advocacy organizations called for justice after a well-known Filipino radio journalist was killed, three months after the new president took office.