National Press Club Scholarship Helps Lam ’26 Launch Reporting Career in D.C.

After graduating from Emerson College in May, Sabrina Lam ’26 quickly embedded herself in Washington, D.C., to report on the forces shaping American politics—backed by one of journalism’s most prestigious student awards.

Lam was awarded the 2026 Lewis Scholarship from the National Press Club, which provides free housing and a monthly stipend to support student journalists of color who plan to intern at news media outlets in the nation’s capital. As an editorial intern for Politico Magazine, Lam is learning about editorial operations, working on a daily newsletter, and breaking news.

“The goal for me is to be able to publish a few stories with the magazine, but those are enterprise [stories] and take a month or more to flesh out,” she said. “I only have so much time here, so I also do rotations with the forecast newsletter, a daily newsletter, which shines a light on what’s happened politically all around the world.”

Lam’s reporting interests center on political change and emerging trends that are shaping public life. She is particularly interested in looking beyond the day’s headlines to understand broader shifts in politics and society.

“[The newsletter is] looking at Asia, Europe, Latin America, and areas not highly reported on,” said Lam.

Working to Uplift Voices

The judges who awarded the scholarship were impressed by Lam’s previous work: she worked for NBC in Los Angeles and for the Boston Globe, where she covered a wide range of topics including breaking news, immigration policy, food insecurity, housing inequity, and social justice. She was also the co-president of Emerson’s Asian American Journalists Association.

“For my family—a generation of Vietnamese immigrants—and for the communities who have had to fight similar battles, I dedicate my work to uplifting their voices, especially when the world has too often let them believe their stories are unimportant,” Lam said.

In her letter of recommendation, Senior Journalist-in-Residence Cindy Rodriguez praised Lam’s deep passion for news reporting, particularly of marginalized communities.

“She has shown tenacity in understanding the systems of oppression and the ability to humanize those issues with strong narratives and data reporting,” wrote Rodriguez.

National Press Club President Mark Schoeff, Jr. was impressed by Lam.

“Sabrina’s track record speaks for itself. From her successes at Emerson’s student newsrooms and in top-notch, national outlets, she has shown the kind of drive, curiosity, and journalistic instincts that this profession needs,” said Schoeff.

Her internship builds on her previous relationship with Politico. She was previously accepted to Politico’s Journalism Institute, but was unable to participate because she was studying abroad.

The opportunity has already allowed her to pursue stories at the intersection of politics and online culture to examine what Gen Z’s attention is on.

“I was scouring Substack for different ideas and I stumbled upon a political scientist in Germany who wrote about the Iran AI Lego videos, pitched the idea, and wrote about it for the forecast newsletter,” said Lam.

In addition to financial support, the scholarship comes with a one-year complimentary National Press Club membership. Lam plans to take advantage of the organization’s networking events, workspace, and community of journalists.

“You’re going to have something in common with everyone because they’re all journalists,” she said. “Being a post-grad and moving to a new city, it will be a great resource to connect with more people who are like-minded and in the same field as me.”