My guide to the 2023 Online News Association Conference in Philly
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My guide to the 2023 Online News Association Conference in Philly
See you later this month at ONA23!
Hey y’all! With the Online News Association Conference just weeks away, I figured there’s no better time than now to share my ONA23 plans. 👩🏻💻
The basics
ONA23: Philadelphia will take place from Aug. 23 to 26 at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, while the virtual conference, ONA23: Onward, will take place online from Sept. 28 to 29. If you haven’t gotten your ticket yet, it’s not too late to register! For those of you who are wondering what to expect, here’s the rundown.
At ONA23: Philadelphia, you’ll get:
Four days of face-to-face networking with the ONA community.
Access to all sessions and the opportunity to attend select RSVP-required workshops in-person.
Access to the Midway (exhibit area) to discover and try new products, dive deeper into tools you’re already using, learn about new career opportunities, and more.
Networking with fellow attendees, as well as ONA23 sponsors, supporters and recruiters.
Keynotes and sponsored sessions streamed live and publicly available as an archive.
Plus everything listed below for ONA23: Onward.
At ONA23: Onward, you’ll get:
Live streams of about six sessions each day of ONA23: Onward (approximately 12 sessions total).
Access to audio and video archives of the event for 90 days after the conference ends.
Web-based chatting, note-taking and networking with other ONA23: Onward attendees participating virtually from around the world.
Access to all digital reference materials and resources.
Asynchronous online networking with attendees, as well as ONA23 sponsors, supporters and recruiters.
Finally, here are some key dates to remember:
Aug. 10: Deadline to become an ONA member in order to vote in board election
Aug. 14: Board voting begins
Aug. 23 to 26: ONA23: Philadelphia
Sept. 28 to 29: ONA23: Onward
Connect with me
If you want to connect with me at the conference, say hi during registration on Thursday, Aug. 24 where I’ll be from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. I’ll also be offering a coaching session for early career journalists on Wednesday, Aug. 23 from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. in room 308, so be sure to sign up before spots fill up. If you want to schedule one-on-one time with me, feel free to book a 30-minute meeting via my Calendly here.
I’ll be hosting the following session on Friday, Aug. 25 from 4 to 5 p.m. in Franklin 2 on the 4th floor.
Table Talks: Navigating C-18 and the Canadian News Blackout: Meta and Google recently cut off access to news on their platforms for Canadian media outlets after lawmakers in Canada passed Bill C-18, which forces the tech giants to pay publishers for news. In this Table Talk, we'll discuss how to navigate challenges, specifically the loss of social and search traffic, as well as alternative pathways for building audience
Speakers: Anita Li, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, The Green Line; Matthew DiMera, Publisher, The Resolve
You’ll also likely find me at these sessions, which I’m particularly excited to check out:
Countering News Avoidance: Drawing Audiences Back To Our Journalism: Drawing from a Reuters Digital News Report showing a world-wide “tune out” of the news, this session will provide actionable product, content and strategies for meeting audience needs.
Speakers: Kirsten Eddy, Research Associate, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism; Rubina Madan Fillion, Director of Strategy for Opinion, The New York Times; Allison Dikanovic, Service Journalism and Assistant Enterprise Editor, The Kansas City Star
Rooted: Community-Powered Solutions Journalism: This dynamic workshop will explore new strategies and successful methods for reporting approaches to racialized and marginalized communities.
Speakers: Michelle Faust Raghavan, Executive Editor, Claridad Media; Deborah Douglas, Director/Senior Lecturer, Medill Midwest Solutions Journalism Hub
YouTube News Shorts Workshop: Learn how to optimize your news experience and tell your stories on YouTube Shorts. We'll discuss vertical video case studies and short content inspiration.
Speakers: Nicolette Scott, Strategic Partner Manager for News, YouTube; Kourtney Bitterly, Global News Partnerships Lead, YouTube
Beyond The Newsletter Boom: Robust Strategies For Genuine Engagement: This important panel will cover everything you need to build robust strategies for genuine engagement, cultivating loyalty and sustainable growth.
Speakers: Kim Bode, Head of Audience Product Strategy, Newspack at Automattic; Judith Langowski, Newsletter Editor, Reuters; Elana Zak, Director of Newsletter Strategy, The Washington Post; Najja Parker, Newsletter Coach, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Reaching Flyby Users With Service Journalism: Join this highly interactive solutions gathering workshop and hear from publishers comparing notes on how they built habit-forming engagement with flyby users.
Speakers: Cary Betagole, Product Manager, The Philadelphia Inquirer
As for other events, I’ll be attending Global Press’ mixer, CUNY’s mixer, Lenfest Audience of Community of Practice's happy hour and RJI’s happy hour at ONA23. Unfortunately, I’ll be missing out on the Online Journalism Awards Ceremony and Banquet, hosted by NPR’s Gene Demby, where we’ll be celebrating this year’s inspiring OJA finalists. But if you’ll be at the conference, be sure to buy tickets for the ceremony and banquet, here.
Vote for me
I’m running for a third term in the 2024-25 Online News Association Board of Directors election this year! Please reach out to chat or visit my ONA profile to find out how I’ve contributed to the digital journalism community. Here’s an excerpt from my vision statement:
My ideal vision for the future of digital journalism is one that centres humanity by fostering understanding and connection between people, while also responsibly leveraging emerging technology like AI, so journalists can focus on producing enterprise journalism and on serving communities’ needs.
New technology can be a force for good in our industry, and as a member of ONA, I strongly believe the association can serve as a thought leader in this space. Rather than play catchup, we now have the opportunity to clearly define how newsrooms can effectively use emerging platforms and artificial intelligence to produce journalism that’s in the public interest.
Our industry is at an inflection point. With the rise of Bill C-18 in Canada and other similar “Online News Acts” worldwide that are attempting to regulate tech giants, as well as the potential disruption that AI will bring to news industries everywhere, we must double down on the core principles in journalism (i.e. building trust with our sources and audiences, fact-based reporting, attentive listening), and responsibly apply them to new formats. Journalism isn’t text, video, VR or AI — at its most fundamental, journalism is about addressing the information needs of the people we serve.
Alongside myself, there are 14 other candidates running for six seats, including six incumbents and nine new candidates. All ONA members will be able to cast a ballot, starting on Aug. 14.
Vote for me if you share the same vision for the future of journalism that I do — one that embraces both 🧠 and ❤️
The Green Line: We’re looking for long-form pitches and audio/podcasting fellows
The Green Line is interested in long-form pitches from experienced investigative and/or feature reporters based in Toronto that tackle the following systemic issues in the city through a solutions lens: housing affordability, queer history and the dance club scene downtown. We offer highly competitive freelance rates. If you’re interested in pitching, please send me your resume, cover letter and links to three clips (longform features preferred).
I’m also looking for News Innovation Fellows with experience in audio/podcast strategy and creation. If you’re interested in applying, please send me your resume, cover letter and links to three clips (podcast and radio journalism preferred).
Quick and Clean
“In my community” and “Cool stuff I like” will be back…
As teased in last month’s newsletter, The Green Line and the Reynolds Journalism Institute officially launched a guide on increasing civic engagement through community-focused journalism, so you can now check it out in its entirety.
In partnership with The Appeal, RJI also announced that they will release a monthly article over the next year that unpacks how the publication created a democratic, worker-led, care-centred newsroom; needless to say, I’m excited for this toolkit!
I highly recommend reading “The Problem With Trauma Culture: The focus on all forms of trauma except economic exploitation has helped to disguise the problem at the heart of neoliberalism,” an eye-opening article published in Noema, one of my favourite magazines.
How you can support The Other Wave
My professional mission has always been to support the global movement towards more thoughtful, impactful news coverage, and all the ways that manifests. If The Other Wave gets you to think even a little differently about journalism, especially in Canada, then I will have accomplished what I set out to do. And if TOW gets you to take action and support Canadian media outlets — especially ones that strive to be innovative and inclusive — I will have exceeded my expectations.
If my values and goals resonate with you, please consider supporting fiercely independent media analysis that fills in gaps in coverage of the Canadian journalism landscape. How? Feel free to provide feedback, pass along resources, donate money or simply share this newsletter with your friends.