ONA Weekly #528: ONA Joins The Partnership On AI

ONA joins the Partnership on AI

We’re excited to join forces with the Partnership on AI (PAI) to champion the responsible use of AI. This collaboration will help expand and inform our work to better equip journalists and leaders with the tools and training needed as AI enters the newsroom. Learn more about the partnership.

It’s time to vote!

Voting is now open to elect the 2025-26 Board of Directors. All ONA members who were active as of Sept. 9 are eligible to participate in this year’s election. Get to know the candidates and vote.

Loay Ayyoub’s view from war-torn Gaza

Since 2015, the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation and ONA have worked together to honor independent digital journalists who produce exceptional reporting under the most challenging conditions. This year the selection committee granted the James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting to Palestinian photojournalist Loay Ayyoub. 

“Loay is one of those photographers who, when war came to Gaza, just worked,” the selection committee noted. “He picked up his camera and worked. He worked despite displacement and worked through the anguish of the death of colleagues. He worked through having to leave his family behind. He worked diligently, producing incredible images of the war unfolding around him.”

Congratulations to Loay on this incredible honor. Learn more about individual award recipients and finalist projects in the 2024 Online Journalism Awards.

Share your resume with ONA24 recruiters

Exploring your next career move? The ONA24 Resume Drop is open to any digital news professional looking to discuss jobs, internships, academic programs and fellowships for career development. You can submit a resume regardless of whether you are registered to attend ONA24. This resource is shared with official ONA24 recruiters and program representatives, who will reach out before and during the conference.

Mark your calendar

• Sept. 11: Voting opens for 2025-26 Board of Directors
• Sept. 11: Case Study: How local newspaper iTromsø built a custom AI tool for story research and discovery 
• Sept. 18-21: 2024 Online News Association Conference (Atlanta)
• Sept. 19: AI Innovators Collaborative IRL Meetup (Atlanta during ONA24)
• Sept. 20: 2024 Online Journalism Awards Ceremony (Atlanta)
• Sept. 21: Macon: A Knight City Experience
• Oct. 3: Case Study: How the Hearst DevHub built AI tools to improve their newsrooms’ workflow
• Oct. 3: Deadline: Vote for the 2025-26 board members
• Oct. 8: AI Innovator Collaborative
• Oct. 9: Case Study: Transforming Workflows with AI at Zamaneh Media NEW!
• Oct. 10: AI, Copyright and Legal Considerations for Journalists, Freelancers and News Organizations
• Nov. 12: AI Innovator Collaborative
• Dec. 10: AI Innovator Collaborative

Career opportunities

ONA’s Career Center is an excellent resource for jobs, fellowships and internships in digital journalism. Recent postings include:

• Open Rank Professor of Journalism & Director of the Center for Environmental Journalism, University of Colorado Boulder, College of Media, Communications and Information NEW!
• Health Misinformation Analyst, KFF NEW!
• Director of Digital Growth, New York Focus NEW!
• Audience and Innovation Editor, The Midwest Newsroom at KCUR 89.3 NEW!
• Assistant Professor of Multimedia Journalism, Lehigh University, Department of Journalism and Communication NEW!
• Afternoon/Evening Reporter, The Texas Tribune NEW!
• Newsletter Writer, News Not Noise NEW!
• Digital Membership Manager, WFAE
• President and General Manager, KUOW
• Statewide Policy Editor, The Connecticut Mirror
• News Editor, Voice Media Group
• Outdoors Life Reporter, Bridge Michigan
• Social Media Strategist, University of Florida
• Station Manager – KBIA-FM/KMUC-FM, University of Missouri – Columbia 
• Social Media Strategist, University of Florida
• Outdoors Life Reporter, Bridge Michigan
• Editor-in-Chief, Phoenix New Times
• Government and Politics Editor, The Seattle Times
• Education Lab Reporter, The Seattle Times
• Senior Education Editor, Early Learning & COVID Recovery, The 74 Media
• Senior Audience Engagement Editor, The Emancipator, Center For Antiracist Research, Boston University
• Remote Digital Reporter, Snopes Inc.
• Social Video Producer, Rest of World
• Economic Inequality Reporter, Honolulu Civil Beat
• Director of Audience and Membership, Wisconsin Watch
• Product Manager, Engagement and Crowdsourcing Tools, ProPublica
• Eric Von Fellow, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee

What we’re watching in AI tech

• Breaking down ESPN’s decision to use AI to write some game stories.
• AI may not steal many jobs after all. It may just make workers more efficient.
• Google attempts to kill sustainable solution to local journalism in backroom deal.
• YouTube announced a tool that would allow musicians to detect AI-generated content on YouTube that simulates their voices.
• New research suggests Google AI Overviews are having a significant impact on the visibility of publishers in UK and US within search results. 

Elsewhere on our radar

• Take the U.S. States Press Freedom Index Survey, Reporters Without Borders
• Calling all New Jersey journalists: Use this kit to build your school board voter guide, Manya Brachear Pashman for Center for Cooperative Media
• The Mobile Newsrooms Restoring Citizens’ Faith in Journalism, Lex Doig for OCCRP
• Oct. 17–19: AI Hackathon for Equity: Tackling Harmful Bias in the Information Ecosystem, Hacks/Hackers
• Oct. 25–27: AI/Journalism Hackathon at UC Berkeley: Harnessing AI to Enhance Trust and Deepen Engagement in Local Communities, Hacks/Hackers