Member Benefits

Membership in the Online News Association connects you with the sharpest minds in digital journalism — multi-platform news professionals who are rethinking the industry, finding innovative ways to tell stories with emerging technology and starting up the news sites of the future.

Members also enjoy a range of benefits, from free and discounted training, conferences and seminars to regional, national and international communities and events.

All members — professional, associate, academic and student — receive full benefits. Here are some of the many reasons to join ONA:

DISCOUNTS FOR THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND OJAs

  • Members get steep discounts on registration fees for the Online News Association Conference, the historically sold-out, state-of-the-art national event offering a premier networking forum and the chance to hear from the leading practitioners and bold-faced names in online news and technology.
  • Members also receive discounts on entry fees for the Online Journalism Awards, the only annual awards competition that acknowledges the best and the brightest work in digital news, identifying and publicly honoring models of excellence for the profession, with $33,000 in cash awards, courtesy of the Gannett Foundation and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

UNPARALLELED NETWORKING

Membership gives you exclusive access to ONA’s online membership directory, as well as these other unique networking opportunities:

  • ONA Local meet-ups: ONA encourages and supports our members in holding regular meet-ups focused on networking, skills and career development, new technology and journalism issues. Check our our growing list of ONA Local cities and activities around the world.
  • Social networks: Share, discuss and learn with other members through ONA’s many Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn communities that connect educators, students, conference and local event attendees all over the world.
  • ONA Issues: Have a burning journalism issue you’d like to discuss or learn more about? Join the Tumblr forum, where relevant content is constantly updated, and quarterly conversations with experts help inform your daily work.
  • Online discussion groups: Connect with other media and thought leaders with our members-only online discussion groups by region and topic (tools & technology, online community strategy, newsroom management, and more).

TRAINING

Our members benefit from ONA’s specialized digital training and significant discounts for events and workshops from our partner organizations, as well as free and low-cost legal help:

  • ONACamps, courtesy of $150,000 in grants from the Gannett Foundation, brings free customized sessions and workshops direct to cities that are homes to growing entrepreneurial communities, as well as those hit by media closures. Trainings have been conducted in partnership with the Asian American Journalists Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists.
  • ONAvation Webinars: ONA and The Poynter Institute’s News University (NewsU) have partnered for state-of-the-art training webinars in 2012, at a 30% discount to ONA members. The series features future-think presenters who focus on a range of cutting-edge technologies that add depth and scope to storytelling.
  • Online Media Legal Network: ONA’s partnership with the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society points our members to free or reduced-fee legal help, including advice on forming and governing a business, copyright licensing and fair use, freelancer agreements, access to government information, pre-publication review of content and representation in litigation.
  • Poynter Institute’s In-Person Training: Members get a 30% tuition discount on a select number of in-person trainings throughout 2011. Seminars include: Building a Smarter Mobile Strategy,” June 20-23; “Journalists & Programmers Collaborate: Building News Applications With Data,” Aug. 16-19.
  • Society for News Design: ONA members receive a $100 professional discount on all training sessions.
  • paidContent: Members receive 15% off registration for paidContent’s annual conference.

PUBLICATIONS

  • Nieman Reports: ONA members in the United States receive free print issues of the quarterly magazine published by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard.
  • Internet Law: A Field Guide: ONA members receive a 20% discount on the purchase of the newest edition, featuring answers to digital legal issues.

    • ONGOING INDUSTRY ACTIVITIES

    • The filing of amicus briefs in court cases important to digital journalists
    • Online news credibility studies
    • ONA’s role as a point of contact for media working on stories on digital news