Just one week left to apply for the AP-Google Scholarship!
AP and Google are funding six $20,000 scholarships for undergrad and graduate students working at the intersection of journalism and technology. Applications are due Friday, Feb. 8. Don’t wait to get your project proposal together. We want to see creative and innovative projects that show how you’ll expand the boundaries of journalism. Apply now.

And for inspiration, be sure to check out our first scholar's blog — Kevin Schaul kicks off a series of guest posts by the 2012 AP-Google Scholars, with background and resources focusing on why open source is so important to journalism. Each of the six scholars will be blogging on journalists.org over the coming weeks about their experiences with digital journalism and their award-wining projects.

Takeaways from AAN Digital conference
Check out the resources from ONACamp at AAN Digital, a series of workshops ONA hosted at the Association of Alternative Newsmedia conference on Jan. 26, with the support of the Gannett Foundation. We’ve pulled together presentations and more resources from Tumblr’s Mark Coatney, Google’s Vanessa Schneider, NPR’s Doug Mitchell, CIR’s Meghann Farnsworth, Stanford Knight Fellow Latoya Peterson and Deborah Petersen of the San Jose Mercury News.

Jim Brady, Editor-in-Chief, Digital First Media, was re-elected as President at the ONA’s January Board of Directors meeting in Washington, D.C. Jim, who is in his fourth term as a Board member, has held the offices of Treasurer and Vice President over the past three years, and has chaired or served on many key committees, including Legal Affairs and Strategy.

Joining Jim as officers of the organization are: Meredith Artley, Vice President & Managing Editor, CNN Digital, re-elected Vice President; Jody Brannon, Editor, Next America, The National Journal, and former Treasurer, now Secretary; and Josh Hatch, Senior Editor for Data and Interactives, Chronicle of Higher Education and chair of both the Online Journalism Awards and Legal Affairs Committee, newly elected Treasurer.

At Digital First Media, Jim oversees the 75 daily newspapers, 292 non-daily publications and 341 online sites that are owned by Journal Register Company and MediaNews Group. He also oversees DFM’s Project Thunderdome, which is providing new products and services to its properties and centralizing the production of non-local content so that local papers can focus on their local communities.

“I truly appreciate the board’s support in allowing me a second year as ONA’s president,” said Brady. “Last year was one in which we continued to expand the services we offer to our members, and we capped it off with a phenomenal ONA12 in San Francisco. I’m honored to get a front-row seat to watch how we’ll evolve in 2013, led by ONA’s amazing and expanded staff.”

Clock ticking on deadline for $20,000 AP-Google Scholarship
There’s less than a month left to apply for the AP-Google Journalism and Technology scholarship. If you’re a journalism student who codes or a techie student who loves  great storytelling, don’t miss this great scholarship opportunity. Applications, which include a project proposal, are due Feb. 8. Apply now. 

Application advice

And while you’re applying, it’s worth pointing out that ONA’s Jeanne Brooks, Irving Washington and Jen Mizgata hosted #wjchat last week, providing tips on getting scholarships, fellowships and new jobs. Check out the full transcript for ways to get your application noticed.

Inspired by the tips from #wjchat? Here are fellowships you can apply for now:

Google Journalism Fellowship
Targeting students with an interest in journalism, this fellowship includes a week at the Knight Foundation and a week at Google, split between Google News and YouTube. Deadline: Jan. 31.

Edward R. Murrow Press Fellowship
For journalists who have covered international news, this is a nine-month fellowship at the Council on Foreign Relations headquarters in New York. Deadline: March 1.

WASHINGTON, DC — The Online News Association today announced the appointment of Benét Wilson, eNewsletters/Social Media Editor, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, to its 2013 Board of Directors.

Wilson is an aviation/travel freelance journalist and blogs at AviationQueen.com. She is chair of the National Association of Black Journalists Program Committee, overseeing workshops for the 2012 convention in New Orleans and the 2013 convention in Orlando, and chairs NABJ’s Digital Journalism Task Force, which keeps members informed about the latest tools, trends and technology in the online space. She is the lead writer for DJTF’s NABJDigital blog, created and oversees the @NABJDigital Twitter account and oversees the task force’s Facebook page. She is a member of ONA’s Membership and AP-Google Scholarship committees. She is also a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

“Benét will bring to the Board serious digital chops, years of experience working on ONA programs and a fresh prospective as a blogger and freelancer,” said Jim Brady, ONA Board President. “We could not be happier to have her join the board.”

She has created and participated in workshops and webinars on digital journalism, branding and social media and speaks at journalism, new media and aviation conferences. A self-described “Air Force brat,” she has worked for two airlines and an aircraft engine manufacturer and is now working on her private pilot’s certificate.

In running for the Board in the 2013 election, Wilson singled out the need to help young journalists in her vision statement to members: “I believe that the current generation learning the craft of journalism in our colleges and universities are the next membership frontier for ONA.”

She will join elected incoming Board members Jim Roberts, Mandy Jenkins, Greg Linch and Richard Koci Hernandez at the January 2013 Board meeting.

Thanks to everyone who made the Online News Association the fastest-growing organization for digital journalists in 2012.

This year, as our gift we’re sharing our version of holiday heaven: links to great resources we’ve compiled through the year.

Enjoy, and have a wonderful, peaceful holiday season.

ONA12: Our conference in San Francisco brought tech companies and journalists together, culminating in four days of workshops, excellent keynotes and general sessions, and killer parties. This year saw the debut of the Midway. Relive the joy with videos, audio, photos and more resources from ONA12.

ONACamps: We hosted three ONACamps this year, thanks to the Gannett Foundation, and we’re pleased to share the great resources that surfaced. The full-day digital trainings took place April 13 in Montana, at the 2012 NABJ convention in New Orleans on June 20 and in Minnesota on Dec. 1. Thanks to our trainers and more than 180 attendees, most of them new faces!

ONA Local: Leaders from around the world held more than 100 events this year. We are incredibly grateful to all of the ONA Local leaders for their time and dedication in organizing and to all of who have participated throughout the year. Our fantastic members and friends have organized and networked like champs to expand our ONA Local groups. In 2012, we welcomed ONA Portland, ONA San Diego, ONA Chicago, ONA Spain and ONA South Florida to the family.

ONAvations webinars: We developed three discounted webinars in partnership with Poyter’s NewsU in 2012. Erin Polgreen, co-founder of Symbolia Magazine, discussed how to incorporate comics and illustrated journalism into the news; Katharine Jarmul, vice-president of technology at Pop-Up Pantry, led a session on how to build your first Twitter application; and Phoebe Connelly, Editor at Yahoo News, offered social tools for innovative election coverage.

AP/Google Scholarship
The Online News Association is accepting applications now for the AP-Google Journalism and Technology Scholarship, which awards six $20,000 scholarships for the 2013-14 academic year to undergrad and grad students doing great work in digital news. Each applicant is required to submit a project proposal, so now is the best time to get your materials together. Deadline to apply is Feb. 8, 2013. Get inspired by last year’s AP/Google Scholars, then apply here.

ONACamp Minnesota = expert resources
ONA took over the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Communication Dec. 1 to host ONACamp Minnesota. Over 80 journalists, students and educators took part in the day of digital training, learning how to build charts, develop a mobile strategy, improve storytelling with sound and more. We’ve pulled together a list of resources, so head over to journalists.org to get tips from the expert trainers. 

ONA Local
ONA Local groups have a lot to celebrate, including one-year birthdays for new groups, great meetups, trainings and local partnerships.  To get involved with ONA Local, find a group in your area or learn more about starting a group.

Upcoming ONA Local events:

• ONA Twin Cities hosts an "Off the Record" holiday party tonight, Dec. 6, with the Minnesota SPJ chapter, AAJA of Minnesota and the Twin Cities Black Journalists.
• ONA Mizzou joins other journalism groups on campus tonight, Dec. 6, for a holiday gathering
• ONA Chicago celebrates the launch of Symbolia Magazine with cofounders Erin Polgreen and Joyce Rice on Dec. 10
• ONA Austin joins with over two dozen journalist and tech groups for Austin Web Bash on Dec. 11
• ONA NYC hosts a holiday party on Dec. 12, celebrating a year of awesome meetups with great speakers
• ONA DC celebrates 12 months of epic meetups at its annual holiday party on Dec. 15.

We’re delighted to announce new staff and changing roles as we close out 2012.

First, we welcome Irving W. Washington III, formerly our consulting Scholarship Manager, to the full-time ONA family, as Director of Operations. In this role, Irving will be responsible for directing the overall business operations of the organization, managing the annual conference, and overseeing programmatic objectives for the AP-Google Journalism and Technology Scholarship, MJ Bear Fellowship and Online Journalism Awards. Branden Smith, our Senior Manager, Business Development and Sales, will report to Irving.

As a media diversity advocate, Irving has managed programming and fundraising initiatives for journalists, media professionals and students nationwide. As program manager for the National Association of Black Journalists, he launched the organization’s first all-digital platform for the annual Salute to Excellence National Media Awards, the largest journalism awards competition recognizing issues affecting the worldwide black community and African diaspora. He also managed the organization’s annual convention hosting a sitting United States executive office official, Vice President Joseph Biden.

Get inspired by digital coverage of the Nov. 6 Election

As Americans tuned in to the presidential race on Tuesday, newsrooms around the country experimented with ways to wrangle large amounts of data and provide live updates. Here is an excerpt of an ONA Issues post featuring areas where digital journalists created exceptional work.

Illustrating the election
The Guardian put together an interactive illustrated recap of President Obama’s and Gov. Romney’s path to the White House. Wendy McNaughton live-illustrated election night from NPR headquarters, giving readers a glimpse of what radio looks like. (Interested in illustrated journalism? Check out the ONA12 session on why comics make good journalism and advice from Erin Polgreen of Symbolia Magazine on how editors can work with comics journalists.)

Live coverage
Dozens of websites did excellent work covering the election live, reaching viewers who wanted a second-screen experience. NPR’s beautiful election dashboard displayed live updates and a gorgeous Tetris-inspired map and results all on one page. Al Jazeera created excellent interactives and continued highlighting issues important to voters throughout its live coverage.

Students did a great job collaborating on live coverage. Columbia’s Tow Center partnered with Columbia Journalism Review to provide live coverage and the #jeelection project, a partnership between 24 J-schools across the country, used RebelMouse to compile election coverage. (Interested in best practices for media collaborations? Check out the ONA12 session The Business of Collaboration.)

Demonstrating the power of data
The New York Times’ “Paths to the White House” charted ways in which either candidate could achieve enough electoral votes to win the election, updated live as results rolled in. The Times also prepared a valuable “shift map,” which demonstrated how voter sentiment changed between the 2008 and 2012 elections. WNYC’s election night map went beyond the traditional approach and broke down counties by their demographics, using terms like “immigration nation” and “evangelical epicenters.” (Interested in working more with data? Check out the notes from WNYC’s — and ONA Board member — John Keefe’s Into to Data Viz workshop.)

ONA Local groups meet up around the world to learn valuable skills, network and share new tools. Find a group in your area or learn more about starting a group.

• ONA PDX hosts a free workshop on the future of photography in the digital age with Randy Cox, former senior editor for visuals at The Oregonian, Oct. 17.
• ONA San Diego invites you to the first Brown Bag Thursdays, which looks into blogging as a business, Oct. 18.
• ONA Austin discusses covering the Circuit of the Americas with the folks behind the Austin American-Statesman’s Formula One coverage and theaustingrandprix.com, Oct. 22.
• ONA DC hosts a discussion with Miranda Mulligan and Ryan Graff from the Knight Lab, highlighting projects the computer scientists and journalists are building at the lab, Oct. 23.
• ONA Chicago will teach journalists how to crowdsource typos and more with Edit Huddle, welcoming Adam Bain, co-founder of the crowdsourced editing tool, Oct. 25.
• ONA Philly delves into the changing world of college media, looking at how young reporters at four local universities are rethinking the industry, Oct. 25. The event is open to all but may be of special interest to educators. 

Keep an eye out for Board of Directors election results
Voting for the 2013 Board of Directors closed Thursday, Oct. 11. We’re busy confirming results and contacting the candidates, and election results will be announced Monday, Oct. 22.

ONA welcomes Kevin Loker
We’re happy to welcome Kevin Loker, who joins ONA as our consulting Digital Coordinator. Members will be seeing and hearing a lot from Kevin, as he works closely on your needs, maintains and helps develop ONA’s web presence, content management systems, webhosting, e-mail systems and other digital assets.

We also say good-bye to Sean Connolly, who after two years as ONA’s Digital Manager will be moving on to New York, but will still be a familiar face at the ONA12 registration desk in San Francisco, and managing this year’s Online Journalism Awards entries and judging.

Learn to Build a Twitter App
If you missed our recent ONAvations webinar on how to create your first Twitter app, the full webinar, along with notes, is still available via Poynter’s NewsU. Get great tips from Katherine Jarmul, vice president of technology at Pop-Up Pantry, on how to dive into Twitter’s API and build a unique app for your site. The webinar is only $9.95 for ONA members and $29.95 for others.

ONA Local
Our ONA Local groups have been beating the heat and meeting up across the country. Find a local group in your area or learn more about starting a group.