The ONA Issues Tumblr is your platform to define and explore the pressing issues in digital media and get a better fix on how they impact your work. Here are the top five posts from last week.

• All the bylines on A1 of the Wall Street Journal on April 16 were women.

• What is CISPA? A well-executed infographic gives you an overview of the latest legislation to threaten internet privacy.

Current Location: Georgia.
Current Gig: Curator, Storyful
Quick and Dirty Resume: Dropped out of college to be a minor rock star. Took a semi-logical step into writing music and theatre reviews. Graduated to Peabody-winning teams at CNN, and rocketed into the digital age.
Six-word memoir: From country girl to digital darling.
Favorite fictional character: Mmm, tough one. Literary, Cirocco “Rocky” Jones from John Varley’s Titan trilogy. Visual, probably Temperance Brennan, aka “Bones.”
Favorite tech tool: Another tough one. My iPad, my Canon collection, my TiVo, any one of an ever-expanding collection of apps. And lately, the iPhone has moved into the mix.

Thinking about applying for the MJ Bear Fellowship? Lucas Timmons, of the Edmonton Journal talks about his experience as a “first Fellow” and offers tips.

Applications are now open. Find out more about eligibility here.

Thinking about applying for the MJ Bear Fellowship? Laura Amico, of Homicide Watch DC, talks about her experience as a “first Fellow” and offers tips.

Applications are now open. Find out more about eligibility here.

Project Management is a beast under any circumstances. Try to coordinate projects involving multiple people over multiple locations and you have a recipe for a headache. There are quite a few other systems out there, most notably Basecamp (which is used by ONA). However, for the cash-strapped business or startup, free is always welcome. So when Asana launched in November 2011, I found myself checking it out.

Asana is a clean, open-source solution offering free plans for up to 30 different users. At some point, it will be offering customized licenses and the capacity for larger users, but those prices have not yet been released.

The Online News Association today announced it is joining the Sunshine in Government Initiative, a coalition of media groups committed to promoting policies to make the government accessible, accountable and open.

ONA sees its participation as a way to support freedom of information and keep its members up to date on critical issues of government transparency that impact their daily work, from access to information to publishing data and issues of privacy.

Benefits for ONA’s members include tools to help support their Freedom of Information requests; early warnings, in-depth analyses and reports on FOI-related legislation, and frequent summaries of issues relating to access to public information.

Comics are having their moment in the journalistic sun. Erin Polgreen’s idea for a tablet magazine dedicated to illustrated journalism recently won the 2012 New Media Women Entrepreneur grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. And comics — and their journalistic applications — took over SXSW. But webcomics are a slightly different animal. Not necessarily looking for mainstream recognition, many webcomics are defiantly indie, surviving on hard-won ad revenue and a loyal fanbase. So what can journalists learn from these scrappy web pioneers?

This post is one of a series of blog posts from the first ONA class of MJ Bear Fellows describing their experiences, projects and sharing their knowledge with the ONA community. Fellow Lucas Timmons is a data journalist and web producer for The Edmonton Journal in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Google Fusion Tables is a great tool for journalists to create visualizations easily and quickly. Since its launch, many news organizations have done some innovative things with it. With a bit of education and the willingness to experiment, you can make your maps even more informative and interesting. The steps outlined here will get you on your way.

The ONA Issues Tumblr is your platform to define and explore the pressing issues in digital media and get a better fix on how they impact your work. Here are the top five posts from last week.

• TIME releases the 140 Best Twitter feeds of 2012.
• 15 awesome podcasts about journalism from SXSW Interactive.

Current Location: Oakland, Calif.
Current Gig: President and CEO of The Maynard Institute
Member Since: Jan. 2008
Six-word memoir: Too young to write a memoir
Quick and Dirty Resume: Was part of the Chauncey Bailey Project, co-authored Letters to My Children, a compilation of nationally syndicated columns by my late father. Worked as a reporter on both coasts — The Bakersfield Californian and The Patriot Ledger, in Quincy, Mass. — as well as at the Detroit Free Press, and in 1993 became the first daughter to follow a father as a Nieman fellow at Harvard University.
Favorite fictional character: Winnie-the-Pooh. He was an adventurous soul who led with his heart and wanted only happiness for his diverse group of friends.
Favorite tech tool: My iPad … and right now I’m really into Pintrest. I also like Storify, Twitter and Facebook.