Meet new staff; MJ Bear Fellowship deadline; new member benefits

By on May 23, 2013

Meet Jessica Strelitz, our new Strategic Partnerships and Sales Manager
Jess oversees ONA’s business development strategy, including opportunities around the annual conference and member events. She’s focused on connecting leaders in digital journalism with professionals in the tech and entrepreneurial spaces – and beyond. Read more on Jess here.

Goodbye, Kevin
We bid a fond farewell to Digital Coordinator Kevin Loker, who leaves us today to join the American Press Institute as Program Coordinator. Kevin helped maintained ONA’s web presence and assisted the community in managing membership. He was an invaluable help during ONA12.

One week left to apply for the MJ Bear Fellowship
We’re looking for talented digital journalists under 30 for the MJ Bear Fellowship, which pairs mentors with early-career journalists and supports their innovative projects. Fellows receive a free three-year ONA membership, registration, travel and accommodations for the 2013 Online News Association Conference and Awards Banquet, and recognition at the conference. Applications are due May 31.


Tips from ONA dCamp,
our design-focused training

We held our first all-day workshop on design thinking at The Washington Post on May 11 and we’ve pulled together valuable tips, Vines, gifs, and more to help you understand the process and how you can apply it when building products in your newsroom.



Learn to code with For Journalism and ONA
ONA is partnering with For Journalism
, which is creating coding resources for journalists. All ONA members will have free access to FJ’s full series of courses, which will debut this fall. Not a member yet? Sign up now.

Updates from the ONA Legal Committee
We joined with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 50 other media organizations in issuing a letter to the Department of Justice May 18 regarding its subpoenaing of telephone records belonging to The Associated Press. ONA Board President Jim Brady called the DOJ’s actions — gathering two months of records for more than 20 telephone lines, both from major AP bureaus and the home and cell phones of individual AP journalists — a “startling and potentially dangerous overreach of its powers.” In April, ONA joined a friend-of-the-court brief written by RCFP that addresses a U.S. Court of Appeals case concerning the role of the court in reviewing national security exemptions to FOIA requests. Read more about ONA’s Legal Affairs Committee work on behalf of our members.

Upcoming ONA Local events

Put up your hand to get involved at ONA13
Early-bird registration is open for the Online News Association Conference and Awards, in Atlanta, October 17-19. We’re looking for general volunteers and videographers to help organize and document the conference in exchange for free admission. Want to reach journalists and technologists attending the conference? There are sponsorship opportunities available and space for creative innovators in the Midway.

Disaster training for journalists
The Boston Marathon bombing, the Oklahoma tornado — covering devastating breaking news challenges even the most seasoned editors, producers and executives. The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia Journalism School has launched the Dart Center Newsroom Leadership Academy, a training program aimed at newsroom managers, senior journalists and news executives responsible for leading coverage of trauma, crisis and disaster. This week-long program — open to print, broadcast and online news organizations alike — will take place July 9-14 at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City.

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Jennifer Mizgata

Jennifer Mizgata is Director of Programs at the Online News Association, where she leads the Women's Leadership Accelerator. At ONA, Jennifer focuses on identifying talented digital journalists and innovative journalism projects and providing them with support. Jennifer is a business and design strategist with over a decade of experience creating industry-changing training programs, investing in award-winning projects, and managing key relationships with journalism partners and tech stakeholders. She regularly coaches managers, senior leaders and entrepreneurs on challenges related to their careers and launching new ventures. Jennifer shares advice for navigating tough work challenges in Work Space, a monthly column for Fortune.