Happy holidays from ONA! In fine ONA tradition, our gift to you is a round-up of our most useful resources from 2014, drawing on our annual conference, events and training throughout the year. With everything we do, we focus on making sure working journalists have strong, practical takeaways and we know you’ll find something here to inspire and motivate you in 2015.
We hope that you have had a productive year and wish you have a peaceful holiday season.
Dive into ONA14 takeaways
We hosted our biggest conference ever this year, bringing more than 1,900 journalists together in Chicago for three days of inspiring conversations on digital journalism and technology. As news breaks, you’ll find lots of relevant ideas, tips and strategies. Check out all of the ONA14 resources, including videos, social curation, audio, presentations from speakers and coverage by the ONA Student Newsroom, on topics ranging from mobile news, digital security and business leadership to ethics, audience engagement and more.
Get inspired by the Online Journalism Awards
The OJAs are a major source of inspiration, highlighting the best digital journalism of the year. See 2014’s winners and finalists (this includes links to all of the projects). This year, we announced the the 2015 James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting, which will honor freelancers reporting in dangerous areas.
Focus on key issues with ONACamps
ONACamps bring training to journalists across the United States, thanks to a generous grant from the Gannett Foundation. This year, we hosted three specialized ONACamps: ONA dCamp: North Carolina, focused on creative approaches to mobile news; ONA dCamp: Digital Security, which brought together security experts and working journalists in Washington D.C. to discuss current digital security challenges and brainstorm new approaches, and ONACamp Phoenix, which looked at the business of digital news.
Get connected with ONA Local
Around the world, ONA Local groups host meet-ups for journalists and technologists to share ideas, network and get inspired. We are so thankful to our hard-working ONA Local leaders, who volunteer their time to connect and support local journalists.
New groups this year include ONA Tampa Bay, ONA Rocky Mountains, ONA Detroit, ONA Calgary, ONA at the Reynolds School, ONA at University of South Florida, ONA at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and ONA at the University of Cincinnati. Two groups — ONA Seattle and ONA UK — rebooted with new leadership. Find a group near you or learn more about starting your own local group.
Find a new job, find your next star
The ONA Career Center, new this year, has hundreds of jobs for digital journalists and technologists. Browse jobs and upload your resume. It’s free!
Dig into data with experts
ONA members can take For Journalism’s online courses, taught by experts in the field, for free. Current courses available include mapping, security and privacy, charting and visualization, responsive design and Django, with more coming soon.
Members, network with peers
ONA members got a new membership center this spring, making it easier for you to connect with other members and find discounts and special resources. Pro tip: Make sure to update your profile information so colleagues can find you.
Educators, challenge yourselves
Get inspired by the first round of winners of the Challenge Fund for Journalism and Education grants. Their projects deal with everything from guns to air quality, focusing on innovative, collaborative approaches between local news outlets and universities. If you like what you see, we’re accepting applications for the second round of Challenge Fund grants until Jan. 15.
Learn from rising talent, our MJ Bear Fellows
The 2014 MJ Bear Fellows Anika Anand, Rajneesh Bhandari and Aaron Williams demonstrate how up-and-coming journalists are pushing themselves and their colleagues to conceptualize and build new things. Learn more about their current projects and stay tuned for their blogs in spring.
Discover more about core press freedoms
ONA’s Legal Affairs Committee monitors legal issues that impact the digital journalism community, weighing in on proposed legislation and briefs that affect how journalists do their jobs. This year, we broadened our work on issues around the Shield Law, net neutrality, FOIA and surveillance.
Keep up with the (ONA)Issues
The ONA Issues Tumblr remains the place to go for news and commentary about issues affecting digital journalists, from media diversity to technology to press freedom.
And there’s more …
You can find tools, programs, technologies and other opportunities on ONA’s Resources page, which includes special discounts and product trials.
Coming in 2015:
ONA / Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media
ONA London: Mobile 2015