ONA Weekly #188

Join the Journalism Mentorship Collaborative

Apply to join the Journalism Mentorship Collaborative, a program supporting news professionals seeking to develop or expand inclusive mentorship opportunities in newsrooms. Members of the collaborative will join a peer network where they will share ideas, learn best practices for mentorship programs and — best of all — be eligible to apply for funding for their mentorship initiatives from a pool of $125,000.

David Smydra and Justina Sharp appointed to ONA Board

ONA confirmed two appointments to the Board of Directors: David Smydra, Editorial Director at Google Play Newsstand, and Justina Sharp of American River College as Student Representative. David has been an active contributor to the Board of Directors, the ONA annual conference and the Online Journalism Awards for many years. Justina is an alumna of the ONA16 Student Newsroom. As Student Representative, she aims to ensure ONA offers practical opportunities for students pursuing careers in digital journalism, especially aspiring journalists from community colleges and other underrepresented backgrounds. Their two-year terms begin Jan. 1, 2018.

Creating local data visualizations in VR 

Is there a simple way to create local data visualizations in VR so that a neighborhood does not come out looking like the map in Pokémon Go? Journalism 360 grantee Retha Hill reflects on previous work and what she’s using to address this issue in her latest project at ASU’s Cronkite School. 

Upcoming events

• ONA Pittsburgh: Holiday Party, Dec. 27 Just announced!
• ONA Las Vegas: Happy Hour to Kick Off CES 2018, Jan. 9 Just announced!
• ONA LA: Narrative Storytelling Panel: Constructing Narrative, Jan. 16 Just announced!
• ONA Northeast Ohio: Podcasting Local for Newsrooms, Jan. 24
• Online Event: ONA Local New Group Leader Orientation, Feb. 6

Jobs for journalists

Whether you’re focused on getting a new job right now or just interested in seeing what opportunities are out there, ONA’s Career Center is an excellent resource for journalism jobs. It’s free for job seekers to browse. Recent postings include:

• Knight Chair in Digital Editing and Producing/Professional Practice Professor, University of Missouri
• Metro Producer, The Seattle Times
• Health Reporter, St. Louis Public Radio

What we’re reading

• How much news makes it into people’s Facebook feeds? Our experiment suggests not much, Nieman Lab
• Journalism’s New Patrons: VTDigger leads local investigative nonprofits, Columbia Journalism Review
• The 3 types of news subscribers: Why they pay and how to convert them, American Press Institute

The Online News Association is a nonprofit membership organization for digital journalists, connecting journalism, technology and innovation. Learn why you should become a member.