ONA Weekly #302 – Online News Association

Community spotlight: Noticias en español

El Tímpano Founder Madeleine Bair recently gave a shout out to some innovative approaches from local news organizations to ensure their coronavirus-related reporting reaches Spanish-speaking communities. Here are a few she noted:

Mission Local is offering opt-in text updates
Documented is holding Facebook Live Q&As with experts
VailDaily has a Spanish-language section on its site
KUOW is running a liveblog with timestamped updates

Do you have new work you’re proud of? Tweet at us @ONA and let us know.

Engaging hard-to-reach communities

For more techniques on reaching diverse communities, listen to leaders from Jambalaya News, Sahan Journal and La Gordiloca discuss how they connected with audiences local news had been unable to reach. The popular ONA19 session covered viral live video, SMS, internet radio, and diaspora social media techniques—but most importantly, encouraged establishing yourself as a trusted new source.

Legal resources for student journalists

The Student Press Law Center has developed a toolkit for student journalists reporting on coronavirus-related issues, including guidelines to ward off censorship, an attorney hotline and letters stating why reporting is an essential service.

COVID-19: Taking Care of Journalists and Journalism

On April 8 at 1 p.m. ET, the Power Shift Project will host a webinar with Freedom Forum fellow Jill Geisler debriefing leaders of top professional journalism organizations, including ONA Executive Director/CEO Irving Washington, on covering coronavirus while caring for dedicated teams. Register now.

Upcoming events

ONA Local groups host networking and training events for journalism and technology communities around the world. All events are currently happening online. Find a group near you.

Career opportunities

ONA’s Career Center is an excellent resource for jobs, fellowships and internships in digital journalism. Recent postings include:

Six Digital Journalist roles (multiple regions), Spectrum Networks
Region Collaborative Manager, Local Media Project, Solutions Journalism Network
Director, Charlotte Journalism Collaborative
Business Development Associate, The GroundTruth Project, Inc
Journalist Product Manager, Wick Communications
Chief Revenue Officer, VTDigger
Teaching Instructor, East Carolina University
Two open roles, Colorado Public Radio

On our radar

Journalism needs a stimulus. Here’s what it should look like, Columbia Journalism Review
Bail out journalists. Let newspaper chains die, The New York Times
A comprehensive guide to remote work, LocalGlobe & Lattitude
As coronavirus squeezes the ad industry, local publishers are feeling the pain, AdWeek
One way the Chicago Reader is tackling its coronavirus revenue problems: a coloring book, Nieman Lab