ONA Weekly #341: New ONA Board Members; Remembering Tiffany Shackelford

By on January 6, 2021

New ONA Board members start their terms

Four digital journalism leaders started their two-year term on ONA’s Board of Directors on Jan. 1: 

  • Andrew Fitzgerald, Senior Vice President of Streaming Video Services at Hearst Television
  • Anita Zielina, Director of Strategic Initiatives of the Newmark J-School at CUNY
  • Ashley Alvarado, Director of Community Engagement at Southern California Public Radio
  • Susan Gonzalez, Social Media Strategist at Chalkbeat

These leaders bring an impressive mix of experience in innovation and emerging technology, business sustainability, audience engagement and cultivating diverse and equitable teams. We are pleased to welcome them to the Board and look forward to their continued contributions to ONA’s work. 

Legal support for journalists covering unrest in Washington

We wish safety for all journalists providing critical coverage of unrest and violence at the U.S. Capitol and pro-Trump protests elsewhere in the U.S.

RCFP’s legal hotline is 1-800-336-4243 — pass it on.

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting aggressions against the First Amendment. If you are a journalist, or know of one, who has been assaulted, attacked, or who had equipment damaged or seized, send a report to tips@pressfreedomtracker.us.

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Election SOS: Continued election aftermath support

Democracy isn’t seasonal! Election SOS offers free critical resources to support your election reporting. Explore our database of 270+ vetted nonpartisan experts, and check out our Medium page to get more project insights!

Remembering Tiffany Shackelford

Tiffany Shackelford, a longtime contributor to the ONA community and Executive Director of the Society for News Design (SND), died Dec. 27 from COVID-19 complications. Tiffany was one-of-a-kind and is greatly missed. We remember Tiffany for her incredible light, energy and ability to bring people together.

As a co-founder of ONA DC, she helped kickstart what would become ONA Local — now a global network of over 50 volunteer-run groups bringing together journalists and technologists for training, networking and collaboration. Tiffany also served as one of our annual conference organizers, co-chaired the 2008 ONA Annual Conference and mentored and supported numerous digital journalists. There’s no doubt ONA is a stronger organization and community because of her.

SND highlighted some of Tiffany’s contributions to journalism, as shared by colleagues, to remember and honor the incredible impact she has had on the industry. Here’s some of what they had to say:
“One of Tiffany’s mundane superpowers, her words, was getting people involved. She let you know you could contribute, could lead from any seat, and always passed along her enthusiasm and warmth. That’s not mundane at all. It was a special gift she used to bring people together and empower a whole tribe of digital journalists.” — Matt Mansfield, Partner, MG Strategy + Design; former SND president and ONA DC organizer
“Tiffany broke the mold for what it meant to learn, inspire and grow together as a local journalism community in DC. She took a seed of something and grew it into a community of people invested in not just ONA’s success, but in each other’s success as digital journalists.” — Laura Cochran, SVP Research & service design, Valley Bank and ONA DC organizer
“Without Tiffany, the local network of ONA wouldn’t exist. That isn’t an exaggeration — it was only through her dedication and execution that ONADC and the framework that followed came to be. We are all the better for it.” — Jessica Estepa, Political producer, CNN and ONA DC organizer

Career opportunities

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

Karolle Rabarison is ONA's Director of Communications. She collaborates across the team to connect the journalism community to emerging tech and leadership training, networking, industry trends, and career development resources.