It’s one of our favorite times of the year: Nominations are now open for the 2021 ONA Community Award. Launched in 2018, this award honors an individual or a small team that has made an outsized contribution to digital journalism, often working behind the scenes to create tools or work environments that enable digital journalists to do their best work.
We invite ONA members to submit nominations now through July 29, 11:59 p.m EDT (3:59 UTC). Tell us about the colleagues whose names might not appear on the award-winning journalism projects and stories, but whose contributions to the journalism community have been essential in making such projects possible.
ONA members contribute year-round support for our mission to inspire innovation and excellence in digital journalism. Learn more about membership.
In 2020, we honored Doug Mitchell, Founder and Project Director of NPR’s Next Generation Radio, for his dedication to increase diversity in radio and creating community mentorship opportunities for journalists of color and young journalists.
Previous ONA Community Award recipients also include the Journalists of Color Slack Administrators—Aaron Williams, Sisi Wei, Tauhid Chappell, Erik Reyna, Julia B. Chan, Lam Thuy Vo and Lo Bénichou—who have created a highly engaged support network where journalists often underrepresented in the industry connect on project ideas and opportunities. The inaugural honoree was Erika Owens, now Co-Executive Director of OpenNews, recognized for her work to build inclusive communities and define career paths for developers and designers in journalism.
The selection committee will consider the following characteristics in their evaluation:
- An under-the-radar person or small team that has created tools or systems that help digital journalists do and showcase their best work
- A person or small team that has fostered a stronger sense of community among digital journalists, either by rallying the industry together for a cause, connecting news innovators on an influential and impactful project, or developing a community over time
Submit a nomination to the 2021 ONA Community Award
Launched in 2000, the Online Journalism Awards is the only comprehensive set of prizes honoring excellence in digital journalism. Submissions for the 2021 awards closed in June. We will celebrate finalists and winners in person at the ONA Insights conference, Oct. 14–15 in Philadelphia.
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To explore partnerships, promotional opportunities and other ways to invest in ONA’s programs and events, contact Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer Jessica Strelitz at jessica@journalists.org.
The Online News Association was founded in 1999 as a forum for digital news pioneers to collaborate on common challenges and encourage the highest journalistic standards. Become an ONA member or make a donation to sustain our mission to inspire and support innovation and excellence in digital journalism.