ONA Weekly #437: Andrew Fitzgerald Appointed To ONA Board

Andrew Fitzgerald appointed to ONA Board

Andrew Fitzgerald, Senior Vice President of Streaming Video Services at Hearst Television, has been appointed to the ONA Board of Directors for the 2023-24 term.

A long-time digital journalist himself, Andrew understands digital journalists as “transformation specialists” and how ONA is uniquely positioned to support the community in meeting the next challenges and opportunities.

Andrew will begin his two-year term on Jan. 1, 2023.

Artificial Intelligence is being incorporated into more of the tools journalists and news organizations rely on daily, across newsgathering, production and delivery functions. During ONA22, we explored how AI is filling gaps and helping journalists to dig deeper into their subject matter. 

Successful incorporation of AI into newsrooms relies on human communication and control. Artificial Intelligence: Supporting Journalists and Understanding Audiences stresses that AI is only as good as we allow it to be. Human-led processes need to monitor completely AI-generated content like charts, infographics and sports scores, while leveraging AI-assisted content for the data it can mine for journalists saves time – bots collect the information that subject matter experts use to inform their work. 

Computers are good at repetitive tasks. Let them do that. Public service and breaking news, analysis and trends and local data breakdowns are just some of the things AI can generate for journalists. In Automating Local News: How We Built it, What We Learned, experts showed how Natural Language Generation can fill in gaps in local news and drive content that informs readers, grows audiences and revenue, and enables reporters and editors to give readers more of what they want.

As we reflect on this year’s work, we are looking for personal stories from the community to include in the ONA 2022 Retrospective.

From virtual networking meetups to fellowships and the annual conference, tell us how ONA programming this year has impacted your work and your team.

Career opportunities

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

• Chief Executive Officer, VTDigger
• Director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Marshall University
• Data Editor, Temple University
• Science Reporter, Blacklight Investigative Unit, New York Amsterdam News
• Photojournalist, The Buffalo News
• Senior Manager, Strategic Communications (Responsible Technology), Omidyar Network
• Accountability/Watchdog Reporter, Community Engagement Editor, Community Issues Reporter, Central Valley Journalism Collaborative
• Senior Editor, Audience, The Atlantic
• Chief Executive Officer, Online News Association Join the ONA team!

On our radar

• Tips and resources for covering the 2022 Men’s World Cup, IJNet
• You should be surveying your audience more, Simon Owens
• Knowing the news: How Gen Z and Millennials get information on essential topics, The Media Insight Project 
• Fact Deserts: How a lack of local fact-checking leaves states vulnerable to election lies, Erica Ryan, Mark Stencel and Belen Bricchi for Duke Reporters’ Lab
• This German news outlet is teaching people about local politics with an in-person game, Hanaa’ Tameez for Nieman Lab

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