To mark the occasion of the Online News Association’s 25th annual conference, co-founder Rich Jaroslovsky shared reflections about the motivations that first brought the group together and ONA’s role in the industry today as the beacon for journalistic values and excellence.
Thank you so much, and welcome to ONA24 — which, confusingly, is actually the 25th annual conference. You know, if we founders had stopped and thought about it, we probably should have delayed that first conference. If we’d only waited a few weeks, we could have made things nice and neat, and the 25th ONA would have been ONA 25.
But we never thought about that. And if we had, to be honest, we probably wouldn’t have done it anyway. We were too excited by the new world of possibilities forming around us, too fascinated by the new tools available to us to help tell our stories. We were in a hurry — a hurry to get to the future.
A lot has changed since then — about journalism, and about society. While journalists continue to do great and vital work, we’ve seen seismic changes in the news landscape. Even as new forms, tools and news sources have emerged, we’ve seen storied organizations and outlets shrivel, totter and fall. And I’m not talking only about newsgathering organizations, but also about the leadership organizations that once represented them. Just this year, the successor to the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the AP Managing Editors Association voted to dissolve itself — something that would have been unthinkable to those of us who started ONA a quarter-century ago.
These organizations were more than just the trusted sources of their day. They were also the standard-bearers — symbols of what journalism aspired to be and, when needed, defenders of a free press. Their demise has left a vacuum in our profession — and in our society.
So my question today is, Who speaks for journalism now?
The answer is — it has to be — that we do. Right here, at ONA, is the energy, the creative spark, the openness to the future that journalism needs now. But also the understanding of the needs of our audiences and society, the commitment to the old- fashioned journalistic values of truth, fairness and excellence, and most of all the courage to stand up for those values when they are under maximum assault both by the economic headwinds buffeting the news business and by politicians looking to exploit our vulnerabilities to curb a free and independent press.
Make no mistake, this is a moment of peril for journalism. But it’s also a moment of opportunity — the opportunity to embrace the ever-more powerful tools at our disposal while making sure they are turned toward and used for the furtherance of those journalistic values that we all embrace and cherish.
There’s an awful lot about the modern world that we ONA founders wouldn’t have recognized and couldn’t have imagined 25 years ago. But that challenge — to embrace the future while holding fast to our values — yeah, that one goes back to the very founding of this organization.
Like I said, we founders back then were just journalists in a hurry to get to the future. Speaking for all my fellow founders, our wish for ONA is that it will forever be so.
Thank you.
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. ONA membership connects you with the leading thinkers and doers in the media industry, and offers discounted or complimentary access to training, conferences and practical resources.
Become an ONA member or make a donation to help sustain our mission. For updates on the latest opportunities, subscribe to the ONA Weekly newsletter.