The role of journalism, in addition to how it looks and how it’s done, continues to evolve, with the debate moving far past print vs digital and into whether and how newsrooms should and can use artificial intelligence.
“When I joined ONA, it was about mobile, producing multimedia. Journalists were being asked to do more and with fewer resources,” says Meghan Murphy, director of programs for the Online News Association. “It was social media and all these things. We continue to be stretched thin. How do you find the people who can give you a pep talk and a way forward and get you back out there for a few months and help you feel like what you’re doing is worthwhile?”
Many people find that inspiration through ONA’s annual conference, taking place next fall in New Orleans, something Murphy and Hanna Rifaey, ONA’s head of strategic partnerships, compare to a summer camp for journalists.
“They’re so excited to reconnect,” Rifaey says.
She also finds inspiration in the work ONA members have done in the year between conferences and has made a tradition of creating a list of award submissions to read before flying out to the conference.
“We’re so in the weeds about supporting journalism,” Rifaey says. “We don’t get the opportunity to go through and enjoy what is happening. I create a reading list for the airplane of all these amazing pieces that came out. Topics I’ve never heard of. Having this excuse to go through some of the best pieces that have come out of our community over the past year is truly inspiring. I’m always most inspired by what’s coming out of micro and small newsrooms. They’re tiny newsrooms, sometimes one or two people, and what they’re able to produce is phenomenal and so impactful. We want that feeling to go year ‘round.”
“I’m really excited about the conversations that are happening about how we can think of our goal as part of a network of information services in a community that has helped people become more civically informed and engaged,” Murphy adds. “We see people moving into education and community groups and coming back to journalism and taking some of those lessons. We’re seeing a lot more fluidity. It’s not just a single career path from reporter to editor to executive editor. … I’m excited about the blurring of the lines but also the opportunities that might come up for people in this space to think more about how they’re meeting community information needs, how they’re helping people become more informed and engaged in their communities.”
Hanna Rifaey, head of strategic partnerships at the Online News Association, and Meghan Murphy, ONA’s director of programs, talk about the state of digital news, sustainability and ONA’s AI in Journalism Initiative.
