Members of the Online News Association, the world’s largest membership organization of digital journalists, elected three new members to its Board of Directors and reelected three incumbents to two-year terms.
The newest members — Burt Herman, CEO and Founder, Storify and Hacks/Hackers; John Keefe, News Director, WNYC Radio, and Juana Summers, Political Reporter, POLITICO — begin their two-year terms on Jan. 1, 2012. Joining the newest directors will be Mario Tedeschini-Lalli, Deputy Director, Innovation and Development, at the Italian media company Gruppo Editoriale L’Espresso, who was appointed as an international Board member earlier this year.
“We’re thrilled to have Burt, Juana and John join the Board,” said ONA President Christine Montgomery. “All three are innovators in the industry and bring a wealth of diverse experience to our growing organization."
Burt Herman is co-founder and CEO of Storify, a platform for creating stories from social media, and founder of Hacks/Hackers, a worldwide organization bringing together journalists and technologists. He has been named by the Poynter Institute as one of the most influential journalists in social media, and frequently speaks and writes about the changing media landscape.
John Keefe is the Senior Editor for Data News & Journalism Technology at WNYC, New York Public Radio. For nine years, he has guided the station’s news operation and grown its capacity for breaking news, election coverage and investigative reporting.
Juana Summers is a national political reporter for POLITICO. She currently covers the 2012 presidential election. She came to POLITICO from The Kansas City Star, where she covered the Missouri Senate race and worked on the Star’s award-winning Midwest Democracy Project. She has also reported for the state legislative bureau of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where she covered Missouri government and statewide issues.
Three incumbent members also were reelected: Christine Montgomery, Chief Digital Officer, Center for Public Integrity; current Board Vice President/Treasurer Jim Brady, Editor-in-Chief, Journal Register Company, and Website Redevelopment Chair Meredith Artley, Vice President and Managing Editor, CNN Digital.
Serving out their current terms are Board Treasurer Jody Brannon, National Director, News21; Board Secretary Cory Haik, Deputy Editor, Universal News Desk, The Washington Post; Joshua Hatch, Online Content Manager, Sunlight Live; Robert Hernandez, Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism; Katie King, Senior Product Manager, Portal and Partnerships, MSN UK; Rob King, Vice President / Editor-in-Chief, ESPN Digital Media; Will Sullivan, Director of Mobile News, Lee Enterprises, and Amy Webb, CEO, Webbmedia Group.
Four current board members will leave the board after Dec. 31: Katharine Fong, Editor and Publisher, Scene Magazine, San Jose Mercury News/Bay Area News Group; Ken Sands, Site Manager, Bloomberg Government; Liz Lufkin, former Vice President, Front Page Programming at Yahoo!, and Anthony Moor, Managing Editor, Local, Yahoo!, and Online Journalism Awards Chair.
“Katharine, Ken, Liz and Anthony each have contributed countless hours to moving ONA forward over the years, in the areas of diversity, training, strategy and the Online Journalism Awards," Montgomery said. “We will miss their talent, skill and dedication."
Vote count
At the close of voting, 298 voters — representing 14.4 percent of ONA’s total membership of 2,075 — cast 1,597 votes. That percentage is down from 20 percent in 2010.
Number of votes:
- Christine Montgomery (incumbent): 180
- Jim Brady (incumbent): 175
- Meredith Artley (incumbent): 165
- Burt Herman: 156
- John Keefe: 140
- Juana Summers: 136
Other nominees:
- Liz Lufkin (incumbent)
- Anthony Moor (incumbent)
- Ken Sands (incumbent)
- Steve Fox, Lecturer/Multimedia Journalism Coordinator, University of Massachusetts
- Chrystia Freeland, Editor, Thomson Reuters Digital
- Jim Roberts, Assistant Managing Editor, The New York Times
- Evan Smith, CEO & Editor in Chief, The Texas Tribune
We thank everyone who ran and voted, and encourage active participation in choosing ONA’s leadership in future elections.