WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 7: The final day of ONA17 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel on October 7, 2017, in Washington, DC. (Photos by Anya Semenoff/for the Online News Association)

ONA17 resources: videos, photos, presentations, Online Journalism Awards winners, live takeaways and more

By on October 25, 2017

Over 3,000 journalists traveled to Washington, D.C. in October for the Online News Association Conference (ONA17) to discuss the most exciting trends in digital journalism and to honor the great work of colleagues around the world.

We’ve pulled together a range of resources here so that you can level up your reporting, be inspired by excellent projects and share takeaways with your newsroom. Plus, we’ve got lots of ways you can stay connected throughout the year.

For ONA, this was a big year: we had more attendees than ever before, and it was Irving Washington’s first conference as executive director. We also announced the Challenge Fund winners who are hacking the journalism curriculum and the dates for the next Women’s Leadership Accelerator, which will be held Feb. 25- March 2, 2018 at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Both of these programs exemplify what ONA does best — identifying and supporting great digital journalism. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with the wide range of journalists and news organizations that inspire us (whether you could make it to ONA17 or not!) throughout the year.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the highlights from ONA17, from keynote videos to great reporting.

Sessions: videos, social curation, audio, slides

Short video takeaways

Our team of video volunteers brought their journalistic expertise to cover the conference and capture quick takeaways from the top minds in journalism. All of the ONA17 video takeaways are available via a YouTube playlist.

Some great videos to start with include:

If you’re looking for full videos from sessions, you’ll find links in our handy ONA17 resource guide.

ONA17 roundups and takeaways

Don’t just take it from us. Our community does a great job sharing highlights and how they might be relevant to working journalists.

Reporting from the Student Newsroom

Check out the comprehensive coverage of ONA17 by the 20 hand-picked journalists in the Student Newsroom and Innovation Lab, sponsored by Google. This year, the newsroom focused on more forward-thinking reporting approaches and some of our favorite highlights include an analysis of attendees’ employers, a map of 360-degree views throughout the conference, and an analysis of speakers’ Twitter followings. Plus, they looked back at Amy Webb’s predictions from her first ONA talk, and did a review of themes at conference sessions over time.

Finding the story on social

There were over 25,000 tweets using the #ONA17 conference hashtag, plus thousands more using the session hashtags. ONA17 trended globally on Oct. 5-7, and also trended nationally in the U.S., Australia, Canada and Singapore. Check out more than 1,300 Instagram photos from ONA17 (and follow Online_News while you’re there to get updates from us). Special thanks to the Newseum for letting us take over their Instagram account during ONA17.

Photos from ONA17

See all of NBC’s photo booth images from the ONA17 Diversity Reception and check out Smart News’ photos from their Watergate Hotel event featuring Carl Bernstein.

Celebrating the best in digital journalism: 2017 Online Journalism Awards

See the full list of winners and their projects on the new Online Journalism Awards website! You can watch complete video of the ceremony or search through a transcript to find your favorite moment. Also, learn more about the Tara Todras-Whitehill, recipient of the 2017 James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting, and Jim Brady, recipient of the Rich Jaroslovsky Founder Award.

Notes from Table Talks

Table Talks continue to be one of the most popular parts of ONA’s conference. This unique unconference format is focused on small group discussions, and lends itself to deep and engaging conversations on complex topics. If you participated in a Table Talk and want to refer to the notes, or you’re eager to see a summary of an interesting and challenging discussions, see all of the resources from Table Talks.

Get Involved with ONA

  • Want to stay in the loop on future ONA events and industry news? Sign up for ONA Weekly, our newsletter packed with local events, job opportunities and resources for journalists.
  • Looking to connect with journalists in your community after the conference? We firmly believe local journalists are leading the charge in innovating and are invested in supporting work in their communities. Connect with an ONA Local group near you or let us know if you’re interested in starting one.
  • Interested in VR, AR and immersive storytelling? Get involved with Journalism 360, a project from ONA, Google News Lab and the Knight Foundation.
  • We’re looking for women who are pushing innovation in digital media for the Women’s Leadership Accelerator, a tuition-free, week-long intensive training. ONA’s Accelerator will be held Feb. 25- March 2, 2018 at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Applications will open soon — be sure that you’re signed up for ONA’s newsletter so that you get notified.
  • Are you a journalism educator or student? Connect with over 1,400 people passionate about journalism education and interesting projects in the ONA Educators Facebook group.

Missed a meeting? Need a new tool?

More than 100 digital media and media-tech firms and educators supported ONA17 in Washington, D.C., and we are so grateful to them all. If you’re looking for dynamic partners in the CMS, analytics, video, big data, immersive storytelling, engagement, content services, advertising, social, research and training space — or are seeking a new professional or educational opportunity — be sure to check out the offerings from ONA’s sponsors, exhibitors, supporters and Midway participants from around the world.

Save the date for ONA18

We’re headed west for ONA18! Join us Sept. 13-15, 2018, at the JW Marriott Austin. Hotel bookings will open early in 2018, followed by the Suggestion Box, our public call to pitch your best ideas, which will open in March!