This week we bring you key takeaways and an overview of emerging digital trends from the 16th annual Online News Association conference, held Sept. 24-26 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
PART 1: ONA15 conference recap
This year’s gathering of the Online News Association brought digital journalists and innovators from all types of media to Los Angeles for a three-day showcase of the latest trends and ideas moving journalism forward. We offer you a quick recap of five key takeaways: The new meaning of “multiplatform”; the importance of user experience; the latest thinking about online video; the evolving popularity of audio; and new ways of measuring audience behavior.
Reporting by Reuben Stern, Rachel Wise, Daniel Shapiro, Berkeley Lovelace and Travis McMillen
[To skip directly to this segment in YouTube, click here.]
PART 2: Tech Trends from Amy Webb
Robots, holograms, peer-to-peer networks, digital recognition and advanced cognitive computing are some of the technologies likely to shape journalism over the next year and beyond, according to Amy Webb, founder and chief executive officer of Webbmedia Group. We sit down with her to get some details on what it all means.
Reporting by Reuben Stern, Rachel Wise and Travis McMillen
[To skip directly to this segment in YouTube, click here.]
Additional materials:
- Slide deck from Amy Webb’s ONA 2015 presentation
- Full video of Amy Webb’s ONA 2015 Tech Trends presentation
For more from the conference:
A newsroom staffed by college students provided detailed coverage from the event.
Short video interviews with many of the presenters from the conference can be found in this ONA15 YouTube playlist.
Full videos of several entire sessions, along with presentation materials and compilations of related Tweets, are accessible through the conference program schedule page. (Click on the individual session to access the video and/or Twitter material.) Some of our favorites include:
- Panel presentation on three successful revenue streams: Memberships at the Voice of San Diego, events at the Texas Tribune and premium advertising at Quartz
- Tips for creating a great mobile news app from leaders at The New York Times and the BBC
- An overview of how virtual reality is being applied to news
- Keynote discussion about online harassment that explains how news organizations could protect their journalists — especially female and minority reporters — from serious digital threats that are often ignored
- Keynote conversation with Richard Gingras, head of news at Google
- Insight into “reporting from the unsurfaced web” from leaders of three platforms scouring online to find news tips: Dataminr, Banjo and Vocativ
- A look at emerging breaking news workflows that reflect the new world order created by social media.
Reuben Stern is the deputy director of the Futures Lab at the Reynolds Journalism Institute and host and co-producer of the weekly Futures Lab video update.
The Reynolds Journalism Institute’s Futures Lab video update features a roundup of fresh ideas, techniques and developments to help spark innovation and change in newsrooms across all media platforms. Visit the RJI website for the full archive of Futures Lab videos, or download the iPad app to watch the show wherever you go. You can also sign up to receive email notification of each new episode.
