EDITOR’S NOTE
Starting in 2027, the Online News Association will no longer hold its annual conference. This week, I wrote about the conference’s changing audience in the midst of a journalism landscape affected by the growth of generative AI, and who it might serve next.
As in-person conferences dwindle, the Institute of Independent Journalists is trying to create new opportunities for reporters to meet and pitch editors face-to-face. I’ll be one of the commissioning editors participating in Pitch the Editors, a $50 event happening on Feb. 4 and 5.
OpenNews also just released a survey about the future of their conference, SRCCON.
In case you wanted to pitch The Objective: We’re shifting into the final leg of our print magazine production, so we won’t be accepting stories for publication until 2027. That said, we have a number of stories both for the magazine and outside of it in the pipeline. Stay tuned!
In solidarity,
James Salanga
Editorial Director
The Objective
THIS WEEK’S LEAD STORY
Online News Association to cancel annual conference
ONA’s annual conference will not happen in 2027, and the organization’s five staff members, besides its CEO, are set to leave at the end of November.
“Before the pandemic, the annual conference was ONA’s biggest source of revenue, and together with grants, it sustained the organization,” ONA’s CEO and executive director Niketa Patel wrote in a statement. “This is no longer true.”
The tributes for ONA reflect a journalism landscape that is far-removed from ONA’s founding in 1999. Tech funding has increasingly become part of the newsroom revenue mosaic as publisher-specific products like Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages have grown. Meanwhile, generative AI companies are dispersing money to and making content licensing deals with newsrooms, whose unionized workers call for guardrails around the advancement of the technology.
One consistency in the journalism landscape since ONA’s founding has been the lack of gender parity in news: even in 2014, Northeastern University journalism professor and director of graduate programs Meg Heckman noticed that “female leaders are the minority in virtually all its corners today, and the women who do launch innovative publications aren’t getting the same attention as men.”
But ONA’s work provided a space for early digital news adopters, many of whom were women, and the organization will continue running its Women’s Leadership Accelerator. Many of the tributes I’ve read have come from women journalists, who remain underrepresented in journalism leadership.
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MORE FROM THE OBJECTIVE
As coverage on masculinity grows, feminist experts are left out
A quick search of the New York Times for mentions of “manosphere” returns over 900 results since the start of 2024, more than three times the number in the eight years prior. The Times built an internal “Manosphere Report” tool using large language models to track the ecosystem of narrow, patriarchal views online. They’re not alone in their curiosity: Alongside news organizations, major podcasts, documentaries, and best-selling books are examining the behavior and beliefs of men.
But the tenor of these discussions has changed perceptibly in recent years alongside that increase in interest, Evette Dionne, the former editor-in-chief of Bitch Magazine, said.
“The absence and destruction of feminist media and independent media has definitely impacted who is in the space talking about gender, and more specifically, the kinds of conversations that are happening,” Dionne said.
FROM OUR READERS
Highlighting two upcoming opportunities to gather and learn with other journalists!
From Katherine Reynolds-Lewis: ($) The Public Narrative Connecting Media & Community conference is in Chicago on Dec. 8, with scholarships available to apply for until Nov. 15.
From V Starks: Pay what you can: If you’re looking to improve your coverage of trans people, today is the last day to register for Press On’s virtual workshop on Nov. 19 with the Transgender Law Center, examining how news media shaped narratives about trans people and bodily autonomy.
JOURNALISM IN A GRAF
“My arbitration win was a monumental victory for unions, for journalists, and for free speech. As the last full-time Black columnist in the Opinions section, I recognized how important the win was for Black journalists, especially those pushed out of newsrooms in recent years.
While I remain proud of the victory, I came to the painful realization that returning to The Washington Post meant coming back without the guaranteed freedom and institutional support to do what I loved: use my voice, seek truth, and serve readers.”
We’ve spoken with Attiah before about her dismissal, and her decision not to return doesn’t surprise me. This quote, to me, reflects one trend across the industry — Black journalists and other journalists who are long-time industry veterans choosing to forge their own path after mistreatment from major news organizations.
—James Salanga, co-director of The Objective
VIEWS FROM ELSEWHERE
What we’re reading and thinking about
The county’s board of supervisors passed a motion modeled after existing New York City legislation that sets a goal of at least 50% of the city’s spending on advertisements going toward local and ethnic media. The Latino Media Collaborative helped spearhead the policy effort, which reflects continued pushes for government funding toward journalism.
Nieman Lab first broke the news about the controversial terms of service on Oct. 15, which would’ve initially allowed the company to scrape websites — including news sites — associated with business accounts on its platforms. “We’re pausing the changes as we continue to engage with stakeholders and take our time to get this right,” a spokesperson for the company said.
Alongside coverage following the midterm results, the Nvidia CEO having an affair with an alleged Chinese spy is among the biggest stories of the week. The Asian American Journalists Association urges newsrooms not to publish headlines using Asian names as headlines to make light of the situation and calls for reporters to use clarity around Chinese nationals, Chinese Americans, and the Chinese government.